For the first time ever, the International UFO Congress, the world’s largest annual UFO conference, has added a special session presented entirely in Spanish.

The IUFOC Spanish event will take place Sunday February 26th from 4 – 6 PM at the Fort McDowell Resort & Casino in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Tickets can be purchased for $25.00 in advance at ufocongress.com or at the door.

Presenters include famous Mexican TV personality and journalist Jaime Maussan, Chilean journalist and local UFO researcher Antonio Huneeus and General (Ret.) Ricardo Bermudez, Director of Chile’s official Committee for the Study of Aerial Anomalous Phenomena (CEFAA).

“This marks a special event for the Phoenix area – we really wanted to embrace the Spanish population here to expand the awareness of the phenomena,” Says Conference Co-Organizer Maureen Elsberry, “It’s about finding new ways to make the information accessible to everyone.”

Antonio Huneeus from Open Minds magazine will open up the event with a brief overview of the UFO phenomenon followed by Air Force General (Ret.) Ricardo Bermudez’s presentation on Chile’s official UFO agency CEFAA.

The main feature will be Jaime Maussan’s vivid presentation 2012 El Contacto Inminente which will feature many stunning UFO videos and images . Jaime Maussan will present the results of the best UFO investigations based only in the facts and proof that show that we are facing an “imminent contact.”

The International UFO Congress will run February 21-26th and features over 20 presenters, panels, vendors, a free UFO film festival and more. More information on the conference can be found at UFOCongress.com.

About the International UFO Congress:

The 2012 International UFO Congress will run Feb. 21-26 in Arizona

Chuck has investigated several cattle mutilations in Southern Colorado over the past few years, and while preparing a talk for a recent UFO conference, he was trying to look for patterns in the places that the mutilations took place. With this on his mind, Colorado had its largest natural earthquake in a century. It was a 5.3 on the Richter scale and centered in the southwest part of the state. Within 15 hours Virginia received one of the largest earthquakes it had ever had as well. It registered as a 5.8. Neither quake caused much damage, but Chuck noticed that they were both near the 37 degree latitude line. He then noticed that his cattle mutilation cases were also near the 37 degree latitude line.

Chuck and Debbie with their friends from PostInteractive.net in Roswell, New Mexico, 2010. From left: Matt Morgan, Debbie Ziegelmeyer, Trina Bivens, Chuck Zukowski. (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

Chuck decided to consult his sister Debbie Zeigelmeyer, the MUFON state director for Missouri, a state that is also along the 37 degree latitude line.  She said she had a cattle mutilation case in her state along with a large amount of UFO sightings in that area. Chuck found many UFO reports along the 37 degree latitude line, and plotted the sightings along with the cattle mutilations on this map. He was so impressed by his findings that he dubbed the 37 degree latitude line the Paranormal Freeway.

UFO sightings and other paranormal activity along the 37 degree latitude line. (image credit: Chuck Zukowski)

In my report I took the population of the states along with the number of reports each had received this year. I determined which states had the most sightings per population. Chuck’s home state of Colorado was number 2 on the list, Missouri was number 5. Kansas, Kentucky, and Nevada, all states along the 37 degree latitude, also made it to the top 10. The states along the 37 degree latitude that were not in the top 10, California, Utah and Virginia, did not show significant activity as far as reports per population.

Top 10 UFO hotspots ranked by reports per population adjusted. Data: MUFON (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

I found a map of Air Force bases in the United States to find out if there was more USAF activity in the states with higher reports. Colorado and Kansas have bases near the 37 degree latitude line. In fact, the USAF Academy is near Chuck’s Paranormal Freeway, along with Peterson AFB, home of Air Force Space Command, and Schriever AFB, the newest and one of the most secretive USAF bases. Chuck noted that, although it isn’t on this map, Area 51 is also nearly right at 37 degrees latitude. However, the other UFO hotspots along the Paranormal Freeway do not have many USAF bases.

United States Air Force bases. Click the image to enlarge. (image credit: NABTS)

Over the years there have been many stories of UFOs in areas with nuclear facilities. Most nuclear silos can be found in the area where Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska meet, north of the Paranormal Freeway. As for nuclear power plants, they can mostly be found on the east coast. There are less of them in the central United States.

Nuclear reactors in the united States. (image credit: modernsurvivalblog.com)

So what does this all mean? I have no idea. Chuck has speculated that perhaps there are secret military bases in these areas. It is hard to say, and Debbie says she is still in the middle of increased UFO reports.

She says, “We’ve already had 54 reports in October. Some are a flying stunt team, some are drones, and some are B2 bombers. But, a good deal of them are large hovering Triangle shape craft with orange lights.  On Oct. 4th the triangle craft was seen by several [witnesses] hovering over the intersection of two major [highways].”

Let us know if you have any ideas on what may be the secret of the Paranormal Freeway. Chuck, Debbie and I will also be discussing this issue along with Missouri’s recent UFO sightings on Open Minds Radio.

Although MUFON has been around since 1969, the data I have is from their online reporting website, which was only started in mid-2006. Some of the old paper files have been imported into the online database. Even though NUFORC, which began in 1994, is a one man show ran by Peter Davenport and headquartered in an abandoned missile silo, up until recent years he used to receive more reports than MUFON. Now MUFON, with thousands of members and hundreds of certified investigators all over the country, receives around 500 sightings per month, although there has been a recent increase.

UFO sightings for MUFON and NUFORC. (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

The top states for both organizations are very similar. NUFORC rates Washington higher, possibly because it is his home state where he receives more press, and likewise MUFON HQ in Colorado is rated higher than it is in NUFORC. More press typically means more people know about you and you get more reports. In the table I list the top 15 for MUFON, so you can see that the states ranked in NUFORC’s top 10 that are not in MUFON’s, still rank high for MUFON.

Top 10 UFO Hotspots for 2011 ranked by number of sightings. Data: MUFON (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

Curious about where the UFOs are right now, I analyzed the 2011 MUFON data further. If we look at the top 10 states by the number of reports they have received, there is very little difference than from the overall numbers. However, does this really show where the hotspots are? In order to examine this further, I looked up the most recent census data from April of 2010. The data indicated that for the most part, wherever there are more people, there are more reports. In order to find out where the true hotspots are, I decided to calculate where there are more sightings per person. The “per Pop” number in these tables shows how many UFO sightings there are per 100,000 people.

Top 10 UFO hotspots ranked by reports per population. Data: MUFON (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

The listing changes quite drastically for some states. California, who used to be top dog, falls all the way to 23 when ranked by population, Texas and Florida fall even further. North Dakota, Arizona, Colorado and Alaska come to the top. However, some of the states that make it to the top have only reported a hand full of sightings. In statistics class we learned to throw these small samples out, because they are not statistically valid, at least that is what I remember and I did get an “A” in the class. Doing this, we get the top UFO hotspots per Alejandro. These states are the ones that I feel have enough reports to truly make the data more accurate, and frighteningly enough the state I live in now jumps to #1 and my home state #2.

Top 10 UFO hotspots ranked by reports per population adjusted. Data: MUFON (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

I was also shocked to see the states in the middle of the country on the 37 degree latitude lined up. The states along this line that are not in the top 10, California, Utah, West Virginia and Virginia, are low on the list of sightings per population, so if there is a correlation, it looked to be in the middle of the country. One of the reasons this was so shocking was that a friend of mine, UFO researcher Chuck Zukowski, had recently sent me a post on his website where he had also seen a correlation with paranormal activity and the 37 degree latitude, he even dubbed it the “Paranormal Freeway.”

Chuck’s sister, Debbie Ziegelmeyer, is the Missouri state director for MUFON, and she was also recently appointed as a MUFON business board member.” As you can see, Missouri is at the eastern end of Chuck’s “freeway.” It was looking at her cases, along with the ones from his current home state of Colorado, and his recent cattle mutilation investigations that helped him see this correlation. In my next article I will take a closer look at Chuck’s finding to further evaluate the “Paranormal Freeway.”

The MUFON "UFO Stalker" places sightings on a map instantaneously. This shows activity for August 2011. (image credit: www.UFOStalker.com)

Several media outlets covered the story of increased UFO sightings in the late summer of 2011, including Fox News, MSNBC and the popular UK paper, the Daily Mail. It all started when the International Director for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), Clifford Clift, told reporter Benjamin Radford, that over 1000 UFO reports were received in August 2011, doubling the typical 500 or so they receive on a monthly basis. I have collected all of the data I could to take a closer look at this UFO wave to try and determine what might have been the cause.

In the story, Radford and Clift, tried to speculate on some of the reasons reports may have increased. Some of the ideas listed were: more people looking up in the summer, accidental duplication of data or that perhaps the increase in UFO movies this summer has made people more interested in the subject. The data I collected can dispel a few of these otherwise plausible theories.

Some of the stories stemming from Radford’s interview with Clift implied that UFO sightings have increased recently. Some of these headlines even pondered the possibility of an impending alien invasion. Most of these headlines were tongue in cheek jocularity, although some were dead serious. In order to test this I graphed out the number of sightings that MUFON has received over the past few years. I was a MUFON investigator for many years, and a functional Director, and have been accumulating data for a long time from the MUFON’s online database (nothing that isn’t publicly available mind you).  MUFON began collecting UFO sightings through the database in mid-2006. There has also been an ongoing effort to scan all old paper reports and get them into the database as well.

However, this data was still not in a form that could be easily exported into a spreadsheet, so I painstakingly ported the information out. Anyone can go query the database, and when you see the results, although great for light perusal, you can see it would be a bear to format it into something you can graph out. It has taken me years to get dates and places. Some of the data also comes from MUFON emails, when you subscribe to the MUFON email list, Clifford conveniently emails monthly statistics. I also put those in the database to get some information regarding sightings this year.

UFO reports by year. Data source: MUFON CMS (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

When we look at sightings per year, we can see that 2010 was actually a slower year for MUFON than 2008 and 2009. In fact, it appears that 2011 was on track to come close to the 2009 numbers before the increase in August. With the increase in numbers in August, even if MUFON averages 500 reports for October, November and December, this will be a record year for sighting reports. To me this would indicate that we don’t necessarily have a vast increase in overall sightings, but that this August event pushed this year to the top.

2011 UFO reports by month. Data source: MUFON (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

When we look at 2011 month by month, we see exactly what Clifford had described. The average number of sightings per month was steady around 500 until August when it doubled. September ended up with nearly 800 reports, which was also significant. One suggestion was that UFO reports increase in the summer because more people are outside. That makes perfect sense, however, when I graphed out  all sightings on a month by month basis, we do see a slight spike in July, but no overall increase for other summer months.

UFO reports by month from 200-2010. Data source: MUFON CMS. (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

2011 UFO reports by state. The first section ranks August reports, the second is YTD. Data source: MUFON (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

I then decided to graph out the August 2011 reports by state to find out if the increase was regional or not. As you can see in the graph, the year to date data is similar to the August data, meaning that the areas that normally receive more reports also received a lot of reports in August. The only state that received a relatively unusual increase in August was Connecticut. Normally they receive 4 or 5 reports a month, in August they received 38.

2011 UFO reports in Connecticut by month. Data source: MUFON (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

I took a look at the individual reports and I did discover something interesting. Only 4 of the reports in August were of sightings that occurred in August. There were a couple in July, but most were historical accounts from last year or the 1980s and older, including one from 1965. To me this would seem that somehow locals became aware of the MUFON and reported these sightings, possibly by local media, but I have not found any local media coverage that may have prompted this. Still, although this would account for an increase of 30 or so, it does not account for the 500 or so overall increase for August. The rest were spread throughout the country.

UFO shapes reported in 2011. Data source: MUFON (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

UFO shapes reported in August of 2011. Data source: MUFON (image credit: Alejandro Rojas)

Since I could find no regional spike in sightings, I decided to look at the shapes that are reported. In Clifford’s monthly emails he also breaks this information out. However, here again I hit a dead end. As you can see in the graphs, the types of shapes of UFOs reported this year does not differ greatly from the shapes reported in August.

In conclusion, I am left with two possibilities. In his interview with Radford, Clifford speculated that perhaps the increase in UFO movies this summer had an effect. I suppose that is possible, I did figure some sort of media attention for MUFON would be responsible, but there was no major coverage that could account for this. So Clifford could be right, of course the other possibility is that there were just more UFOs of every kind flying over our heads this summer. Let us know if you see something in these graphs I missed or have another explanation.

Stay tuned as I will examine some of the other interesting findings I made when looking at these reports and where the true hotspots are.

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

The UK National Archives has released its eighth batch of UFO files, and as usual the stories are making headlines. From the ridiculous to the eye-opening credible cases, there are dozens of interesting stories in the files.

The National Archives began releasing their UFO files in 2008. They claimed that they received so many request for UFO files that it was easier for them just to release them all in batches over the next four years than to have to fulfill all of the requests. The first batch came out in May 2008, and there have been two a year ever since. This is the second batch for 2011, the first came out in March.

The media will be covering the stories within the files for the next couple of weeks. To wet your appetite I have pasted the contents of a highlights document that accompanies the files below. This will give you a high level over view of some of the interesting cases in the files. If you wish to see more, the files are available to download for free for a limited time at the UK National Archives UFO website. Unlike the US, the documents are not in the public domain forever.

RAF image experts study UFO photo: Notts, 2004

One night in January 2004 Alex Birch took a series of colour slides of Retford Town Hall in Nottinghamshire. He noticed nothing unusual at the time, but on examining the transparencies he was amazed to find an image showing a “flying saucer”. Having ruled out lens flares and aircraft he contacted the Ministry of Defence (MoD) who said “defence experts” would like to take a look at the image. Alex delivered his transparency to the MoD main building and it was sent to the Defence Geographic and Imagery Intelligence Agency (DGIA) in July 2004. The photograph was digitally enhanced and the DGIA report stated: “no definitive conclusions can be gathered from evidence submitted; however it may be coincidental that the illuminated plane of the object passes through the centre of the frame, indicating a possible lens anomaly e.g. a droplet of moisture.”

In another example of MoD conducting image analysis on UFO photos submitted by a member of the public, in this case a video taken in Scotland in January 1994. Experts at RAF Brampton concluded: “It cannot be determined whether this object is real or a hoax – it is possible it is a hoax using a kite or video studio effects.” Intelligence interest in UFO photographs and videos is discussed further in.

Threat from Near Earth Objects (NEOs)

In 2000 Minister of Science Lord Sainsbury set up a Task Force to assess the threat posed to the planet by Near Earth Objects (NEOs) such as comets and asteroids. During a visit to the Pentagon in March three scientists from the group discussed future NEO hazards with officials from the Department of Defence, NASA and the USAF

Space Command. On return to the UK they asked for a meeting to obtain “an overview of MoD‟s current and possible UK contribution to international collaborative efforts”. But comments on the file suggest MoD officials felt they had “no remit to defend the earth against asteroids (or little green men for that matter)” and one added: “it may be that our answer…is that we are doing nothing about it, have no money to spare and are content to leave such matters to the BNSC [British National Space Centre].”

Retired Fighter Controller recalls night RAF scrambled to intercept UFO

In 2001 Freddie Wimbledon, a retired RAF Fighter Controller, publicly described his role in a famous UFO incident involving the USAF base at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, in August 1956. In an account published by the RAF Radar Museum newsletter, Wimbledon said he was on duty at RAF Neatishead in Norfolk when the USAF reported a UFO on their airfield radars at Lakenheath. He recalled “this activity was clearly seen on Neatishead‟s radar” and by observers on the ground at Lakenheath. The RAF scrambled a Venom interceptor, controlled by Wimbledon‟s radars. He wrote: “It was vectored towards the object and the Venom pilot called “Contact‟ followed in a short while by “Judy‟ (which meant that the Radar/Navigator had the target on his airborne radar)…but then he called, “Lost contact, More help‟…he was then told that his target was now behind him, and it remained glued in that position, following the Venom‟s every move. A second Venom was scrambled but it never got within 20 miles before the target sped off…climbing at terrific speed.”

Wimbledon said all personnel involved in the incident were quizzed by HQ Fighter Command who stressed “absolute secrecy”. He wrote that when details of the incident were publicly revealed by the USAF in 1969, the MoD said records of the incident had been “accidentally destroyed.” The incident is also mentioned by retired MoD official Ralph Noyes who, in a letter to MoD in 1986, said he had been shown gun camera film of UFOs taken by RAF Venom aircrew at a secret screening in MoD Main Building in 1970.

In 2001 MoD said an archive search had confirmed all records of this incident had been lost or destroyed.

MoD official recalls Winston Churchill’s interest in UFOs

In a 1994 letter from retired official Ralph Noyes to MoD says he was Private Secretary to Vice Chief of Air Staff Sir Ralph Cochrane in the summer of 1952 “when news reached him of the remarkable UFO events over Washington DC”. Noyes said his boss was interested “as was the then MP Winston Churchill.” The then Scientific Advisor to the Air Ministry, Robert Cockburn, was “instructed to make enquiries…[his] report convinced Cochrane that it was “all American hysteria‟, though he naturally wouldn‟t have put it in quite those terms in public. [Churchill] was advised that there was nothing in the “UFO nonsense‟.” He adds that after 1952 “no further official notice was taken of the subject within the Air Ministry…[but] other subsequent events suggested to some of us that a “UFO phenomenon‟ of some kind or another certainly existed. But there were never solid grounds for regarding it as a Defence threat or as justifying official steps such as the establishment of a standing committee of enquiry.” As a result the subject remained “something of a joke (albeit an uneasy one on occasion)”.

Mork and Mindy visit East Dulwich

This file contains an account of “some lights, formed in a worm shape, wriggling around in the sky” that were seen in the sky by a woman and her daughter from East Dulwich, London, in the early hours of 10 January 2003. The pair became concerned about “a possible terrorist attack” and phoned police who sent officers to the address. The following day the older woman called MoD and told the UFO desk officer the two PCs were joined by two men in “space suits, with dark glasses who called themselves Mork and Mindy…these men told her not to look at the object because of possible radiation and they carried a transmitter which kept clicking.” They asked her not to talk to anyone in case of panic and offered to wash their eyes with a solution. Police told MoD they sent two ordinary PCs to the address but “they could not see anything in the sky and concluded it was possibly a reflection of a star and a street light in her window.” In a letter dated 21 January 2003 the woman says “your men have fed us with a lot of rubbish, presumably to make us look foolish and our story unbelievable, which they have succeeded in doing.”

MoD UFO study

In an internal memo from DI55 Wing Commander dated 5 July 1995 says there was no reason to continue publicly denying intelligence interest in UFOs. It says press stories have described DI55‟s role as a “defender of the Earth against the alien menace” which is “light years from the truth.” He feared that if this interest was revealed it could lead to “disbelief and embarrassment since few people will be believe the truth that lack of funds and higher priorities have prevented any study of the thousands of reports received.” Another official has scribbled “Ouch!” in the margin of the document. The same file contains papers from 1986-87 on a DI55 proposal to enter details of UFO reports onto a computer. But in March 1988 Sec(AS) (the “UFO desk‟) “decreed that all work should cease as it was in contravention of Ministerial statements to the effect that UFOs did not pose a threat to the UK”. They feared news of the proposed study “could be very embarrassing for [MoD]”.

However the idea for a MoD UFO database was revived in 1993 when a limited study was proposed by DI55, despite the “potential for political embarrassment” if news leaked out. Background to the study can be found in a briefing document from 1995. The DI55 study of UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena) was completed in 2000 and was classified “Secret‟, but was declassified and released to the public following a FOIA request in 2006.

The report’s conclusions are summarized as: “sightings can be explained as mis-reporting of man-made vehicles, natural but not unusual phenomena and natural but relatively rare and not completely understood phenomena”. Following completion of the report, it was decided no further work on UFOs would be carried out by Defence Intelligence.

File on MoD UFO desk chief’s appearance on BBC live TV debate in 1972

Two files cover preparations for UFO desk head Anthony Davies‟s appearance on a BBC TV programme, Man Alive – UFOs, in February 1972. Air Commodore Davis DFC DSO, was a Second World War RAF pilot who returned to the MoD after retirement to work as a civil servant (he died in 1986). He had two personal UFO experiences, the first whilst flying a Spitfire in 1944. He was also the pilot of an RAF Venom scrambled to intercept a UFO over RAF Lakenheath in 1956. In 1971 he agreed to become the very first MoD official to publicly discuss the Government‟s UFO policy in a pre-recorded studio debate held in Banbury, Oxfordshire. In a pre-screening briefing to MoD, Davis said the UFO phenomenon was a result of “the need felt by many people for a new mythology and hence their willingness to believe that natural things or events may have mysterious or extra-terrestrial origins”.

UFO briefing for Defence Minister (Peter Kilfoyle) in 1999

The files also contain a three-page briefing prepared for Defence Minister Peter Kilfoyle in September 1999 after he spoke to The Sunday Times about UFOs. A news brief (p223) was prepared as a result of “speculative” and misleading newspaper articles that followed which suggested MoD was to release its UFO files to the public. In November the head of Sec(AS) strongly advised that Kilfoyle should not brief journalists or agree to a face-to-face meeting on UFOs as this would create a “scoop” and lead to further media interest (p80-84).

European UFO study group vetoed

Papers covering Teddy Taylor MP‟s Parliamentary Question in 1993 concerning a report by an Italian MEP submitted to the EU‟s Energy, Research and Technology Committee to “conduct investigations and disseminate information” on UFOs. Taylor was concerned that EU funds had been wasted in commissioning the report that contained “a statement that the theory that aliens have established a base in the asteroid belt cannot be ruled out.” MoD briefed that “a number of MEPs on the committee have opposed further work on the subject on the grounds that it will bring the [European Parliament] into disrepute…we hope therefore that the EP will not take this further.”

Chinese Lanterns and Glastonbury Festival UFOs

There were several sighting reports describing mysterious lights seen moving 300ft above the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival on 28 June 2003; the files contain contains details of a UFO sighting over a music festival at Llanfyllin, Wales, on 3 July 2006. This file also contains a number of sightings reported to MoD during the summer of 2006 that describe formations of orange lights in the sky. These appear to be observations of Chinese lanterns, released at parties and public events. One account from Herne Bay, Kent describes eight yellow/orange spheres “that looked like they had flames coming out of the back of them” (p28-29); another from London describes hundreds of fireballs that were an “amazing” sight in the night sky (p15-16).

Special Branch file on hunt for “unidentified helicopter”

The files also contain a two-page report by the Metropolitan Police Special Branch on a meeting held at MoD Main Building in March 1974 to discuss action to identify the pilot of an “unexplained helicopter” sighted by police patrols in Derbyshire and Cheshire. The police wanted to use radar, helicopters and RAF Harriers to identify the mystery night-flying copter, which had been sighted on numerous occasions during the winter of 1973-74. Special Branch suspected the object could have been used for “subversive activities”, but the pilot was never identified.

UFOs sighted by pilot and passengers of aircraft over Channel Islands

Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) papers describing two UFOs sighted by pilot and passengers of a Trislander aircraft as it approached Alderney in the Channel Islands on the afternoon of 23 April 2007. The file also includes the pilot‟s report to Jersey Air Traffic control and a second sighting report from the pilot of a Jetstream aircraft above the English Channel. The RAF said nothing was seen on radar and no further investigation was required, as the sightings occurred in French airspace. A copy of the CAA summary of the incident can be found in the files.

UFO over Balmoral?

Contains the MoD‟s response to a tabloid story that claimed jets had been scrambled to investigate UFOs sighted over the Royal palace at Balmoral in February 1996. The UFOs were explained as Harrier jump jets from RAF Leuchars involved in a training exercise.

Photographs of UFO landing site in Rendlesham Forest

A newspaper clipping in the MOD files of the story that broke the Rendlesham forest UFO sighting.

There  are two files dealing with a series of Parliamentary Questions tabled between 1998 and 2001 by a retired Chief of Defence Staff, the late Lord Hill-Norton, on aspects of the Rendlesham UFO incident (often described as “Britain‟s Roswell‟). A MoD briefing describes Hill-Norton as “pursuing this [campaign] with evangelical fervour” and notes that he was seen as “a champion of the case” by UFOlogists. The file includes a copy of a black and white photograph taken several days after the sightings in 1981 by USAF airmen at RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk, showing a British police officer inspecting the “landing” site within Rendlesham Forest, includes a letter from a Suffolk police inspector to author Georgina Bruni, dated 28 July 1999. He describes his officer’s role in the incident as “minimal” and says that as the years passed witness testimony had been “substantially embellished”. The letter says the three PCs who were called to the scene of the UFO landing on 26 December 1980 by the USAF were unimpressed by what they saw and remain “unconvinced [the] occurrence was genuine” (p104-5). The officer said the area was swept by powerful beams from the Orfordness lighthouse and “I know from personal experience that at night, in certain weather and cloud conditions, these beams were very pronounced and caused strange visual effects.”

Rendlesham UFO landing picture from MOD files.

Belgian UFOs

Correspondence between MoD and Belgian Embassy in 1993 describes an incident on 30 March 1990 when two F-16s were scrambled to investigate reported UFOs seen on NATO radars, “but no hostile or aggressive activities [were] registered.” The files contain a detailed account of the events written by Col Wilfried de Brouwer, a senior official in the Belgian Air Force. He says the “incident remains unresolved.”

UFOs and the US Government

Files describe attempts in 1992 by MoD UFO desk officer to contact his opposite number in US via RAF Staff in Washington; he was told the US no longer had any central post or policy dealing with the subject; a memo was sent from RAF staff in Washington to MoD, 1992 concerning alleged sightings of US experimental aircraft, codename Aurora, in the UK; in 1995 MoD were offered a copy of the fake “Alien Autopsy” film, allegedly taken in Roswell during 1947; the press office were advised to say the film was “of no relevance to MoD or security of UK”; following publication of a Sunday Times article on US Col Philip Corso‟s book The Day after Roswell in 1997, MoD were briefed that US authorities had found he had “a previous track record of unreliable testimony.”; a copy of a 1994 report by the FBI for the US Department of Justice on the provenance of the “MJ-12‟ documents, marked Top Secret/Majic Eyes Only, that were widely distributed in the UFO literature. The documents purported to be part of a briefing to the US President-Elect Dwight Eisenhower on the recovery of a crashed flying saucer and its alien crew at Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. The FBI investigation concluded “the document is completely bogus.”

Clip in MOD files from Jane's Defence story on the Aurora sly plane.

Another illustration of an Aurora spy plane from Jane's Defence in the MOD files.

Bogus UFO stories published by the national Press

MoD monitored and commented upon print media coverage of UFOs between 1996 and 2002. In April 1998 two national newspapers claimed that radars at the early warning station at RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire had tracked a UFO “as big as a battleship” moving at speeds between 17-24,000 mph over the North Sea. The story claimed Dutch F-16 fighters had been scrambled and tapes of the incident would be presented at a conference hosted by RAF Cranwell, Lincs. Labour‟s Under Secretary of State for MoD, John Spellar MP, saw the articles and asked for a briefing from MoD. He was told the source of the story was a freelance journalist who was known to be “rather inventive of the facts” (DEFE 24/2047/1, p177). A note from RAF Fylingdales confirms that no UFOs had ever been tracked by the station during its 35 year history. Another file contains comments on the News of the World exclusive in October 1983 that first broke the story of the Rendlesham forest UFO incident. The briefing says the story “appears to be one fabrication after another.”

Nick Pope

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

Various files in this release contain papers relating to former Sec(AS) desk officer Nick Pope, including papers concerning his decision to publish a book about his experiences, Open Skies Closed Minds. A background briefing suggests the book may have led to an increase in letters and sighting reports made to MoD “from 373 in 1995 to 609 in 1996.”

Papers surrounding the publication of Georgina Bruni‟s book on the Rendlesham Forest incident, You Can’t Tell the People, in November 2000 which contained a foreword written by Nick Pope and contains papers relating to a proposed magazine article on Nick Pope for the MoD‟s in house magazine Focus which was pulled for publication and later the subject of a Parliamentary Question from Lord Hill-Norton. Papers relating to a Freedom of Information request to access papers surrounding MoD‟s clearance of Pope‟s 1996 book.

A copy of a Decision Notice published by the Information Commissioner on 10 June 2010 relating to the redacted information relating to Nick Pope can be found here: http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/decisionnotices/2010/fs_50225113.pdf

Glossary:

Sec(AS) – The “Air Staff Secretariat‟ at MoD responsible for UFOs. The desk officer at Sec(AS) dealt with all public and Parliamentary correspondence on the subject and formulated policy working with the Head of Sec(AS). This post is often erroneously referred to as “the UFO desk‟, but UFOs were actually just one small part of this person‟s defence related tasks. In 2000 Sec(AS) was replaced by DAS (Directorate Air Space) as the secretariat responsible for UFO reports.

DI55 – a branch of the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS), responsible for assessing UFO reports for information of intelligence interest until 2000. In that year a defence contractor employed by DI55 completed a study of a sample of reports received between 1987-97 that were entered onto a computer database. The report concluded that “UAPs‟ (unidentified aerial phenomena) were of no interest to defence intelligence. From 2000 Sec(AS) no longer copied UFO reports to DI55.

DAO/ ADGE1/CT & UK Ops – a section of the RAF/Air Staff responsible for Air Defence radars, consulted by Sec(AS) when further checks were needed on reported UFO sightings. Following a policy review in 1997 it was agreed that Sec(AS) would only consult Air Defence experts on those UFO reports originating from “credible witnesses‟ or that had some measure of corroboration or were reported in a “timely‟ fashion. This task was moved to Airspace Integrity in Counter Terrorism & UK Ops in 2004.

The UK National Archives has also released a video reviewing the highlights:

19 April 1978, Colfax, Wisconsin

On Wednesday 19 April 1978, Mr. S. (name witheld (sic) by specific request) and his girlfriend were driving in the vicinity of Tainter Lake, when they decided to stop and attempt some fishing since most of the ice was already thawed.

They found a spot along the shore where they could do some casting. Mr. S. had also brought along an FM portable radio. They had been at this spot for about a half an hour when the radio began picking up interference. It was then that Mr. S. looked up into the sky, thinking an airplane must be going over-head.

At that point the object “appeared” out of the southwest, moving northeast. He and his girlfriend became very excited and frightened. Remembering that they had a camera with them, (an Instamatic) Mr. S. went and got it to take some pictures. He almost dropped it several times trying to get it out of the case. He finally got it out and started to point it at the object when the object suddenly veered off course in their direction and came towards them. They became even more frightened but Mr. S. was determined to get a photograph of the thing!

At that point, the object began to circle them at a high altitude as Mr. S. began taking pictures. The object flew around the area only once and then disappeared into the sunlight. The whole incident lasted about 3 or 4 minutes.

Mr. S. was hesitant about showing anyone the photos because he was afraid of people thinking the wrong thing. He finally sent a UFO lecturer a copy after attending one of his slide lectures on the UFO subject.

Mr. S. was unable to determine the size of the object for lack of reference, or how fast it was moving. He did say, however, that it gave off a “crackling sound” as it passed around them.

From personal letter:

Photo #1: Shows the object moments after it veered off its original course. Mr. S. said it slowed down considerably after he took the first picture. He said he had “the feeling it knew it was being photographed”.

UFO Photo Colfax, WI (credit: UFO Photo Archives)

Photo #2: The object is moving slower now as it begins to make its pass. At this point Mr. S. and girlfriend grew apprehensive. Both experienced extreme fear.

Colfax UFO Photo #2 (credit: UFO Photo Archive)

Photo #3: The object tilts as it begins a “roller coaster” type descent. Mr. S. and friend become increasingly frightened. He has the feeling it is going to “get them”.

Colfax UFO Photo #3 (credit: UFO Photo Archive)

Photo #4: The object has leveled off and is just above the treetop height. It begins moving toward Mr. S. at a slow gliding pace. No sound comes from the object but Mr. S. remembers he left his transistor radio on and it is “buzzing” and “crackling like crazy”.

Colfax UFO Photo #4 (credit: UFO Photo Archive)

Photo #5: Mr. S. turns his camera sideways to get this shot of the object as it passes almost directly overhead. At this point Mr. S. experienced a sensation of “heat” as well as “prickling sensation” around and “in” his head and eyes, however Mr. S. stated that he experienced no permenant or temporary after-effects except a bad case of the “jitters”. This shot was taken while Mr. S. was in a crouched position and remembers falling over on his back afterwards. He said he noticed an “amber or orange-red light” underneath in addition to several small lights which would blink on and off erratically for different lengths of time. (See Photograph) He also noticed 4 “pods” or “landing gear”. The bottom appeared to be a “dull” black. The shock of falling backwards prevented him from taking any more pictures of the object as it continued overhead.

Colfax UFO Photo #5 (credit: UFO Photo Archive)

Colfax UFO Photo #6 (credit: UFO Photo Archives)

Photo #7: Shows the object heading into the sun. At this point it began to pick up speed and soon was lost in the sunlight. Mr. S. took 9 pictures in all, only these 7 turned out.

Colfax UFO Photo #7 (credit: UFO Photo Archive)

View the: Colfax UFO Case Drawing.

11 November 1972, Mesa, Arizona

Shortly after noon on 11 November 1972, young Shawn Cheves, age 10, and a group of boys were playing in the garden of his friend Scott’s house. While romping around, Shawn noticed a glint of light on the fence, just a flash. Looking around, he noticed high in the sky and far away, a bright shining object. He called it to the attention of the others and they all watched it for a while. The object resembled a silvery meteorological balloon, but when observed through binoculars, which one of the boys had gone to fetch, it looked more like a fat silver ice-cream cone, or an upside down bell, and it had a smaller dome on top of the rounded upper domed surface.

UFO photo taken in Mesa, AZ in 1972. (image credit: UFO Photo Archives)

At no time did they hear any noise or see any smoke trail. Not knowing what to do, Shawn called for an adult friend, Mr. Lee Elders to come out and see it, suggesting it might be a UFO. Mr. Elders was at that time watching the beginning of the Arizona State football game on his television and waited for a commercial break before going out to see. Then he picked up his 35mm Asahi Pentax SLR camera, with a 200mm telephoto lens mounted, and went out into the street in front. He looked in the direction they were pointing, and there, in an east-southeast direction and 40 degrees elevation he saw the object.. It was very bright and shiny, like a mirror ball in the sky. He did not see any flashes and felt that the light was all reflected. It looked like a small shiny BB high in the sky. At first the phenomenon was completely immobile in the bright blue sky above, then it very slowly moved closer to the witnesses. It was 13:55 when Mr. Elders took the first 3 photos.

Close-up of UFO photo taken in Mesa, AZ in 1972. (image credit: UFO Photo Archives)

After standing around for some minutes he got tired of the show and went back in the house to watch his football game. It was the annual homecoming game and was the most popular of the season. Curiosity getting the better of him, he came out again on another commercial break a little later and took the last picture at 14:05. By then the object was somewhat north of its original position. The children watched it until it went out of sight 35 to 40 minutes later.

1972 Illustration of Mesa UFO (image credit: UFO Photo Archives)

The homecoming game is very popular and is well covered by the local press. Reporter Skip Brandt and four of his friends were in their Press Box on the west side of the stadium at the Arizona State University at Tempe, Arizona. They observed, in an east-southeast direction, at about 40 degrees elevation, a very bright silvery object hanging in the clear sky. They commented on it and looked at it occasionally, checking its position between plays. It moved the apparent distance between two stadium light poles, from their position, in the first quarter of the game. The game television crew even panned it for the television audience at least once during this time. Thousands of spectators at the game saw it, yet no one else has come forth with any pictures. At least advertising for them failed to turn any up.

The investigation showed that a big hot air balloon contest had been held in Mesa two weeks before, but the balloon flying had ENDED ON 4 NOVEMBER and the airspace authorization was terminated.

Illustration based off of witness testimony by Michael Schratt.

July 27, 1952 Ann Arbor Michigan – Dr. Charles H. Otis (University Professor) reported seeing a “flotilla” of strange Y-shaped craft that flew over him. Source: Otto Binder Reports/NICAP

Sanford, Florida, 1966

Illustration based off of witness testimony by Michael Schratt.

April 8, 1966 Sanford Florida – Mr. & Mrs. Orval Emerick witnessed a huge red oval-shaped UFO that continuously glowed brighter. The craft eventually shot intense beams of light in four different directions. Source: Otto Binder Reports/Saucer Scoop/I.I.O.U.F.O.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1967

Illustration based off of witness testimony by Michael Schratt.

December 20, 1967 Philadelphia PA. – Norman Schreibstein (director of the Rissler Observatory), and three other astronomers witnessed a huge bell-shaped UFO which gave off a high pitched whistling sound as it maneuvered overhead for four minutes. Source: Otto Binder Reports/Saucer News