An ex-U.S. air force chief has given an astonishing account of an encounter with a UFO at an air force base in Suffolk. Charles Halt is one of a number of senior former airmen who went public today over claims that UFOs had tampered with nuclear missiles in the U.S. and the UK. Mr Halt, who retired in 1991, told a press conference that he was working at RAF Bentwater near Rendelsham in Suffolk in 1980 when he had the terrifying encounter. He said that early one morning in December 1980 several of his base's security forces saw lights in the forest near Woodbridge. Two patrolman were sent out to approach the craft which they described as 'triangular, dark metallic in appearance', Mr Halt said. It quickly and silently 'vanished at high speed'. A few weeks later Mr Halt was told by his boss that the lights were back and so he went back out into the forest with a couple of policeman, a camera and a cassette recorder. At the site he saw 'indentations of around six to eight feet wide' and increased levels of radiation as well as broken branches on the trees. Mr Halt said: 'Milling around, one of the individuals saw a bright glowing object like an eye. It would appear to be winking and was shedding molten metal and silently moving through the trees and at one point it actually approached us.' He said that the object then exploded into five white objects which became visible in the sky. They were brightly coloured changing from elliptical to round as if they were moving at very high speed. 'Suddenly one of the objects sent a concentrated beam at the feet of the terrified men. 'Was this a warning? An attempt to communicate? A weapon? Then just as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared,' he said. The entire incident was categorised as a British affair because it had happened off base, Mr Halt said. (Daily Mail)