On the night of August 13, 1956, radar operators at RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk, then run by the US Air Force, tracked a target racing in from the sea at several thousand miles per hour, and later a group of targets that merged into one huge return. A trainer jet sent to look saw nothing.
Just before 11 p.m., another fast target crossed the base. A bright light was seen from the ground and passed beneath a C-47 flying overhead. Bentwaters warned RAF Lakenheath, 40 miles away, where staff saw luminous objects that changed course sharply and appeared to merge.
RAF Venom night fighters were scrambled. According to the Lakenheath radar supervisor, the first pilot locked on to a target, which then got behind him and followed his violent manoeuvres for about ten minutes; he was described as "pretty scared". The Condon Committee, which explained most cases, wrote that the probability that at least one genuine UFO was involved "appears to be fairly high".