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MOD file DEFE 24/2032/1

The Black Vault · 492 pages · text from the file's own layer

This Ministry of Defence file, released through The National Archives and published by The Black Vault, holds the MOD's 2002 handling of Dr David Clarke's requests for UFO documents under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. It includes the MOD's 9 December 2002 reply, which covered reports from 1976, 1980, 1993 and 1996 and charged £260. It also contains internal emails and file requisitions, plus Foreign Office and United Nations papers from 1978 on Grenada's proposal for UFO research.

  • p. 41 …J UFOs is a loony ". But as for the sugges- 11 tion that an international study…
  • p. 67 …one--- 1 should like to /, number of report~:d sightings would surely join with my noble…
  • p. 68 …Air Force commissioned the Univer~ity One recent UFO was confidently reported of Coloradl) to C3…
  • p. 70 …perhaps some other countries, may be reporting in an international forum. Lord KINGS. NORTON: My Lords…
  • p. 127 …ft; the improved arrangements for i for- mation on persons reported missin ; the protection of the…
  • p. 137 …has ·emerged to date that UFOs actually exist· or }fave defence ons. Many reports turn out…
  • p. 154 …ft; the improved arrangements for i for- mation on persons reported missin ; the protection of the…
  • p. 183 …date that UFOs ·actually exist·or ~ave defence .._...~ ...~~=~~i,:;;o;:n...:..~.s. ·. Many reports turn out…
•In only 8% of cases, observers are describing a phenomenon that bas really
.en observed and is unlmown;
The variety of characteristics of the phenomenon is such that it is n~t possible
at present to formulate a definite scientific theory conce~ning its nature
or origin (physical or otherwise\' it also enables us to state that this phenomenon
is not th~ result of human technology.
Its tangible effects on human beings are without danger.
. ..:,:
Given the present state of our knowledge, it seems difficult to conclude
otherwise than by confirming that science is incapable in this area. This
phenomenon cannot, at present, be analysed by means of known measuring instruments
and, in a word, it is only thanks to the accumulation of observationSdescribing
not only this phenomenon but also all the physical data regarding the environment
that researchers may one da~ have the good fortune to discover the parameters
that will enable them to give it a moh:l satisfactory interpretation. Whilst
maintaining an open mind, we must restrain ourselves from hasty conclusions
regarding the nature and origin of the phenomenon and accept the fact that this
problem. like so many others, remains suspended in space.
Translations of picture captions
(Pictures are numbeTed in pencil on the original}
( 1) One of the r~e photographs in the world to retain its mystery: a photograph
taken on January 16th 1968 opposite the island of Trinidad (Atlantic Ocean} in
the presence of geophysical ~ecialists.
t2) A flying saucer around the Eiffel Tower? In fact it is only a successful
piece of faking: the brilliant disk is the reflection of a lamp in the window
through 'Which the photoe;raph was taken from a room in the Palais de Chaillot.
(3) Identified UFOs: Centicular clouds.

Cases discussed

About this file

Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 492 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.