Two nights after Christmas, 1980, and the American servicemen of Combat Support Group were letting off steam in the early hours at Woody s Bar.
An awards dinner was still in full swing and beer was flowing in the hut at RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk.
No one paid much attention to the white-faced young airman who slipped into the bar and beckoned to his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt.
Halt left the table. The junior officer, Lieutenant Bruce Englund, looked nervous and confused: It s back, sir, he said over the hubbub. The UFO it s back.
A Vietnam veteran and deputy commander of the camp, Halt was exasperated. Rumours of a bizarre sighting in the woods had been rife on the twin bases at RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwaters, near Ipswich, which were shared with the U.S. Air Force.