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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.
“RAF”60+ pages
,•, 'fo-cts ' 1296 ~Je at Manchester of Radio Astron- ,f which he is the •wo days ago and '.O your Lordships th?.t round tabie c.nd the members Jdrel! Bank. Of ;orts of sightings ~never it has been n·estigation they tttral phenomena pet to say, pur~ Kmgdom, Jodrell •.he first and still 'ul in the world. )ossible subjects · Os, but not a her than natural : the noble Earl e the point o~ suggested, defy do we really eans or possible st at all? perspective, my st I0,000 pieces American and vn to exist in "Jlany thousands hey do plough . and burn up. :nk your. Lord- least some of JFOs. Nature ::s, meteorites, t a rate of half 1 tiny country red rocks the Jg~ the atmos- '1 m one year. on to the size 's surface and l we are under 't with UFOs jetailed study . ··--,, .. -._ if. _ .. ,,, . _ ":...~ ··~--- ,.. ~-....l _... ~: •• _...: "'-·-· _u,:~ ;, ~.L,:,._LJ_ -~-;~. 1297 Unidentified ·.. [ 18 JANUARY 1979] ··'Flying Objects -1298 on the Canadian prairies has displayed 1 scientific lobby and some nasty, cheap. how great is this bombardment which I I debunking exercise. No, my Lords. We have just described over a wide area. must take a serious scientific vi:::w of the Even more staggering is the fact that it is actual surveys and of what has been I estimated that 8,000 million pieces of stone discovered. I and metal come to earth annually, many . \ of these buming up on arrival and these ~- give cause for these reports of unidentified • flying objects. What is noticeable is the ck>se correlation between the posiiion of the planet Venus ; and the reports of UFOs. for when Venus i is low and-bright in the sky and when it is I , shining through thick mist or thin cloud it docs much more resemble something ' other than our next door· planet of the solar system. Why, indeed, we are told even the great President Carter has spotted one, but it is a pity we did not read the rest of the subsequent report. It was later discovered that that was Venus precisely in those conditions I have described. If the great President of the United States can be wrong, it is just possible the few noble Lords remaining in this House tonight might be, too. Let us face it, we all would love to escape from the miseries and frustrations of our world, and particularly in these recent past days. by all means go and see " Star Wars " or "Jaws " or any other myth, but do not confuse that with very serious scientific study. That is carrying romance a little too far. We must make sure we do not make your Lordships' House a laughing stock by doing so. One of the most advanced experimental stations at Jodrell Bank-just take these statistics on board please, my Lords- has been on watch 24 hours a day for 30 years. Do you not think it reasonable for me to suggest that if there were UFOs at least one claim would have been made, but every single thing that has been seen and observed by radio astronomy has been identified as natural phenomena and as occurring from the universe itself as we know it-I do not say from the solar system; I say from our universe. If there were something in it-and the noble Earl. Lord Halsbury, is so right- of course the scientists would have been delighted to come forward with an announcement to that effect. After all, it was Jodrell Bank that managed to locate the Sputnik when the Russians, who so cleverly launched it, lost track of it in the atmosphere. So do not think that this is some denigrating comment by the Lord DAVJES of LEEK: My Lords, I am delif!hted to hear what the noble Lord says.~ However, I beg the noble Lord to remember that there are other scientists , who say that of course we know that there are meteorites-there have been for the whole of time--but there are some factors outside that range which justify (and this is all we ask) an attempt at identifi0ation. There is no difficulty in identifying meteorites. We are not asking for that: we are asking for the identification of other types of phenomena. Lord HEWLETT: My Lords, that promptly begs the question. That is precisely what J am saying. The idcnti- cations that have been made are not necessarily of individual meteorites: they are of endemic portions of rockets and so on. During 30 years study and a constant watch for 24 hours a day there has been not a single sighting of any description which could possibly or remotely be considered worthy of serious study as a UFO. Every sit:gle thing ha.s been explicable. With all respe-ct, it is no J.ISe noble Lords saying that this is not a convenient unswcr: we must find some things that are not explicable. l am telling your Lordship~ and it is perfectly fair. Your Lordships may say "S::ientists ". I am quoting one of the leading world, radio astronomers--indeed, probably the leading world radio astro1wrner. Frankly, scientists can be anyr.h!ng from a B.S-::. London University, passed yesterday. However, I am talking about 30 years experience of radio astronomy and a professorship of the highest standing and order in the whole world. Both the United States and the Svviet Union come to Sir Bernard at Jodrell Bank for assistance.· Lord DAVIES of LEEK: My Lords, nobody is denigrating what the noble Lord is saying, but he is off beat here. All we are saying is that there are some of these phenomena that need investigation~ that is all. Lord HEWLETT: My Lords, perhaps the noble Lord could show me just one
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