MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
News Release (074/2008) issued by The Government News Network on 14
May 2008
The first in a
series of UFO files, dating back to the 1970s, have been released
on The National Archives' website today, Wednesday 14 May
2008.
The Ministry of Defence files include descriptions of
alleged Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon or "UFO"
sightings and subsequent MoD evaluations of the reports.
To date, independent experts have concluded that there are
realistic explanations behind alleged UFO reports, such as
aircraft lights or natural phenomena. Reports are examined by the
Ministry of Defence solely to establish whether UK airspace may
have been compromised by hostile or unauthorised military
activity. If required, sighting reports are examined with the
assistance of the Department's air defence experts. Unless
there is evidence of a potential threat, no further work is
undertaken to identify the nature of each sighting reported.
The Ministry of Defence has no other interest or role regarding
UFO matters and does not consider questions regarding the
existence or otherwise of extraterrestrial life-forms.
The MoD receives a large number of requests each year for
information relating to UFOs, so to meet demand a new system has
been introduced to release these files in a structured way. The
rest of the files are currently under review and will be added to
The National Archives over the next three years.
The MoD already releases information on sightings which, and this
can be found on the MoD website, through the FOI Disclosure Log.
Notes to Editors
1. The released files can be seen on The National Archive
website: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
2. The files will be available to download free for the first
month, after which The National Archives will charge for the
publication of these files.
3. The MoD will be releasing these documents to The National
Archives over a period of three years.
4. The files are compiled by Directorate of Air Staff and Defence
Intelligence Staff.