Documents / Document
This press release from The National Archives, dated 21 June 2013, announces the final tranche of Ministry of Defence UFO files: 25 files and 4,400 pages covering the UFO desk's last two years, from late 2007 until it closed in November 2009. The files show that sighting reports trebled to over 600 in 2009. Officials said no report in more than 50 years had revealed an extra-terrestrial presence or a military threat. Chinese lanterns are cited as a likely cause of the surge.
PRESS RELEASE UFO Desk: Closed - Last Tranche of UFO Files Released - The final tranche of UFO files released today by The National Archives reveal for the first time the reasons behind the closure of the UFO desk and how sightings, which trebled in its last year, had become a social phenomenon making tabloid headlines and sparking a disclosure campaign for „the truth‟. The 25 files, which contain 4,400 pages, cover the work carried out during final two years of the MoD‟s UFO desk (from late 2007 until November 2009) including details of government policy, official correspondence with senior ministers and the handling of the largest ever number of UFO sighting reports received since 1978 - the year the film „Close Encounters of the Third Kind‟ was released. The files contain accounts of alleged abductions and contact with aliens and UFO sightings near UK landmarks. Dr David Clarke, author of the book 'The UFO Files' said: “The last pieces of the puzzle have finally been revealed with this insight into the last days of the UFO desk. These files spell out clearly why the MoD decided – after 60 years – it no longer needed to keep tabs on sightings, even those made by „credible‟ people such as police officers and pilots. The last files from the UFO desk are now all in the public domain. People at home can read them and draw their own conclusions about whether „the truth‟ is in these files or still out there.” The UFO Desk received over 600 UFO sightings and reports in 2009, treble the amount of the previous year. With this surge in sighting reports, increasing time and resources were needed to manage the UFO Desk which the files note „serves no defence purpose and merely encourages the generation of correspondence‟. The files also show that in 2009, Defence Minister Bob Ainsworth was told that in more than 50 years „no UFO sighting reported to [MoD] has ever revealed anything to suggest an extra-terrestrial presence or military threat to the UK‟ (DEFE 24/2458/1). This led to their decision to close the UFO Desk and with it the UFO hotline and dedicated email address.
Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 4 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.