The Lakenheath-Bentwaters Incident: The Radar Case Even the Sceptics Couldn’t Dismiss

Three de Havilland jets — two Vampires and a Venom — in formation over Switzerland in 1982; a Venom night fighter of the type scrambled from RAF Lakenheath in 1956

About 4 min readOn the night of 13–14 August 1956, radar at two airbases in Suffolk tracked objects moving at thousands of miles an hour, and an RAF night fighter chased a target that calmly moved behind it every time it turned. Even the Air Force’s own sceptical review called it a genuine unknown.