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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.
“Sea”20 pages
·/)I ) :, .. ' I '1: • (8) This indicates that they were not normal jet aircraft trails, but do seem synonymous with something like the trail of a 'shooting star'. After evaluating these reports and g~v~ng due regards to peoples different perspectives of the objects, it is reasonable . t to assume that they, like the police officers, had also observed the spent rocket on its south easterly travels. As a footnote, I have also received a report from ~ the British Astronomical Association, that two people, one in Belgium and one from the south of France, also observed some bright objects flying in a south easterly direction. The French report indicates a number of objects (6 or 7) and this I believe is the breakup of the original two seen earlier over Ireland and the south west coast of England. The Belgium report is not very comprehensive, but the 'sighter' is believed to have seen them from his location, most probably over France, but not over Belgium. What is evident here, is that although I cannot be absolutely certain that the two objects seen was the re-entry of the Russian Space Rockets, their presence at this time and their reported locations, must be a strong consideration. Given the known height of these objects - between 80kms and 100kms, and the time they would have taken to traverse from horizon to horizon, some 2 to 3 minutes and certainly not less than one minute, then it can be reasonable assumed that from their known flight path i.e. from Ireland over Lands End and on over France, they would easily have been seen from as far away as Somerset and most probably even further! On the night in question there was very little cloud cover, which would have afforded all of the 'sighters' a clear view for many miles. (9)
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.