|
Top-secret details about hundreds of sightings of
Unidentified Flying Objects are to be released for public viewing in
response to the nation's continuing fascination with the
subject.
| |
 |
|
Top-secret details about UFO sightings are to be
released to the public |
The Ministry of Defence will release a total of 160
files dating back to that time to the National Archives in Kew.
The first files will be made available in Spring
2008 and the process is expected to take three years.
The MoD has received reports of over 10,000 UFO
sightings since the UFO project was set up in 1950.
After investigation, around 5 per cent remain
unexplained. According to Nick Pope, who ran the Ministry of Defence
UFO project from 1991 to 1994, some of the sightings are "highly
credible".
He decided to speak out about the failure to
seriously address the issue after resigning from his MoD post at the
Directorate of Defence Security last year.
He claimed that he and his staff spent their time
releasing documents in answer to Freedom of Information requests
from the media or members of the public instead of interviewing
witnesses to more credible sightings
It is understood that the MoD has decided to release
the documents because it receives more FoI requests on the subject
that on any other.
Mr Pope said that while he was initially sceptical
about UFOs, access to the classified files and investigation of a
series of spectacular UFO sightings - mainly by police and military
personnel - had changed his mind.
One such sighting was of a "vast, triangular-shaped
craft" firing a narrow beam of light onto the ground and emitting a
low-frequency humming sound that was spotted flying over RAF Cosford
in the West Midlands and RAF Shawbury in Shropshire in 1993.
In another incident, at the Twin Bases of RAF
Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk in December 1980, RAF staff
were sent to investigate a suspected plane crash after bright lights
were reported emanating from nearby woods.
They found a kind of lunar landing module standing
on three legs, decorated with strange hieroglyphic-type markings,
which then flew off.
The indents it left in the ground were examined the
next morning with a Geiger Counter and emitted ten times the normal
levels of radiation.
However, the Ministry of Defence does not attempt to
identify such aircraft unless it sees "evidence to suggest that UK
airspace has been compromised by hostile or unauthorised air
activity".
When the French government released all its UFO
files earlier this year, the dedicated website promptly crashed due
to the number of people trying to access the information.
Mr Pope said he expected to see similar a flurry of
interest in the files, which he predicted would convert some
sceptics.
"Whatever people think about UFOs, these documents
are fascinating and show how the MoD has researched and investigated
this mystery for nearly 60 years, without an answer," he said.
A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman confirmed the
documents would be released from next year. "There has always been a
great deal of interest in this subject," she said.
| 
