UFO files reveal behind the scenes of the UFO desk

In a briefing prepared for the Ministry of Defence prior to the House of Lords UFO
Debate in 1979, a UFO Intelligence Officer questions why, in such a vast universe,
aliens would want to visit “an insignificant planet (the Earth) of an uninteresting star (the
sun)”. He also raises the point that no radio tracking systems had ever picked up any
alien transmissions. He concluded that claims of thousands of visits in the last decade
were far too large to be credible.
Dr David Clarke continues: “These files also detail the background to the MoD‟s
decision to release these files to the public in the first place, something I had been
campaigning for over several years under the Freedom of Information Act. Now they
have been released at The National Archives they will provide future generations with a
fascinating snapshot of an unexplored aspect of contemporary social history.”
Other highlights from the files include:
A lengthy briefing on UFO policy to PM Tony Blair‟s office at the time the
government had just begun the implementation of the FOI Act.
Behind the scenes of MoD‟s decision to open the UFO files following an FOI
campaign by Dr David Clarke of Sheffield Hallam University
Findings of an Unexplained Aerial Phenomena study suggested that some UFOs
were rare atmospheric plasmas (e.g. ball lightning) that could be harnessed or
used by the military as „novel weapon technology.‟
A 1982 memo notes a fall in numbers of UFO sightings since the beginning of the
Falklands War but notes “large numbers of UFOs have been seen in the vicinity
of the Task Force – presumably Little Green Men in ponchos.”
A hotel owner in West Wales who complained to her MP after a UFO landed in a
field from which two tall silver-suited “faceless humanoids” emerged and began
“making measurements”.
A late night visit by three „men in black‟ to a person who reported having a UFO
encounter in Spalding, Lincolnshire. The UFO witness later had no recollection of
either the men or the UFO encounter.
UFO sighting by a Police Officer at Chelsea Football club
The files are available to download for free for a month from the website:
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ufos