John Burroughs's medical records
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 8
| Date | 13 March 2015 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Government programs (topic) |
| People | Christopher "Kit" Green, John Burroughs, Charles Halt |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 181 |
| Year | 2015 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2015 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 14 |
John Burroughs was a U.S. Air Force security policeman at RAF Bentwaters in England and one of the key witnesses in the December 1980 Rendlesham Forest incident. He later developed serious heart problems that he attributed to his exposure during the encounter, and in 2015 the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs granted him full disability benefits after a long fight in which some of his medical records could not be obtained.[1][2]
The encounter and its aftermath
On the night of 26 December 1980 Burroughs was among the airmen who went into Rendlesham Forest, near the East Gate of RAF Woodbridge, to investigate strange lights. He later suffered heart damage requiring life-saving surgery in 2013, and has a pacemaker. He linked the damage to radiation exposure during the incident.[1][2]
The records fight
Burroughs sought disability benefits from the VA for years. He went through the offices of Senators Jon Kyl and John McCain to recover discharge papers placing him at the base in December 1980. His lawyer, Pat Frascogna, said that records denied to them, mostly from 1979 onwards, would probably show that Burroughs had no health problems when he joined the Air Force, and described some of them as classified. According to some accounts, CIA physician Kit Green, who reviewed the case, also said parts of the records had been classified. Burroughs relied partly on the British Ministry of Defence's declassified Project Condign study and on a contemporary document recording elevated radiation readings.[1][2][3]
The decision
In February 2015 the VA notified Burroughs that he had been granted a full service-connected disability award for his heart condition, based on 21 items of evidence that included his service medical records and documents on the Rendlesham Forest incident. Frascogna called it a de facto acknowledgement by the government that Burroughs had suffered adverse health effects. The VA said privacy law prevented it from discussing individual cases and that a grant of service connection should not be taken to imply anything beyond the medical requirements of the claim. Burroughs said it gave him some closure but that he still wanted unrestricted access to his full medical records.[1][2]
Rendlesham
Rendlesham remains Britain's best-known UFO case. Skeptics argue that the airmen saw the beam of the Orford Ness lighthouse and other lights, while witnesses including deputy base commander Colonel Charles Halt reject that explanation.[4]
People and topics
- Christopher "Kit" Green — CIA physician and analyst who became a long-time contact of Jacques Vallée and studied UAP-related injuries.
- Rendlesham Forest incident — Reports of lights and a craft near RAF Bentwaters in December 1980.
- John Burroughs — Air Force witness in the Rendlesham Forest incident.
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Rendlesham Forest — The English forest where U.S. airmen reported UFOs in December 1980.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Charles Halt — Deputy base commander at RAF Bentwaters during the Rendlesham Forest incident.
On the Timeline
- Bob Fish email on a Blue Book veteran (6 March 2015) — The same contractor tells Podesta about a Blue Book veteran he met.
- NRO "no UFO records" reply (2015) (5 November 2015) — The NRO tells a FOIA requester it has no UFO records.
See every 2015 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- "Did the VA just confirm UFO dangers?", Oliviero Mannucci (Mar 2015) · olivieromannucci.blogspot.com · archived copy
- "Medical payout for UFO mystery airman following Rendlesham Forest encounter", East Anglian Daily Times · eadt.co.uk · archived copy
- "Implications of John Burroughs's full V.A. medical coverage", NOUFORS · noufors.com · archived copy
- Rendlesham Forest incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Kit Green in Vallée's journals — Forbidden Science Dispatches · tannerfboyle.substack.com · archived copy
- Kit Green, Garry Nolan and UAP-related injuries — IBTimes · ibtimes.co.uk · archived copy
- Former CIA officer on UFO-related injuries — TweakTown · tweaktown.com · archived copy
- Kit Green — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Garry Nolan on UFO materials and Kit Green's patient studies (Vice interview) · exo.substack.com · archived copy
- Bloomington native tied to famous UFO case — WGLT · wglt.org · archived copy
- VA grants Rendlesham witness disability — Daily Caller News Foundation · dailycallernewsfoundation.org · archived copy
- The truth about Rendlesham — The Skeptic · skeptic.org.uk · archived copy
- Britain's latest UFO files raise new puzzles — NBC News · nbcnews.com · archived copy
- abovetopsecret.com · abovetopsecret.com · archived copy
Further reading
- UFO reports — The National Archives (UK) · nationalarchives.gov.uk · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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