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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. 42 …They Gordon Cooper, Apollo astronaut; Dr. defy our present knowledge and laws of Allen Hynek, Professor…
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,: 1257 Unide11ti./ied [ 18 JANUARY 1979] Flying Objects 1258
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,, · hours-:. by UFOs but were ordered by threefold: first, to see whether UFOs
United· States Government agents not to \vere a threat to the security of the United
discuss them. States; secondly, to see whether UFOs
'- could contribute technical and scientific
-· .J We know that war in space, once a knowledge; and, thirdly, to explain to the
figm;;nt of the imagination and a subject l!eneral American public what was going
much beloved by science fiction writers, on in their air space. However, as UFOs
is very near~y a fact now. .Both super- appeared to offer no threat to security,
Powers have, or will have, killer satellites Project Blue Book became just a public
and laser beams operating in space. May relations exercise to not inform the public,
I ask the noble Lord, Lord Strabolgi, despite numerous unidentified radar track·
whether he agrees that this may perhaps ings and close approaches made by UFOs
be one of the reasons for the reticcnce of to both civil and military aircraft. The
the United States over being more forth- military staff in America said that, as
coming about their UFO information? there was no threat or danger, they were
In 1977 Sir Eric Gairy, the Prime not interested in pursuing the subject
Minister ~f Grenada, backed by Presi- any further. So Project Blue Book was
dent Carter, wanted the United Nations abandoned.
to declare 1978 as the Year of the UFO. This may be good enough to fob off the
They both failed. However, the proposi- American public, but it is not good enough
tion was finally tabled for 29th September to fob off the British public. Too many
1978. This proposition was postponed people-ordinary people as well as famou\
through October, November and Decem- people-have seen UFOs. Ten Govern
ber. It was finally threatened by the veto ments now openly admit that UFOs exis
of the United States and Russia. Hope- and are real: France, Norway, Sweden,
fully, however, it will no·": be considered Brazil, the Argentine, Venezuela, Mexico,
, in June of this year. I believe that at last the Philippines, Peru and Grenada. Other
·.f there has been a unanimous vote that the Governments know that UFOs exist
proposition will not be rejected. but do not admit it publicly. President
As the noble Lord, Lord Trefgarne, Carter has personally seen a UFO.
said I agree entirely that we do not Let me give a small sample of promi-
und~rstand many of these unidentified nent, scientific and sane peopic who
flying objects because of our lack of have seen UFOs or believe, through
knowledge. UFOs defy worldly log!c. evidence, that they exist: Cor,1mander
Even if one accepts that there may be life Robert McLaughiin, United States Navy
elsewhere in our galaxy, or even in other missile expert; John McCormack, Spe~ker,
galaxies, the human mind cam_w~ begin t? United States House of Representatn'es;
comprehend UFO charactenstlcs: the~r the late Air Chief Marshall Lord Dowding;
propulsion, their sudden appearance, the~r the late President Truman; Dr. Stanton
disapperance, their great speeds, the1r Friedman, United States Nuclear Physi-
silence, their manoeuvres, their apparent cist; Ed Mitchell, Apollo astronaut;
anti-gravity, their changing shapes. They Gordon Cooper, Apollo astronaut; Dr.
defy our present knowledge and laws of Allen Hynek, Professor of Astronomy,
matter. Of course, this naturally upsets North West University; Waiter Cronkite,
our earthly scientists because it is outside United States newscaster; Neil Armstrong,
their earthly terms of reference and first man on the moon; and, lastly, Dr.
knowledge but to try to present UFOs in a Felix Zigel, Professor of Higher Mathe-
more mundane light Jet us briefly examine matics and Astronomy, Moscow Aero-
the last 30 years. nautical Institute. Can any of your
In 1947, the United States Air Force
started an official project called " SIGN".
By 1949, 243 reports of UFOs had been
submitted, but no conclusive evidence
came to the public's knowledge from this
project. Project Blue Book was then
born, and its findings produced the same
conclusions. So it appears that the
United States Air Force concern was
H.L.8 P
Lordships sincerely believe that these
aforementioned . people all suffer either
from hallucinations or believe in fairy
stories?
Despite the United States and the
USSR embargo on UFO information,
funnily enough the Russians appear
more inclined to think that UFOs have
extra-terrestrial origins. Further, some
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Cases discussed

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