This is something that's intrigued me for a while and I was wondering if anyone might be able to shed any light on it (apologies in advance if it's already been covered - I've run a couple of searches and not found anything). The issue relates to several "documented" occasions in the late 1980s when witnesses experienced a mysterious unidentified aircraft landing at RAF Lakenheath under cover of darkness. According to one witness, police closed off Brandon Road (which runs past the end of Runway 24) while the plane came into land. What was more strange (according to the other witness) was that all lights on the base, except the runway lights, allegedly went out until the aircraft had taxied into a hangar/hardened shelter, after which all returned to normal.
Here's what witnesses said (full thread here: http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/archive/index.php?t-15036.html):
Witness One:
"The only mildly 'spooky' event at any regular RAF/USAF base in the UK in recent years (apart from the Boscombe crash) was at Lakenheath late one evening when the Brandon Road was closed in the late 1980s whilst two aircraft landed in the dark. One of these was taxiied straight into a HAS (on the old 495th FS site) and given very tight security. When, and under what circumstances, it left I have no idea."
Witness Two:
"I was camping out at Lakenheath when that happened to me. We were parked just south of the lights, on a forest track, about 20 yards off the Brandon road. It was a Saturday night at about 10.30, mid summer, in the late 1980s. The base was well lit up, when suddenly almost all the lights, apart from minimal lights on the runway went out. We thought this a bit odd as we were used to the lights blazing all night. Approaching from the other end we could see aircraft lights on the approach. The plane landed and taxied left off the runway and over to the far side of the base. We couldnt make out what it was but it wasnt an F111, too small a wingspan, and it was a very dark coloured aircraft. We couldnt really see a good outline of it. After taxying out of view all the lights came back on and all returned to normal. It was a strange experience."
Of course the reports might be a load of rubbish, but I don't see what anyone would have to gain from inventing these stories. Assuming the reports are true, the timescale could correspond to the F-117 which wasn't officially acknowledged (as far as I know) until 1988, and reportedly used RAF Binbrook too in the late '80s (how it wasn't seen there is beyond me!). And, dare I say it, it also corresponds, timewise at least, to Chris Gibson's 1989 sighting of the triangular aircraft over the North Sea, whatever that might have been?
So I'm thinking there are at least a couple of options, and probably more (perhaps very mundane), for what these aircraft landing at Lakenheath might have been, but I wondered if anyone on this forum might have any other knowledge/insights/hunches whatsoever? Thanks in advance for reading this rather lengthy post!
Here's what witnesses said (full thread here: http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/archive/index.php?t-15036.html):
Witness One:
"The only mildly 'spooky' event at any regular RAF/USAF base in the UK in recent years (apart from the Boscombe crash) was at Lakenheath late one evening when the Brandon Road was closed in the late 1980s whilst two aircraft landed in the dark. One of these was taxiied straight into a HAS (on the old 495th FS site) and given very tight security. When, and under what circumstances, it left I have no idea."
Witness Two:
"I was camping out at Lakenheath when that happened to me. We were parked just south of the lights, on a forest track, about 20 yards off the Brandon road. It was a Saturday night at about 10.30, mid summer, in the late 1980s. The base was well lit up, when suddenly almost all the lights, apart from minimal lights on the runway went out. We thought this a bit odd as we were used to the lights blazing all night. Approaching from the other end we could see aircraft lights on the approach. The plane landed and taxied left off the runway and over to the far side of the base. We couldnt make out what it was but it wasnt an F111, too small a wingspan, and it was a very dark coloured aircraft. We couldnt really see a good outline of it. After taxying out of view all the lights came back on and all returned to normal. It was a strange experience."
Of course the reports might be a load of rubbish, but I don't see what anyone would have to gain from inventing these stories. Assuming the reports are true, the timescale could correspond to the F-117 which wasn't officially acknowledged (as far as I know) until 1988, and reportedly used RAF Binbrook too in the late '80s (how it wasn't seen there is beyond me!). And, dare I say it, it also corresponds, timewise at least, to Chris Gibson's 1989 sighting of the triangular aircraft over the North Sea, whatever that might have been?
So I'm thinking there are at least a couple of options, and probably more (perhaps very mundane), for what these aircraft landing at Lakenheath might have been, but I wondered if anyone on this forum might have any other knowledge/insights/hunches whatsoever? Thanks in advance for reading this rather lengthy post!