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Left at East Gate: A First-hand Account of the Bentwaters-Woodbridge UFO Incident, Its Cover-up & Investigation
On three successive nights in late December 1980, England's rural Suffolk, East Anglia, was the setting for what is now seen as the most significant military-UFO incident in the history of Great Britain. Left At East Gate is the most comprehensive account ever published on this--or any other such incident and marks the first time an authentic, fully documented military eyewitness has co-authored a book. Nor does his account stand alone: physical evidence, official documentation, and the accounts of other military and civilian witnesses also appear here--many never before published.
490 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 17, 2010
In the week between Christmas and New Year's 1980, Larry Warren and several of his young green colleagues -- American military security officers barely out of their teens and more interested in rock and roll and beer than in weighty questions about the universe -- were sent out into the cold English night away from the Bentwaters and Woodbridge airbases maintained by the US Air Force to go to a place they weren't supposed to be: English turf, namely, the Rendelsham Forest less than a mile away. Strange lights had been seen there; observed by local police, citizenry and US military trackers. As they approached, they noticed animals fleeing in all directions in terror. The powerful spotlights brought to the scene to illuminate the phenomena refused for some unknown reason to work. UFOs were seen to shine light beams into the areas where nuclear weapons were stored on the bases.
It was the third and final night of the UFO flap when Warren claims to have witnessed superior officers Col. Halt as well as a Col Williams standing near a bright amorphous craft that seemed to have emerged from a sudden explosion of light that caused retinal burns to Warren and his peers. During the strange dreamlike encounter -- as the military cordon surrounded the multi-colored craft -- Warren claims to have seen military cameramen filming and photographing the event, in which three tiny silver aliens floated from the craft before the whole thing disappeared.
The Bentwaters-Woodbridge, or Rendlesham Forest UFO Incident, as it's variously known, is considered the "Roswell" or non plus ultra of British UFO cases. It was experienced by a large number of military and civilian witnesses. And yet, for years, almost nobody in that pool of eyewitnesses had the courage to come forward. Cameras were confiscated, locals and military men were told to keep their mouths shut.
This book about the Rendelsham close encounter case is a difficult book to classify and even to describe. It is written by two men -- Warren, whose life became a bit of a shambles as the result of this incident and its bizarre aftermath in which he seems to have been harassed by officials with the National Security Agency -- and by Peter Robbins, a then-neophyte UFO enthusiast and erstwhile writer. The book is just as much an autobiography of Warren's Baby Boomer life (marked by much UFO high strangeness) and a document of Warren's and Robbins' up-and-down friendship during the grueling years of researching the book as it is an account of the Rendelsham incident, per se.
The book is, in fact, a bit of a mess -- a two-ton gorilla of a UFO book in which nothing seems to have been left out and much is repeated or introduced rather confusingly over its excessive length. The book alternates between Warren's various autobiographical ramblings and Robbin's dogged attempts to find documented and oral historical evidence to support his friend's claims, and throws in various chronologies and lengthy interviews that break up the narrative, or are meant to support it. Along the way there are speculations that could fuel several decades' worth of episodes of the X-files, including collaborations between the British and US governments and aliens, secret underground bases, strange men in fancy cars who beat up witnesses, denials of passports, reprisals by the IRS, hypnotic regressions, induced hallucinations, destroyed lives and suicides, the destruction of corroborating military records of the case and the disappearance of Warren's own service files, UFO researcher egos and turf wars, a freak storm that felled the Rendelsham Forest in 1987 and may have been a Reichian Orgone weather weapon experiment gone awry, and on and on.
This book, after a rather dull start, does eventually pull one into its labyrinth of conspiracies and coverups and whistleblowers taking on the almighty national security machine, but frankly, I would rather have a tighter, more narrative driven account that takes in the full three days of the Rendelsham incident from more points of views and angles. This one is Larry Warren-centric, which is fine, but it's only one part of the story.
I have to say that much is made of the fact in the book that Warren has come under a great deal of scrutiny and criticism by debunkers, but this book does a good job of defending him and presenting his story. I certainly believe him more than anyone in the secret government.
I'm looking forward to reading a really great book about this famous UFO case. This was an interesting start.
It was the third and final night of the UFO flap when Warren claims to have witnessed superior officers Col. Halt as well as a Col Williams standing near a bright amorphous craft that seemed to have emerged from a sudden explosion of light that caused retinal burns to Warren and his peers. During the strange dreamlike encounter -- as the military cordon surrounded the multi-colored craft -- Warren claims to have seen military cameramen filming and photographing the event, in which three tiny silver aliens floated from the craft before the whole thing disappeared.
The Bentwaters-Woodbridge, or Rendlesham Forest UFO Incident, as it's variously known, is considered the "Roswell" or non plus ultra of British UFO cases. It was experienced by a large number of military and civilian witnesses. And yet, for years, almost nobody in that pool of eyewitnesses had the courage to come forward. Cameras were confiscated, locals and military men were told to keep their mouths shut.
This book about the Rendelsham close encounter case is a difficult book to classify and even to describe. It is written by two men -- Warren, whose life became a bit of a shambles as the result of this incident and its bizarre aftermath in which he seems to have been harassed by officials with the National Security Agency -- and by Peter Robbins, a then-neophyte UFO enthusiast and erstwhile writer. The book is just as much an autobiography of Warren's Baby Boomer life (marked by much UFO high strangeness) and a document of Warren's and Robbins' up-and-down friendship during the grueling years of researching the book as it is an account of the Rendelsham incident, per se.
The book is, in fact, a bit of a mess -- a two-ton gorilla of a UFO book in which nothing seems to have been left out and much is repeated or introduced rather confusingly over its excessive length. The book alternates between Warren's various autobiographical ramblings and Robbin's dogged attempts to find documented and oral historical evidence to support his friend's claims, and throws in various chronologies and lengthy interviews that break up the narrative, or are meant to support it. Along the way there are speculations that could fuel several decades' worth of episodes of the X-files, including collaborations between the British and US governments and aliens, secret underground bases, strange men in fancy cars who beat up witnesses, denials of passports, reprisals by the IRS, hypnotic regressions, induced hallucinations, destroyed lives and suicides, the destruction of corroborating military records of the case and the disappearance of Warren's own service files, UFO researcher egos and turf wars, a freak storm that felled the Rendelsham Forest in 1987 and may have been a Reichian Orgone weather weapon experiment gone awry, and on and on.
This book, after a rather dull start, does eventually pull one into its labyrinth of conspiracies and coverups and whistleblowers taking on the almighty national security machine, but frankly, I would rather have a tighter, more narrative driven account that takes in the full three days of the Rendelsham incident from more points of views and angles. This one is Larry Warren-centric, which is fine, but it's only one part of the story.
I have to say that much is made of the fact in the book that Warren has come under a great deal of scrutiny and criticism by debunkers, but this book does a good job of defending him and presenting his story. I certainly believe him more than anyone in the secret government.
I'm looking forward to reading a really great book about this famous UFO case. This was an interesting start.
April 20, 2020
Despite Larry Warren’s chequered reputation, his co author on this book has dropped him like a stone in recent years for example, this book is still an interesting read. My personal take on it is that in spurts it still adds something worthwhile to the Rendlesham Forest UFO story. Those that are initiated will probably know which parts of the book are probably not true. For those just starting to look into this fascinating case i would say start with either Georgina Bruni’s 'You Can’t Tell The People' or Nick Pope’s book.
There has been lots of jockeying for position between the main players in this case, some witnesses testimony has gotten slightly more fruity as the years have passed, others look like they might have been toning down what they saw, all of them had military careers/livelihoods to consider. This is why i am not quite ready to completely throw Larry Warren to the wolves.
I believe that Gary Heseltine is making a film about the above, with Warren’s involvement, though it appears to have been delayed...
There has been lots of jockeying for position between the main players in this case, some witnesses testimony has gotten slightly more fruity as the years have passed, others look like they might have been toning down what they saw, all of them had military careers/livelihoods to consider. This is why i am not quite ready to completely throw Larry Warren to the wolves.
I believe that Gary Heseltine is making a film about the above, with Warren’s involvement, though it appears to have been delayed...
January 24, 2014
I knew only a little about the Rendlesham Forest incident, so was intrigued to read this. But I don't know that I'm much the wiser. In fact, I don't know anything. That's the problem with an event like this. Something happened that has never been satisfactorily explained. There was a cover-up. Beyond that....
The book itself is a bit of a mess. Warren is credible up to a point, but when it emerges that he was prone to seeing UFOs and aliens before all this, one's trust starts to slip. There were plenty of other witnesses, which lends credence to his account. But ..... I still don't know.
The book itself is a bit of a mess. Warren is credible up to a point, but when it emerges that he was prone to seeing UFOs and aliens before all this, one's trust starts to slip. There were plenty of other witnesses, which lends credence to his account. But ..... I still don't know.
October 2, 2016
I met Larry Warren at a BUFORA conference some years ago. A most unassuming man, at no time did he try to 'force' me to accept the events in the book. Rather, he calmly stated that he knew what had happened and it was up to me if I believed what he wrote about the incident. Maybe a clever distraction on his part but I believe him and that his account is the truth about what happened from his perspective.
February 25, 2018
Having lived close by to the near mystical event at Bentwaters Air Base, I gotta say that it's some queer folklore that went down there in the early eighties. As ever with firsthand accounts of the bizarre, you takes your chances with the info, but whatever happened over those nights, it seems that Larry has been through a wringer that didn't start with a heavy handshake on some dodgy street corner earlier that evening. Dismiss at your pleasure, but do make a little time for Larry in your life.
May 1, 2021
Even though this book has been widely discredited...it was pretty fun to read.
December 31, 2022
If I am not mistaken, much of this story has been debunked. Although I did find it to be a good read.
February 2, 2010
This was one of the books Mike Miley brought along during a marathon visit from San Francisco to his former roommate (me!) in Chicago. Indeed, he had a very large suitcase filled with books during that visit, a suitably black suitcase which he insisted on carrying up to my cabin in Michigan as he intended to read them all.
He didn't. Probably no one could have. There were a lot of books in that bag, mostly about UFOs as Michael was just beginning to publish in the field, becoming, if he wasn't already, an editor of UFO Magazine, a job which paid virtually nothing, but did cover expenses for conferences and some relevant travel.
Michael being one of my best and oldest friends and UFOs having been a bit of an obsession in elementary school, I tried, and still try, to keep up with the material. The big bag meant a big selection. This was good because some UFO books are terribly written, poorly researched (if not fabricated) and/or questionably sane. But there are exceptions, authors like the physicist Stanton Friedman coming to mind.
Judging by the records before me, I read six of the books in Michael's bag during his visit, one of them being Warren's.
Left at East Gate is not poorly written. Coauthor Peter Robbins is a professional writer. The research behind it, however, is questionable, Warren's credibility being poor. Something did indeed happen at Rendlesham. There are many witnesses, even a tape recording made by the Deputy Base Commander. The British admitted to taking it seriously. Indeed, official US admissions only followed upon British. But a lot of the other testimony and evidence is not in this book which follows the trajectory of Warren's supposed involvement. At the time this was new to me and less was known than is now. It would be interesting to see how the new edition of this book has taken into account more recent developments.
He didn't. Probably no one could have. There were a lot of books in that bag, mostly about UFOs as Michael was just beginning to publish in the field, becoming, if he wasn't already, an editor of UFO Magazine, a job which paid virtually nothing, but did cover expenses for conferences and some relevant travel.
Michael being one of my best and oldest friends and UFOs having been a bit of an obsession in elementary school, I tried, and still try, to keep up with the material. The big bag meant a big selection. This was good because some UFO books are terribly written, poorly researched (if not fabricated) and/or questionably sane. But there are exceptions, authors like the physicist Stanton Friedman coming to mind.
Judging by the records before me, I read six of the books in Michael's bag during his visit, one of them being Warren's.
Left at East Gate is not poorly written. Coauthor Peter Robbins is a professional writer. The research behind it, however, is questionable, Warren's credibility being poor. Something did indeed happen at Rendlesham. There are many witnesses, even a tape recording made by the Deputy Base Commander. The British admitted to taking it seriously. Indeed, official US admissions only followed upon British. But a lot of the other testimony and evidence is not in this book which follows the trajectory of Warren's supposed involvement. At the time this was new to me and less was known than is now. It would be interesting to see how the new edition of this book has taken into account more recent developments.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews