Logo of the Ministry of Defence (image credit: Ministry of Defence)

Yesterday the British National Archives released another batch of UFO files. In an effort to show that they are forthcoming with their research on UFOs, and to demonstrate that there is no national security issue related to the phenomena, they have been releasing files in batches for the last few years. However, each time a batch is released, they seem to demonstrate that there is a national security issue here, and that others have written the Ministry of Defense with their concerns.

The biggest story to come out of these files has been the story of a man who claims his grandfather was Churchill’s body guard who had overheard Churchill being concerned about this issue, so much so he order the issue to be kept secret (read more here). However, there are a number of other interesting reports as well. Along with the files comes a highlight document which gives a short description of some of the sightings that may be of interest to the public. Many of these descriptions adequately cover the gist of the report. While others have very interesting contents and news clippings when you look at the reports themselves.

I have taken the more interesting descriptions and reproduced them below, as for the cases that needed further description, or whose content bore more interesting information, I have also included that.

Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) papers on UFOs

A JIC meeting in April 1957 was addressed by the Air Ministry’s head of air intelligence – Air Vice Marshal Bill McDonald – on unexplained aerial phenomena. He said four incidents involving radar tracking of UFOs remained unexplained. Papers were released to a member of the public in 1999: DEFE 24/2013 (p257-60).

This is one of those cases that seems to clearly indicate that there should be a security concern. In this intelligence meeting they admitted that of the 16 UFO reports investigated, 25% were unexplained. The reported included these two points:

7. Reports of unidentified flying objects are received at the rate of approximately one a week. Since 1^st January, 1957, sixteen reports from official and unofficial sources have been received. A satisfactory explanation has been found to account for ten of these incidents, two remain unexplained and the remaining four are still under investigation.

10. The remaining four incidents still under investigation are all radar sightings. In each, unusual behaviour of the radar blips in terms of course, speed and heights were reported. Attempts are being made to trace the cause of these sightings to aircraft known to have been near, inexperienced operators or spurious echoes of unexplained origin.

Manchester airport UFO

Illistration of UFO near miss. (image credit: Daily Mail)

DEFE 24/2042 (p 182-83) contains a copy of the Civil Aviation Authority’s Airmiss Working Party report on a near-miss with an “unidentified object” reported by the captain and first officer of a 737 approaching Manchester airport on 6 January 1995. The investigation failed to identify the object. DEFE 24/1991 (p264) contains a sketch by a member of the public showing a UFO “20 times the size of a football field” allegedly seen from the ground on the same day.

This became a famous case when the pilots in this incident spoke to the public. Although these gentlemen had reported a near miss of a commercial aircraft with an unidentified object, the MoD’s response was that, “I discussed the matter with Departmental air defence experts who confirmed that they were not aware of anything which would indicate a matter of defence significance associated with the sighting… .”

Drawing by pilots of UFO that nearly missed their commercial airline.

Drawing by ground witness to near miss.

Western Isles incident (October 1996)

Following reports of a loud explosion in the sky over the Atlantic Ocean in the Outer Hebrides, HM Coastguard launched a major air-sea rescue operation. No trace of any wreckage was found and no aircraft reported missing. A statement on the incident is at DEFE 24/1991(p156) and a response to a Parliamentary Question from Western Isles MP Callum McDonald is at DEFE 24/2004 (p309-10).

Included in their response to the questioning of MP Callum McDonald was that there was a thorough investigation, besides those involved with the search, there were no military in the area, and they abandoned the search once they were convinced there were no missing planes. They noted that the media had been speculating the event was due to space debris, but the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System at the Fylindales Royal Air Force (RAF) base, which tracks satellites, had no evidence to support that theory.

Peak District incident (March 1997)

Reports of mysterious sonic booms and an aircraft crashing into the Peak District hills, on the border between South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, triggered a search of moorland by the police, RAF and mountain rescue teams. No wreckage was found and no aircraft reported missing. An RAF police investigation concluded space debris or meteorites may have been responsible. These papers can be found in DEFE 24/1993 (p83-4) and DEFE 24/2013 (p40-42, p261-64).

One of the papers in this file was from a concerned citizen who noted that since the investigation had determined the sonic boom was not caused by RAF or NATO aircraft, it should be a concen because it might be a potential threat to UK airspace. He also requested information about UFO sightings in the timeframe of the booms. He was told that no UFO reports were received.

Michael Howard UFO (March 1997)

Sightings of a black triangular UFO over the home of the shadow Home Secretary in Folkestone, Kent reached the media in 1998. The Home Office told MoD they had no record of any “security incident” at Mr Howard’s home during the week in question. See DEFE 24/1926 (p13, p18, p74-75) and DEFE 24/2013 (p10).

This sighting was witnessed by a journalist, and was also covered by the media.

Article on the March 1997 sighting. (image credit: Daily Mail)

You can download the UK files here. Unlike U.S. government documents, the UK files are only free for a limited time.

Winston Churchill

The U.K. National Archives have released another batch of UFO files today. The big story hitting the press has been a letter by a scientist to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), requesting information on a UFO sighting that prompted a discussion between Churchill and Eisenhower that resulted in Churchill declaring the matter to be kept secret for 50 years.

The letter stated, “Mr. Churchill is reported to have made a declaration to the effect of the following: ‘This event should be immediately classified since it would create mass panic among the general population and destroy one’s belief in the Church’.”

The unnamed scientist claims he came across this information via his mother, who had originally heard the story from her father, the scientist’s grandfather. The grandfather had been the personal bodyguard of Churchill during World War II. He had overheard the discussions on the matter. The UFO sighting in question had to do with a reconnaissance mission in which an RAF airplane had been paced by a silvery metallic object for a period of time until the object shot off into the distance. Photographs of the object were taken.

The scientist makes it clear that he doesn’t believe in UFOs and thinks the idea to be unfounded; however he is interested for a purely scientific reason. He wants the technology to be released, and even offered his help in analyzing whatever technology was observed that day.

The MoD politely responded that UFO records from before 1967 were destroyed because they held no public interest. They also added that Churchill’s only interest in UFOs was addressed in a report that debunked the phenomena.

However, this is not the only interesting report to be found in the files. There are stories about radar reports on UFOs, and other UFO sightings. Check back soon, OpenMinds.tv will be covering some of these other interesting UK UFO investigations.

St. Botolph's church spire, which the Ministry of Defence believes may have caused a false radar hit during the Boston sighting.

The British government recently released another batch of declassified UFO documents, and this set is the biggest yet. Over 6000 files were released with some notable sightings, including an incident where police officers and the Coast Guard reported a UFO which was also tracked on radar over the town of Boston in Lincolnshire, Britain.

According to the Air Force report, UFO sightings began coming in on the morning of October 5th, 1996. Police in Boston as well as the nearby town of Skegness were able to confirm a bright flashing light over the Boston area that changed colors. Police called the Coast Guard, who confirmed the strange flashing lights. Radar at several locations registered a hit over Boston, including the radar at nearby Neatishead Royal Air Force base.

The report stated that video was taken and was to be sent to Neatishead, it was believed to be of a poor quality. Whether the video actually made it to the RAF base, or if it was further analyzed is unknown.

The Air Force’s final conclusion was that the witnesses had seen Venus, and that the radar hits were due to a tall permanent, geological feature. The report concluded that the sighting was of no significance and was not related to an actual aerial vehicle.

Apparently the sightings had caused inquiries to the press and defense offices were instructed to stick to the following statement: “All available sources of information have been examined and we are satisfied that the sightings were not of air defence significance. We are content that there was no associated threat to UK airspace.”

A map of Boston, Skegness, and the Wash (Google Maps).

There were no further reports in the files of the police and coast guard mistaking Venus for a UFO in conjunction with radar returns.

Drawing from the Ministry of Defence.

Although cases such as this are included in these reports, the British government has closed down their UFO reporting hotline. There are many other cases involving credible witnesses in these files. According to Nick Pope, who worked for the Ministry of Defense investigating UFOs, many of these demonstrate significant events that the MOD should be concerned with.

With such an increase in reports, why would the MOD shut down their investigation? According to the website that used to direct Britain citizens to the UFO hotline, it was shut down because “…in over fifty years, no UFO report has revealed any evidence of a potential threat to the United Kingdom.” It goes on to further state that spending resources in this area is inappropriate and “diverts MOD resources from tasks that are relevant to Defence.”

However, the reports released by the MOD today tell a different story. In May of 2009 a pilot reported a 20-30 foot “shiny black flying cylinder” that flew 200 feet above his airplane. In August a Royal Navy Air Traffic Controller reported seven silent lights that emitted an orange light. They traveled at 100 knots, and took a right hand turn. In November, an Ex-Royal Navy Commander reported seeing an orange orb moving at a “substantial” speed.

These three cases are some of the best examples of witnesses with “relevant” occupations. Other sighting reports contain more strange objects moving in ways which conventional aircraft would not.

The British government has been releasing documents for the past year. One of the reports that made the most worldwide headlines was regarding a US fighter pilot who was ordered to shoot down a UFO while he was stationed at the Manston Royal Air Force base in 1957. This report and others appear to provide evidence of a threat to British airspace. Intuitively it would seem that unidentified aircraft should be considered a potential threat until identification can be acquired. It would seem ridiculous for any agency seriously concerned with the safety of its airspace to ignore reports from its citizens.

Nick Pope (image credit: www.nickpope.net)

Nick Pope, who worked at the MOD’s UFO desk, had this to say about the close of the hotline, “Indeed, I am sure that as is almost certainly the case in the US, sightings from pilots and uncorrelated targets tracked on radar will continue to be looked at by someone, albeit outside of a formally constituted UFO project.”

For now you can judge for yourself. Below are some of the more interesting reports released today, and links to the full report and the MOD’s UFO reporting website.

Date: 15-Feb-09
Time: 00:15
Town/Village: Winwick
Area: Warrington
Occupation (Where Relevant): Police Officer
Description: Two orange lights in the sky that hovered over the old hospital site.
The lights were not together but were stationary. They made no noise. They then moved off in a southerly direction.

Date: 03-May-09
Time: 15:50
Town/Village: Otmoor
Area: Oxfordshire
Occupation (Where Relevant): Pilot
Description: A shiny black flying cylinder, 20-30ft long at about 4700ft which was 200ft above the pilots aircraft. Although the pilot sighted the object. Air Traffic Control forwarded details to the UFO Desk.

Date: 03-May-09
Time: 21:30
Town/Village: Ammanford
Area: Dyfed
Occupation (Where Relevant): Pilot
Description: Seven orange orbs that suddenly disappeared. They were on a North-South trajectory. Witness contacted Cardiff Air Traffic Control who had nothing on radar.

Date: 02-Jul-09
Time: 22:20
Town/Village: Blackwood
Area: Gwent
Occupation (Where Relevant): Ex-test engineer for Hawker Siddley (Aircraft Company)
Description: A bright orange light seen through the tree line. It turned and cleared the tree line. The other side of the object appeared to be a large rectangle shape of fire red/orange. It was silent. The object slowly climbed in the direction of Gloucester.

Date: 04-Jul-09
Time: Not Given
Town/Village: West Grinstead
Area: West Sussex
Occupation (Where Relevant): Part-Time Pilot
Description: 12-15 objects. Not like normal fixed wing aircraft, more like bright orange lights. Moving West at indeterminate height. Objects entered cloud then turned around.

Date: 01-Aug-09
Time: 03:42
Town/Village: Preston
Area: Lancashire
Occupation (Where Relevant): Police
Description: Bright object in sky, very large.

Date: 01-Aug-09
Time: 22:57
Town/Village: Michell
Area: Coldon
Occupation (Where Relevant): Police
Description: 17 UFO’s above village. Red and green lights, no sound.

Date: 07-Aug-09
Time: 22:45
Town/Village: Newport
Area: Shropshire
Occupation (Where Relevant): Retired RAF (Royal Air Force)
Description: Two yellow lights one above the other in the sky. On arriving home five minutes later watched the lights disappear behind a narrow cloud bank.

Date: 11-Aug-09
Time: 23:00
Town/Village: Thorpe-le-Soken
Area: Essex
Occupation (Where Relevant): Amateur astronomer
Description: Saw a meteor shower which contained something he could not explain.

Date: 13-Sep-09
Time: 20:25
Town/Village: Shepton Mallet
Area: Somerset
Occupation (Where Relevant): RN (Royal Navy) Air Traffic Control
Description: Seven silent objects emitting a bright orange light. One group of three and then singles. Travelled at about 100 knots then turned right.

Date: 17-Sep-09
Time: 21:40
Town/Village: Findon Valley
Area: West Sussex
Occupation (Where Relevant): Ex-pilot
Description: Saw an extremely bright star like light in sky. Continued flying then started to climb vertically no change in speed the dimmed and disappeared to a faint light.

Date: 19-Sep-09
Time: 21:01
Town/Village: West Wickham
Area: Kent
Occupation (Where Relevant): Pilot
Description: Series of 30 or more orange lights which then disappeared after moving at speed.

Date: 27-Sep-09
Time: 20:40
Town/Village: Northolt
Area: Middlesex
Occupation (Where Relevant): RAF (Royal Air Force)
Description: Saw two UFOs. Looked like balls of fire. As they approached RAF
Northolt the fireball went out. However, the craft was still visible and was in the shape of a jelly fish dome.

Date: 07-Nov-09
Time: 21:59
Town/Village: Peterborough
Area: Cambridgeshire
Occupation (Where Relevant): Ex-RN (Royal Navy) Cdr (Commander)
Description: Orange sphere 30 degrees above eastern horizon speed substantial, no noise no normal navigation lights just eerie orange glow.

Ministry of Defence UFO Hotline

Ministry of Defence UFO Reports

Nick Pope’s website