This is my personal theory on what happened in relation to the "Rendlesham Forest Incident"
Facts:
The Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) program began in 1979.
After the evaluations of the companies' proposals, the ATB competition was narrowed to the Northrop/Boeing and Lockheed/Rockwell teams with each receiving a study contract for further work
The Northrop team's ATB design was selected over the Lockheed/Rockwell design on 20 October 1981.
Lockheed SR-71 (The Blackbird) Reconnaissance Operations at RAF Mildenhall were from April 1976 to 1990.
The Rendlesham Forest incident was a series of reported sightings of unexplained lights near Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk, England, in December 1980, which became linked with UFO landings.
RAF Woodbridge has a single runway, 9,000 ft (2,700 m) long and 750 ft (230 m) wide. (5 times the normal width)
Logical Theory:
Given that the USAF were flying the “top secret” Lockheed SR-71 out of RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk when the ATB program began, and that Lockheed/Rockwell had been one of the two companies narrowed down for a study contract for further work it makes sense that they would potentially use RAF Mildenhall and RAF Woodbridge (given it’s long and wide runway) for any test flights of a prototype ATB.
On that night in December 1980, I believe Lockheed/Rockwell had a scaled down and unmanned prototype which had been flown from RAF Mildenhall to test stealth capability by trying to fly into RAF Woodbridge undetected.
RAF Woodbridge was selected due to its runway size and the fact that, at the time, it was surrounded by forest so out of sight.
But on approach to the landing on the runway there was an issue and the prototype crashed on the edge of the forest (which is in-line with the runway).
Hence, Northrop/Boeing was awarded the contract for what we now know as the “Northrop B-2 Spirit”
What followed, was a cover up by the USAF to save face but ended up being one of the biggest UFO incidents in the UK.
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| Rendlesham Forest UFO Sculpture - 19th June 2024 |