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This research guide from The National Archives was written by Dr David Clarke in March 2008 and revised in August 2008. It traces British government interest in UFOs from the phantom airships of 1909 through the 1951 Flying Saucer Working Party, Air Ministry and MoD investigations, and the 1979 House of Lords debate. It notes that official bodies found most sightings had ordinary explanations. It also lists key National Archives file references, including papers on the Rendlesham Forest incident.
“Air Ministry intelligence”9 pages
12 original typewritten report and the follow-up inquiries made by MoD can be seen at reference DEFE 24/1512. A file dedicated to the Rendlesham incident was opened by the MoD several years after these events. This file was opened at The National Archives in August 2009 (DEFE 24/1948/1) .This file contains Halt's memo and briefings prepared for a Parliamentary question tabled by Major Patrick Wall MP in 1983 when the News of the World published the story. The remainder of the file covers internal discussion of the case and correspondence from the public between 1983 and 1995. Further information on UFOs released by the MoD can be accessed online via their FOI Publication Scheme at: http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FreedomOfInformation/PublicationScheme This includes a recent policy statement on UFOs, a copy of the Flying Saucer Working Party report of 1951 and responses to a number of FOI requests received by the MoD from members of the public since 2005. A comprehensive tabulated list of UFO sightings reported to MoD's Directorate of Air Staff (DAS), between 1997 and 2007, is available via the Publication Scheme here: http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FreedomOfInformation/PublicationScheme/SearchP ublicationScheme/UfoReportsInTheUk.htm The MoD website also contains a PDF copy of the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) study 'UAPs in the UK Air Defence Region', completed in 2000 and released as a result of an FOI request in May 2006: http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FreedomOfInformation/PublicationScheme/SearchP ublicationScheme/UnidentifiedAerialPhenomenauapInTheUkAirDefenceRegion.htm 8. Suggestions for further reading Publications Brookesmith, Peter. UFO – The government files. London: Blandford, 1996 Bruni, Georgina. You Can't Tell the People. London: Pan/Macmillan, 2001 Clancarty, Lord with Michell, John. The House of Lords UFO Debate. London: Open Head Press, 1979. Clarke, David and Roberts, Andy. Phantoms of the Sky: UFOs A Modern Myth? London: Robert Hale, 1990 Clarke, David and Roberts, Andy. Out of the Shadows: UFOs, the Establishment and the official cover-up. London: Piatkus, 2002 Clarke, David. The UFO Files: The Inside Story of Real Life Sightings. London: The National Archives, 2009 (due for release, September 2009). Coates, Tim (editor). UFOs in the House of Lords 1979. London: HMSO, 2000 Fawcett, Lawrence and Greenwood, Barry J. Clear Intent: The government cover-up of the UFO experience. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1984
Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 13 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.