👽 The History of Aliens at Rendlesham

Visitors to Rendlesham Forest parkrun may be slightly surprised to discover an alien waiting for them in the forest.

His name is Ziggy.

Ziggy and a Mini Ziggy beside the Rendlesham Forest parkrun banner — Ziggy and Mini Ziggy at Rendlesham Forest parkrun.

From course marker to local celebrity

Ziggy is a five-foot inflatable alien who became part of the character of Rendlesham Forest parkrun. His original job was a practical one: he was used as a highly visible course marker, helping parkrunners and walkers find the right way through the forest. It is, after all, considerably harder to miss a large green alien than an ordinary sign.

Before long Ziggy had become much more than course furniture. He was photographed, talked about and recognised by regulars and visitors alike. The alien theme became one of the things that made a visit to Rendlesham Forest distinctive.

Three inflatable aliens posing in a Rendlesham Forest picture frame — Aliens have become part of the scenery at Rendlesham Forest.

And then came the Mini Ziggys

Eventually, one alien was not enough.

Smaller Mini Ziggys began accompanying parkrun tourists away from Rendlesham Forest. What started as a bit of fun at one event became a travelling population of little green ambassadors, visiting parkruns around the UK and much further afield.

Three inflatable aliens peeking over the side of a trolley in Rendlesham Forest — Ready for another deployment from Mini Ziggy HQ.

The Mini Ziggys now travel with companions, appear in photographs and build up their own record of places visited. This website records those journeys: where they landed, who travelled with them and the events they visited.

Why aliens?

The choice of an alien for Rendlesham Forest was not random. To understand why it fits the event so well, we have to go back to December 1980.

The Rendlesham Forest Incident

In late December 1980, unusual lights were reported in and around Rendlesham Forest, close to the RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwaters air bases. United States military personnel stationed in the area were among those who reported the events.

Accounts from the period described strange lights in the forest and, in some versions of the story, a mysterious object among the trees. The events became known as the Rendlesham Forest Incident and went on to become one of Britain's best-known alleged UFO encounters.

Exactly what happened remains disputed. Explanations proposed over the years have ranged from misidentified lights and other ordinary causes to the much more extraordinary suggestion of an extraterrestrial craft.

The UFO sculpture on the Rendlesham Forest UFO trail — The UFO sculpture in Rendlesham Forest, part of the modern trail recalling the events of December 1980.

Whatever the explanation, the incident became part of Rendlesham's identity. More than four decades later, visitors still come to the forest because of the story, and the UFO connection is now firmly embedded in local folklore.

For a much more in-depth look at the Rendlesham Forest mystery, see The Guardian's analysis: “The Rendlesham Forest mystery: ‘It’s the perfect storm of a UFO case’” .

So when Rendlesham Forest parkrun needed something memorable to help people find their way around the course, an alien was a particularly appropriate choice.

From visitors to travellers

The story has now been turned on its head. In 1980 the mystery was about something unusual allegedly arriving in Rendlesham Forest. Today our aliens are heading out from it.

A group of inflatable aliens being transported in a trolley through Rendlesham Forest — Transport to the landing zone.

Mini Ziggys travel with parkrunners, meet new companions and turn up at events around the world. Each new photograph adds another small chapter to a story that began with one oversized green course marker in a Suffolk forest.

The mystery of what happened in Rendlesham Forest in 1980 may never be completely settled. But we can be considerably more certain about where the Mini Ziggys have been. 👽🌍