The Halt Tape (Colonel Halt's Audio Tape Recording) -"Now were observing what appears to be a beam coming down to the ground!"
Sgt.Bustinza (talking on radio):….Bustinza To security Control…outta gas….East Gate
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK, we’re now approaching an area within about twenty-five to thirty-feet. What kind of readings are we getting…?
[Break in tape]
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Sgt. Nevels (operating geiger Counter): Just minor clicks.
Lt. Colonel Halt (repeating for tape): Just minor clicks…
[Break in tape]
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(Voice – accidentally added later on) Do you think it’s going to be a nice day today? Yeah I think so.
Lt. Colonel Halt: what are the impressions?
Sgt. Nevels: Just one, but…
Lt. Colonel Halt: Is that all the bigger they are?
Sgt. Nevels: Well, there’s one more well defined, over here.
Sgt. Bustinza (Radio): Sergeant Bustinza to security control…
Lt. Colonel Halt: We’re still getting clicks.
Sgt. Bustinza (radio): Sergeant Bustinza…We’re all outta gas…We’re at East Gate…East Gate over.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Can you read that on the scale?
Sgt. Nevels (still operating Geiger-counter): Yes sir. We’re now on a five-tenths scale and we’re reading about…Err…Third…Fourth.
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK, we’re comfortably safe here.
Sgt. Bustinza (Still having trouble with the radio): You don’t have a light-all or gas…or anything…duty security. Can you hear me? Sergeant…A light-all with gas…Please.
Lt. Englund (On duty flight chief): We’re still getting minor readings. We’re getting a good indentation.
Sgt. Bustinza (radio again): …Security D…to Security
Sgt. Nevels: This one’s dead.
Lt. Englund: Let’s go to the third one over here.
Sgt. Nevels: Sort of, what ever it is…
Sgt. Bustinza (still on radio): Sergeant Bustinza…Security…
Sgt. Nevels: Yes. Now getting some residual.
Lt. Colonel Halt: How can you read that? The meter’s definitely giving off pulse.
Lt. Englund: About the center.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Yes, I was gonna say, let’s go to the centre of the area next, see what kind of readings we get out there. Keep reading the clicks. I can’t hear the clicks. Guess you all…Is that about centre, Bruce??
Lt. (Bruce) Englund: Yes.
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK, let’s go to the centre.
Sgt. Nevels (Geiger Counter): Yes. I’m getting more…
Lt. Colonel Halt: That’s about the best deflection of the needle I’ve seen yet. OK, can you do estimation? We’re on a point-five scale. We’re getting …Having trouble reading the scale.
Lt. Englund: At, approximately 1.25 hours.
[Break in tape] *‘Chuck’ accidentally recorded into tape (chuck is short for Charles of course).
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Sgt. Nevels: We’re getting … at , err a half mill-roentgens.
[Break in tape] *Loud bang heard, not connected to tape
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Lt. Colonel Halt: …Best Point, I haven’t seen it go any higher.
Lt. Englund: Well, it’s still flying around (talking about Geiger-Counter)
Lt. Colonel Halt: Ok, we’ll go toward the..
Lt. Englund: Now it’s picking up!
Lt. Colonel Halt: This out toward the indentation where we first got the strongest readings. It’s similar to what we got in the centre.
Sgt. Nevels: Right near the pod. It’s right near the centre.
Lt. Englund: This looks like an area here across where there could be a blast. It’s in the centre.
Lt. Englund: It just jumped up towards seven …
Lt. Colonel Halt: What?
Lt. Englund: It just jumped towards seven tenths there.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Seven tenths, right there in the centre?
Lt. Englund: Ah, Ah.
Lt. Colonel Halt: We found a small blast what looks like a blasted or scuffed up area here.
We’re getting very positive readings. Let’s see, is that near the centre?
Lt. Englund: Yes it is.
Sgt. Nevels: Well, we assume it is.
Lt. Englund: This is right in the centre….dead centre…
Sgt. Nevels: picking up more as you go along the whole area there now…
Lt. Colonel Halt: Up to seven tenths.
Sgt. Bustinza (still on radio): fifty five, this is our last call.
Lt. Colonel Halt: or seven units. It’s going on the point five scale.
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: OK why don’t we do this, why don’t we make a sweep now I’ve got my gloves on now. Let’s make a sweep out around the whole area about ten foot out and make a perimeter run around it, starting right back at here at the corner, back at the same first corner where we came in. Let’s go right back here…. now I’m gonna have to depend upon you counting the clicks.
Lt. Englund: Right.
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK, get the light-all on it.
Lt. Englund: Let’s sweep around it
Sgt. Nevilles (referring to needle): It was flying
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: Put it on the ground every once in a while.
Lt. Englund: This looks like an abrasion on the tree.
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK, we’ll catch that on the way back, let’s go around
Lt. Englund: We’re getting interest right over here. It looks like it’s an abrasion pointing into the centre.
Lt. Colonel Halt: It is
Lt. Englund: …of the landing area.
Lt. Colonel Halt: it may be old though. There’s some sap marks or something like that. Let’s go on back around.
[Break in tape]
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Sgt. Nevels: It also gives some extension on it.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Hey, this is an awkward thing to use, isn’t it?
Sgt. Nevels: Normally you see I carry it on my…on my ears but this one broke (earpiece).
Lt. Colonel Halt: Are we getting any further? I’m gonna shut this recorder off until we find something.
Sgt. Nevels: Picking up
Lt. Colonel Halt: Picking up.. What are we up to? We’re up to two-three units deflection. You’re getting in close to the pod?
Sgt. Nevels: Picking up something …picking up.
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK. It’s still not going above three to four units.
Sgt. Nevels: Picking up more though, more frequent.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Yes, you’re staying – you’re staying steady up around two to three to four units now.
Sgt. Bustinza (Still on radio): 155 [military radio code?]
Lt. Englund: Each one of these trees is facing at a blast, what we assume is a landing site, all have abrasion facing in the same direction towards the centre. The same …
Lt. Colonel Halt: Let’s go around a circle here. Turn back down here.
Sgt. Ball: Try the other tree.
Sgt. Nevels: Picking up something …
Lt. Colonel Halt: Let me see that. You know I’ve got a funny …you’re worried about the abrasion. I’ve never seen a tree that’s, err..
Sgt. Ball: That’s a small sap mark
Lt. Colonel Halt: I’ve never seen a pine tree that’s been damaged, react that fast.
Sgt. Nevels: You got a bottle to put that in?
Lt. Colonel Halt: You got a sample bottle?
Lt. Englund: Yes put out the…that’s for the soil sample…
Sgt. Nevels: Yes Sir.
Lt. Colonel Halt: From now on let’s….let’s….
Lt. Englund: You’ll notice they’re all at the same…
Lt. Colonel Halt: Let’s, lets, lets identify that as point number one. That stake there. So you all know where it is if we have to sketch it. You got that Sergeant Nevilles?
Sgt. Nevels: Yes Sir. Closest to the Woodbridge.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Closest to the Woodbridge base.
Sgt. Nevilles: Be point one?
Lt. Colonel Halt: Be point one. Let’s go clockwise from there.
Sgt. Nevels: Point two?
Lt. Englund: Go ahead.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Point two. So this tree is between two and point three.
Sgt. Ball: Burroughs and two other personnel requesting …riding on a jeep, that err, your location.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Tell them negative at this time. We’ll tell them when they can come out here. We don’t want them out here right now.
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: OK the sample, you gonna want this sample number one? Have them cut it off, include some of that sap and all. is between indentation two and three on a pine tree about err …about five feet away …about three and half feet off the ground.
Sgt. Nevels: ……..I’ll just put it in there for now, I’ve got some more…
Lt. Colonel Halt: There’s a round abrasion on the tree about three and a half, four inches diameter. It looks like it might be old, but err, strange there’s a crystalline….pine sap that’s come that fast.
Sgt. Frail (sounds like his on a radio): Sergeant Frail
Lt. Colonel Halt: You say there are other trees that are damaged in a similar fashion?
Lt. Englund: Centre of the landing site
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK, why don’t you take a picture of that and remember your picture. Hey, I hope you’re writing this down. It’s gonna be on the tape.
Sgt. Nevels: You got a tape measure with you?
Lt. Colonel Halt: This is your picture, the first picture will be at the first tree, the one between err…mark two and three. Meantime, I’m gonna look at a couple of those trees over here.
[Break in tape]
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Sgt. Nevilles: We are getting some
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: We are getting readings on the tree. You’re taking samples from on the side facing the suspected landing site?
Lt. Englund: Four clicks max.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Up to four. Interesting. That’s right were you’re taking the sample now.
Lt. Englund: Four
Lt. Colonel Halt: That’s the strongest point on the tree?
Sgt. Nevels: Yes sir, and if you come to the back, there’s no clicks whatsoever.
Lt. Colonel Halt: No clicks at all in the back
Sgt. Nevels: Maybe one or two
Lt. Colonel Halt: It’s all on the side facing the …interesting.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Looks like it twisted as it got….as it sat down on it, looks like something twisted it from side to side.
Lt. Englund: Ah, Ah
Lt. Colonel Halt: Very strange. We’re at the same tree we took a sample of with this, what do you call it…the star scope.
Lt. Englund: Ah ah, Stargazer
Lt. Colonel Halt: Getting a definite heat reflection off the tree, about three to four feet off the ground?
Lt. Englund: Yes…the same side in….
Lt. Colonel Halt: the same place were the…is
Lt. Englund:…we’re getting heat directly behind us. I think we got the same thing off to your right.
Lt. Colonel Halt: There are three trees in the area immediately adjacent to the site within ten feet of the suspected landing site; we’re picking up heat reflection off the trees.
Lt. Englund: Shine the light on that Bob (Sgt. Bobby Ball)
Lt. Colonel Halt: What’s that again?
Lt. Englund: Well, shine the light on again Bob
Lt. Colonel Halt: Why, you having trouble finding it…turn the light on.
Lt. Englund: …then when you want em you’ll notice the white
*Humming sound is heard
Lt. Colonel Halt: Hey…
*Long gap with humming
Lt. Colonel Halt: You’re right there’s a white streak on the tree.
Lt. Englund: Indicates err…
Lt. Colonel Halt: Let’s turn around and look at this tree over here now. Just a second. Watch, because you’re right in front of the tree. I can see it. OK, give me a little side light so I can find the tree. OK, ahh…
Sgt. Bustinza (still on radio): Alpha 2 security
Lt. Colonel Halt: I’ve lost the tree.
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK stop! Stop! Light off. Hey, this is eerie.
Sgt. Ball: Why don’t you do the pods spots.
Lt. Colonel Halt: This is strange! Hey, does anyone wanna look at the spots on the ground? Whoops! Watch you don’t step…
Lt. Colonel Halt: you’re walking all over them. OK, let’s step back and don’t walk all over them. Come back here – somebody and put a beam on ‘em. You’re gonna have to be back about ten, fifteen feet. You see it.
Lt. Englund: OK fine…
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK, lights off.
[Break in tape]
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Accidentally Added over tape: He took this long to document…
Lt. Colonel Halt: What do you think about the spot?
Lt. Colonel Halt: Yeah
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: ….ready at the first spot? OK, that’s what we’ll call spot number three. let’s go in the back corner and get spot number one. Spot number one, here’s spot number one right there, spot number one right there. Do you need some light? There it is right here. …you focused?
Sgt. Nevilles: Focused
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK…looking at spot number one through the starlight scope.
Lt. Englund: Picking up a slight increase in light as I go over it
Lt. Colonel Halt: Slight increase in light in spot number one. Let’s go look at spot number two. Spot number two’s right over here. Right here, see it?
Lt. Englund: Slight increase
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK, get focused on it. Tell me when, OK lights on. Let’s see what we get on it.
Lt. Englund: Slight increase
Lt. Colonel Halt: Just a slight increase?
Lt. Englund: Try the centre
Lt. Colonel Halt: The centre spot, not really centre, slightly off centre. It’s right there.
Lt. Englund: Right here
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK, we’re gonna get your reading on it right there.
Lt. Englund: OK
Lt. Colonel Halt: Tell me when you’re ready.
Lt. Englund: Ready
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK lights on. It’s the centre spot we’re looking at now; almost the centre.
Lt. Englund: Getting a slight increase.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Slight increase there. This is slightly off centre toward the err. one – two side. It’s ..some type of abrasion or something in the ground were the pine needles are pushed back were we get a high radia…err high reading about a deflection of err, two to three, maybe four, depending on the point of it.
Lt. Englund: Someone wanna check it?
[Break in tape]
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Sgt. Nevels: Yes
Lt. Colonel Halt: Are you sure there’s a positive after effect?
Sgt. Nevels: Yes, there is, definitely. That’s on the centre spot, there is an after effect.
Lt. Englund: What does that mean?
Sgt. Nevels: It means that when the lights are turned off, once we all focused in, allowed time for the eyes to adjust, we are getting an indication of heat source coming out of that centre spot…as err… which will show up on the…
Lt. Colonel Halt: Heat or some form of energy, it’s hardly heat at this stage of the game.
Sgt. Nevels: But it is still heat…
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: Looking directly overhead, one can see an opening in the trees, plus some freshly broken pine branches on the ground underneath. Looks like some of them came off about fifteen to twenty feet up. Some small branches about inch or less in diameter.
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: 01.48. We’re hearing some strange sounds out of the farmers…
Sgt. Nevels: Twenty eight….seven…
Lt. Colonel Halt: barnyard animals. They’re very, very active and making an awful lot of noise.
Sgt. Nevels: definite pigmentation.
Lt. Colonel Halt: You saw a light? Slow down. Where, where?
Sgt. Nevilles (spots UFO): Right on this position here. Straight ahead in between the trees
Lt. Englund: There it is again……beginning of the gap…right there
Sgt. Nevels: It throw the hell off my flashlight there.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Hey I see it too. What is it?
Sgt. Nevels: We don’t know sir
Lt. Colonel Halt: OK, it’s a strange small red light, looks to be out maybe a quarter – half mile, maybe further out. I’m gonna switch off for a…
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: The light is gone now. It was approximately 120 degrees from the site.
Sgt. Nevels: It’s back again
Lt. Colonel Halt: Is it back again?
Sgt. Nevels: Yes sir
Lt. Colonel Halt: Well douse flashlights then. Let’s go back to the edge of the clearing then, so we can get a better look at it. See if you can get the starscope on it. The light’s still there and all the barnyard animals have gotten quiet now. We’re heading about 110 -120 degrees from the site, out through the clearing now. Still getting a reading on the meter about 2 clicks. Needles jumped 3-4 clicks getting stronger.
Sgt. Nevels: Now it’s stopped. Now it’s coming up. Hold on, here we go. Now it’s coming up about approximately 4 foot off the ground. The compass has 110 degrees.
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: Right, I just turned the meter off. Better say that again, about 4 feet off the ground, about a 110 degrees, getting the reading of about 4 clicks.
Sgt. Nevels: Yes sir…. *coughs* excuse me, now it’s died.
Lt. Colonel Halt: I…I think it’s something here on the ground. I think it’s something…..very large….
Sgt. Nevels: ….a tree right over…
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: We just bumped into the first light that we’ve seen. We’re about a 150-200 yards from the site. Everything else is just deathly calm. There’s no doubt about it, there’s some kind of strange flashing red light ahead.
Sgt. Nevels: Yeah, It’s yellow.
Lt. Colonel Halt: I saw a yellow tinge in it too. Weird. It appears to be making a little bit this way?
Sgt. Nevels: Yes sir
Lt. Colonel Halt: It’s brighter than it has been…It’s coming this way. It’s definitely coming this way.
Sgt. Ball: Pieces are shooting off!
Lt. Colonel Halt: Pieces of it are shooting off.
Sgt. Ball: at about 11 oclock (12 oclock being directly up, 3 oclock being to the right etc.)
Lt. Colonel Halt: There’s no doubt about it – this is weird!
Sgt. Ball: Look to the left!
Sgt. Nevels: There’s two lights. One light to the right and one light to the left.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Keep your flash light off. There’s something very, very strange. Check the headset out see if it gets any stronger. Give us…
Sgt. Nevels: OK, I have an indication that this is a vague reading too
Lt. Colonel Halt: A vague reading?
Sgt. Nevels: The ? has been removed
[Break]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: OK, pieces are falling off it again
Sgt. Ball: It just moved to the right…went off to the right
Lt. Colonel Halt: Yeah ….strange, Ahh.
Lt. Englund: Went off to the right.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Strange. One again left. Let’s approach the edge of the woods at that point. Can we do without lights? Let’s do it carefully, come on… OK we’re looking at the thing, we’re probably about 2-3 hundred yards away. It looks like an eye winking at you, it’s still moving from side to side and when we put the star scope on it, it’s sort of a hollow centre right, a dark centre, it’s…
Lt. Englund: It’s like a pupil…
Lt. Colonel Halt: It’s like the pupil of an eye looking at you, winking…and the flash is so bright to the Star scope, err…. it almost burns your eye.
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: We’ve passed the farmer’s house and are crossing the next field and we now have multiple sightings of up to five lights with a similar shape and all, but they seem steady rather than pulsating a glow with a red flash. We’ve just crossed the creek…
Lt. Englund: Here we go…
Lt. Colonel Halt: What kinda readings are we getting now? We’re getting three good clicks on the meteor and we’re seeing strange lights in the sky.
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: 2.44: We’re at the far side of the farmers, the second farmers field and made sighting again about 110 degrees. This looks clear out to the coast. It’s right on the horizon. Moves about a bit and flashes from time to time. Still steady and red in colour. Also, after negative readings in the field, we’re picking up slight readings 4-5 clicks now on the meter.
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: 3.05: We see strange err, strobe like flashes to the err … almost sporadic, but there’s definitely something there, some kind of phenomena.
3.05: At about err..10 degrees horizon err directly north, we got two strange objects, err..half moon shape, dancing about with coloured lights on them. but err. it has to be about 5-10 miles out, maybe less. The half moons have now turned into full circles as though there was an e…eclipse or something there for a minute or two.
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: 3.15: Now we’ve got an object about ten degrees directly south…
Sgt. Nevels: There’s one to the left
Lt. Colonel Halt: 10 degrees off the horizon, and the ones to the north are moving, one’s moving away from us.
Sgt. Nevels It’s moving out fast
Lt. Colonel Halt: They’re moving out fast.
Sgt. Ball: There’s one on the right chasing away too.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Yeah, they’re both heading north. H…here he comes from the south; he’s coming in toward us now!
Sgt. Ball: Sh*t.
Lt. Colonel Halt: Now were observing what appears to be a beam coming down to the ground!
[Excited discussion in background]
Sgt. Ball: …Colours…Sh*t.
Lt. Colonel Halt: This is unreal!
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: 3.30: And the objects are still in the sky, although the one to the south looks like it’s loosing a little bit of altitude. We’re turning around and heading back toward the base. The object to the…the object to the south is still beaming down lights to the ground.
[Break in tape]
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Lt. Colonel Halt: 0:400 Hours one object still hovering over the Woodbridge base at about 5-10 degrees off the horizon. Still moving erratic and similar lights beaming down as earlier