John Burroughs

John Burroughs is a retired U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant and one of the key witnesses of the December 1980 Rendlesham Forest incident. Stationed at RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk, he was among the first security personnel to investigate strange lights in the forest and documented his observations in official witness statements. On 26 December 1980 he experienced a close encounter with an unidentified craft with long-term physiological consequences — and would later become the first person in U.S. history to receive full VA disability benefits for injuries sustained during a UAP encounter.

• Retired U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant stationed at RAF Woodbridge, Suffolk
• Among the first security personnel to investigate strange lights in Rendlesham Forest
• 26 December 1980: close encounter with an unidentified craft displaying unusual flight characteristics
• Physiological effects after the encounter; documented colored lights, animal disturbances and ground impressions at the site
• Years-long legal fight for access to his medical records held in a classified VA file
• First person in U.S. history to receive full VA disability benefits for UAP-related injuries; assisted by the office of Senator John McCain
• Co-author of Encounter in Rendlesham Forest (2014) with Jim Penniston; continues to speak publicly about the case and about health effects experienced by military UAP witnesses

For the UAP timeline, Burroughs is the U.S. military witness in whom state-recognised health consequences of a UAP encounter were first documented. His VA recognition sets a legal precedent that goes far beyond Rendlesham: what began as an anecdote in reports has, through him, become an insurance and pension case involving files, doctors and a senator's office — and therefore part of the American veterans' administration.