UFOs at RAF LAKENHEATH-BENTWATERS
1956
THE MoD AND UFOs: a short history and
background
Dave Clarke
"Our policy is to play down the subject
of UFOs and to avoid attaching undue attention or publicity to it.
As a result we have never had any serious political pressure to
mount a large scale investigation such as Project Blue Book."
MOD response to USAF question on
British policy, 1965.
Investigation of UFO reports made by service personnel in Britain
began in 1950 when the Ministry of Defence established a "Flying
Saucer Working Party" made up of representatives from the
three armed services: Air Ministry, Admiralty and War Office.
This committee met from August 1950 until June 1951 when it was
disbanded following the presentation of a brief report to the
Ministry's Joint Technical Intelligence Committee. DSI/JTIC
Report No 7 Unidentified Flying Objects was heavily influenced by
the debunking policy adopted by the USAF's Project Grudge and the
CIA. Given this background, it was a foregone conclusion that all
reported sightings of 'flying saucers' could be explained and
that further study should cease.[1]
According to a CIA memo of December 1952 a second British
'standing committee' on UFOs was created following a wave of
sightings that included reports by RAF and Royal Navy personnel
during NATO Exercise Mainbrace. This team was staffed by Air
Intelligence officers from the Air Ministry, who reported to the
Director of Scientific Intelligence, Dr R.V. Jones. In 1955 the
office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence),
produced a Secret Intelligence Summary for the attention of the
Air Staff, based upon a summary of its UFO inquiries since 1952.
The revised conclusion reached was that 90 percent of reports
could be explained, with a residue of 10 percent remaining due to
'lack of data.' Although it was believed that even these reports
could be explained, it recommended that UFO reports should
continue to be scrutinised - in secret - because there was "always
the chance of observing foreign aircraft of revolutionary design."
[2]
On 21 January 1953 a formal procedure for reporting of "radar
detection of unusual targets" was issued by Fighter Command
to HQ Metropolitan and Southern Sectors (for onward transmission
to appropriate radar units). This required that:
"...they should make a special report of any unusual
response, i.e. any responses moving at a ground speed exceeding
700 kts. at any height and at any speed above 60,000 feet...When
an unusual response is seen, the supervisor or N.C.O. i/c watch
should be informed and he should then check that the echo is not
spurious, and arrange for the necessary records to be made to
provide the information listed below:
a) Appearance of the echo.
b) The signal strength of the echo (strong, medium and weak)
throughout the time of observation, including pick up and fade
points.
c) Range and bearing of initial plot and fade points.
d) Ground speed.
e) Whether painting of echo is continuous or intermittent.
f) A copy of the record sheets, together with a track tracing."
[3]
In December 1953 the orders were extended, with "sightings
of aerial phenomena by Royal Air Force personnel are in future to
be reported in writing by Officers Commanding Units immediately
and direct to Air Ministry, (D.D.I. (Tech)), with copies to Group
and Command Headquarters." Furthermore, because the public
"attach more credence to reported by RAF personnel than to
those by members of the public . . .it is essential that the
information should be examined at Air Ministry and that its
release should be controlled officially. All reports are,
therefore, to be classified 'Restricted' and personnel are warned
that they are not to communicate to anyone other than official
persons any information about phenomena they have observed,
unless officially authorised to do so." [4]
It is significant that on 6 December 1956, four months after the
events at Lakenheath-Bentwaters, the order was again circulated
by HQ No 11 Group to all RAF Sectors, Squadrons and radar units,
with the security classification for UFO reports upgraded to
"CONFIDENTIAL". This order combined the two earlier HQ
letters. It read: "...recent reports on aerial phenomena
show that some units are unaware of this Headquarters letter
dated 16 December 1953, and Fighter Command Headquarters letter
dated 21 January 1953...[giving] instructions for reporting and
action to be taken in regard to the detection of unusual aerial
phenomena." [5]
MOD Defence Intelligence files from 1967, released at the Public
Record Office in 1998, suggest that historical records on UFOs
were so poorly preserved that even senior officials were unclear
when official interest had first begun. On 19 June 1967, Director
of Scientific Intelligence Archie Potts noted "the old Air
Ministry had a responsibility for reporting on Unidentified
Flying Objects. This was delegated through ACAS (I) to DDI (Tech)
and we have inherited this responsibility, which we have merged [in
May 1967] into the space section of DI 55." He added that
UFOs "[have] been the responsibility of Technical
Intelligence (Air) staff for at least 10 years . . . undoubtedly
[because] it was originally assumed that the characteristics of
UFOs were akin to aerodynamic vehicles which travelled in the
atmosphere and could, therefore, pose a threat similar to
aircraft." Another note, by Air Commodore (Intelligence)
adds: "Since investigations began [in 1952-3?] no positive
evidence has come to light which would indicate activity other
than that associated with known phenomena." [6]
DDI (Tech) and S.6
During the period 1952-59 reports of UFOs made to Whitehall were
studied by Air Intelligence officers working in a division of the
Air Ministry known as DDI (Tech) - the Deputy Directorate of
Intelligence (Technical). At that time the Air Ministry had two
Directors of Intelligence, both responsible to the Assistant
Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence), who was known by the acronym
ACAS (I). DDI (Tech) was a RAF Group Captain deputising to D of I
(B). He was responsible for "World Wide air technical
intelligence" and his job description notes: "He has
four sections devoted to the Soviet Bloc - covering defensive and
offensive equipment, electronic equipment and specialist fields,
and one section devoted to the rest of the world."
One small branch of DDI (Tech), known as AI (Tech) 5b, were
responsible for investigation of UFO reports, particularly
incidents involving radar. It also provided technical advice on
reports and briefings to civil servants at a civilian Air
Secretariat in Whitehall, known as S6. It was S6 who at that time
(1957-60) dealt solely with Parliamentary Questions on the
subject.
Despite its sensitive intelligence work DDI (Tech) continued to
answer public and Press inquiries relating to UFOs and on a
number of occasions individuals were invited to its offices in
Whitehall. In 1958 this policy changed, as the branch "wished
to disassociate itself from work on the subject for security
reasons." [7] The reasoning behind this move are obscure. It
was possibly a direct result of a story published by a London
Sunday newspaper (Reynolds News) in June 1957 which claimed to
reveal the location of the Air Ministry's secret 'flying saucer'
investigation branch as Room 801 in the former Metropole Hotel in
Northumberland Avenue, Whitehall. When NICAP's Donald Keyhoe
requested confirmation of the story, the Ministry denied that
Room 801 contained the UFO HQ. But records released at the PRO in
2001 confirm that AI 5b's offices were in fact in the very next
room, "Room 800, Metropole."
From 1958, civil servants in S6 became the public face of all
official statements on UFOs. This policy was summarised by David
West, head of S.6, in a minute to colleagues which read: "for
the most part we expect to be politely unhelpful."
In 1962 another Whitehall secretariat, S4 (Air), replaced S6 as
the 'UFO desk' and in due course it became the central reception
point for all reports and correspondence on UFOs from members of
the public. It also provided briefings to Ministers, consulting
DDI (Tech) only "as necessary on any technical aspects
arising from these letters." UFO records released at the PRO
under the 30 year rule originate almost entirely with S4 rather
than AI5 or DDI Tech. S4 (Air) disappeared in 1979 when its UFO
duties returned to DS8 (the new name for S6). Further
reorganisations followed, with UFOs returning to S4, now known as
Sec(AS)2a in 1983, and finally to DAS 4 in 2000.
Official records demonstrate that at the time of the Lakenheath
incident in 1956, neither S6 nor S4 (Air) - who were entirely
staffed by civil servants - were responsible for the
investigation of UFO reports made by service personnel or radar
stations. These were reported directly by units to Fighter
Command and, if they could not be explained, were forwarded
directly to DDI (Tech) for scrutiny by operational staff. As a
result of the orders issued in 1953 to discourage personnel
discussing their sightings in public, the vast majority of UFO
reports from military sources remained officially secret. DDI (Tech)
on occasions was called upon to provide a briefing to S6 if
service reports were leaked to the Press or resulted in
Parliamentary questions. This was never the case with the
Lakenheath incident, which was successfully concealed until 1969
when its existence was revealed by the publication of the
Colorado University study.
Reporting instructions for RAF
personnel
The division of responsibility for UFO matters between military
and civilian staff at the Air Ministry is laid out in operational
orders from the period 1959-63. HQ Fighter Command Staff
Instruction No. F/1 prepared by DDI (Tech) on 13 April 1960,
states:
"The responsibility for dealing with reports of [UFOs] is
with S.6 and A.I.(T)5b. Reports from civilian sources and the
replies thereto are dealt with by S.6., and reports from service
sources including unidentified radar responses are dealt with by
A.I.(Tech)5b."
The instruction for the reporting of "Radar Sightings"
places great emphasis upon immediate investigation, specifically
by aircraft under the control of Sector and Master Radar Stations:
"If the [radar station] has aircraft under control in the
vicinity of the reported phenomena, those aircraft are to be
diverted to investigate the phenomena."
It continues:
"When an unusual phenomenon or track is
observed by radar, the occurrence is to be investigated
immediately. This investigation should endeavour to determine
whether the phenomenon or track is due to:
a) A technical fault.
b) A friendly aircraft previously unidentified.
c) Interference.
d) Meteorological conditions.
"If the immediate investigation does not discover the course
of the track or phenomenon, a report is to be made by
Confidential Routine Signal to Headquarters Fighter Command (Ops,
C. and R.) copies for information to Group. This report is to
include:
a) The appearance of the echo.
b) The ground speed and altitude of the echo.
c) Whether it is continuous or intermittent.
d) Its signal strength (strong, medium or weak) throughout the
time of observation, including pick-ups and fade points.
e) The range and bearing of these points.
f) The type of radar used.
g) Whether confirmation was obtained from other types of radar."
[8]
The regulations required that copies of record sheets, together
with a track tracing and the relevant P.D.S. radar film were to
be sent by post for analysis by the Operations Branch at HQ
Fighter Command. If an explanation could not be found "a
report will be rendered by Confidential Routine signal to Air
Ministry (D.D.I. (Tech))." The sensitivity of these
'unidentified' incidents is underlined by a paragraph titled
"Press Publicity" which reads:
"The Press are never to be given information about unusual
radar sightings. Unauthorised disclosures of this type will be
viewed as offences under the Official Secrets Acts."
The OSA
Official anxiety about breaches of security surrounding UFOs can
be traced to an incident in April 1957. It was then that radars
at the Ministry of Supply Bombing Trials Unit at RAF West Freugh,
Wigtownshire (Scotland) detected an enormous UFO above the Irish
Sea. Shortly afterwards, a group of the civilian radar operators
at the base gave interviews to the Press and the story became a
national sensation. Questions were asked in Parliament and the
Air Ministry were eventually obliged to admit they were unable to
explain the incident. It is significant that DDI (Tech)’s
analysis of the West Freugh incident is one of the few Air
Ministry UFO reports to have survived destruction, presumably
because of the media interest the case had generated at the time.
Following these revelations in May 1957 DDI (Security) Air
Ministry asked the Officer Commanding West Freugh to issue "specific
instructions" to personnel at the base. These "should
convey the injunction that nothing which occurs on the station is
a proper subject for conversation in public places, nor even in
private should it be discussed with anybody who has no need to
know about it." [9]
The Air Ministry's desire to conceal 'unidentified' radar
incidents from the public is further made explicit by
Parliamentary briefing papers from 1957 that were prepared by S6
for the Secretary of State for Air, George Ward. In April of that
year Ward was to answer a Parliamentary Question tabled by Major
Patrick Wall, the Conservative MP for Beverley. Wall asked "how
many unidentified flying objects have been detected over Great
Britain this year as compared to previous years." This
question was inspired by the West Freugh incident and another
radar-UFO incident from the south coast of England that had
appeared in the Press.
On 11 April 1957 A. Giffen Peacock of D.D.I. (Tech) in a
briefing, diplomatically suggested that S6 should mislead the MP:
"It is unfortunate that the Wigtownshire radar incident [West
Freugh] fell into the hands of the press. The two other radar
incidents have not been made public and reached us by means of
official secret channels. We suggest that S. of S. does not
specifically refer to these incidents as radar sightings. We
suggest that in answering the original question S. of S. might
reply: 'Of the 15 incidents reported this year ten have been
identified as conventional objects, two contain insufficient
information for identification and three are under investigation."
Peacock explained that "reports which are received in this
office, in the majority of cases, can be explained or lack
sufficient evidence for any explanation to be made. The only
incident this year [my emphasis] which has merited a
report, is the recent one of a radar sighting in Wigtownshire."
He added that DDI (Tech) had investigated 64 reports "in the
2 years ending 31st December 1956", three of which were
classed as "unidentified radar sightings" and three as
"unexplained sightings."
The following day, in a loose minute David West of S.6 asked DDI
(Tech) to "spell out" all the unexplained reports and
those still under investigation for 1956 and 1957. In his reply,
Peacock said during 1956 there had been "a total of six
unidentified flying objects were received [and] of this total
three were radar sightings." These he itemised as follows:
"One was made by the navigator of a Vulcan aircraft but the
captain was unable to make a visual sighting although the object
approached the aircraft. The duration of the sighting was 1 min
15 secs.
"Another, was a report of an unusual object on Lakenheath
Radar [USAF] which at first moved at a speed of between two and
four thousand knots and then remained stationary at an high
altitude. No visual contact was made with this object by the [RAF]
Venom sent to intercept it and other radars failed to pick it up.
"The third radar report was of an object on the screen at
Weathersfield [sic]. One of the two aircraft sent to intercept
made a momentary contact the other made no contact at all. No
other ground radars who scanned the area were able to find a
trace of any object." [10]
The DDI (Tech) summary does not provide dates for the three
incidents. Neither does it indicate if the second and third were
separate reports or were linked. Clearly, Peacock was drawing
upon detailed case records relating to all three incidents that
were in existence at that time (May 1957). The second incident
clearly relates in whole or part to the Lakenheath-Bentwaters
case of 13/14 August 1956, but makes no mention of the role
played by British radar in the tracking of the 'object' and
scramble of aircraft. Only one aircraft is mentioned, in a
context which is aimed at down-playing the extent and serious
nature of the incident.
Furthermore, the briefing suggests that radar detection was
confined to USAF radars at Lakenheath and that "other radars"
failed to confirm the report. Given the information now
available, this is at best misleading and at worst a
falsification of the official record. The briefing does, however,
indicate that the Lakenheath incident remained "unidentified"
in May 1957, nine months after it occurred.
Other than a brief reference in the operations diary of RAF No 23
Squadron, the only other official record that may be relevant to
the case is found in the minutes of the Joint Intelligence
Committee for 1957. The JIC was made up of the heads of
intelligence of all three services, along with representatives
from the Foreign Office, GCHQ, MI5 and the Secret Intelligence
Service (SIS or MI6). It met weekly to update the Prime Minister
and Chiefs of Staff on intelligence matters.
There are two references to UFOs ('Aerial Phenomena') in the JIC
minutes. The first, from April 1957 followed the Press furore
that surrounded the leaking of the radar incident at RAF West
Freugh to the Press. ACAS (I), Air Vice Marshal William McDonald,
was called upon to reassure the Committee there was nothing in
the recent reports to be concerned about. McDonald: "All
these phenomena had . . . been satisfactorily explained through
mistakes in radar interpretation, maladjustment of sets, as
balloons or even as aircraft." [11]
In a further contribution to the JIC's digest of intelligence (known
as 'The Red Book'), the Air Ministry referred to 16 UFO reports
received since 1 January 1957. It said ten had been explained,
two remained unexplained and four "are under investigation."
All four were radar sightings.
"In each, unusual behaviour of the radar blips in terms of
course, speed and heights were reported. Attempts are being made
to trace the course of these sightings to aircraft known to have
been near, inexperienced operators or spurious echoes of
unexplained origin."
Although no reference is made to unexplained reports made prior
to 1 January 1957, these comments are equally applicable to the
incidents at RAF Lakenheath and Bentwaters, of which McDonald
must have been aware at the time.
PRO References:
1. DEFE 44/119
2. DEFE 31/18, AIR 22/93
3. AIR 20/9994
4. Ibid
5. Ibid
6. DEFE 31/119
7. DEFE 31/118
8. Ibid
9. AIR 2/18654
10. AIR 20/9321
11. CAB 157/27