Halt tape
The Halt tape is an approximately 18-minute audio recording made on a handheld micro-cassette dictation recorder by USAF Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt during his investigation of anomalous lights in Rendlesham Forest on the night of 28 December 1980, the second night of the Rendlesham Forest incident. It constitutes one of the few real-time audio records of a UAP incident made by a senior military officer.
The tape chronicles Halt's investigation in real time, including taking radiation readings at the landing site (using an AN/PDR-27 survey meter), observing a flashing red light through the trees, and witnessing beams of light directed downward into the weapons storage area of the base. Halt's statements on the tape include: "I see it too... it's back again... it's coming this way... there's no doubt about it... this is weird... it looks like an eye winking at you... it almost burns your eyes... he's coming toward us now... now we're observing what appears to be a beam coming down to the ground... one object still hovering over Woodbridge base... beaming down."
Timings on the tape indicate the flashing light lay in the same direction as the Orfordness Lighthouse and flashed every five seconds, matching the lighthouse's flash rate. Three star-like objects also appear on the recording, hovering to the north and south; the brightest, to the south, matched the position of Sirius.
A copy of the tape was released in 1984 by Colonel Sam Morgan, who had succeeded Ted Conrad as Halt's superior at the base. The tape has been transcribed by researcher Ian Ridpath, who published both a full transcript and a step-by-step analysis of the entire contents. The tape's existence and contents have been cited by figures including Luis Elizondo as among the most significant pieces of evidence in the Rendlesham case.
See also
References
Source ratings:
(Color-coding) (
[1 Wikipedia-grade]
·
[2 Questionable]
·
[3 Reporting/Analysis]
·
[4 Speculative/Hearsay]
·
[5 Ungrounded]
). (To change source ratings,
edit this page
.)