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Sketch showing flying saucer sighted over cornfield at East Grinstead, Surrey; catalogue reference: DEFE 24/1996/1

05 August

The latest batch of UFO files has been released by The National Archives today, revealing how 'unexplained aerial phenomena' were taken so seriously in 1957 they were discussed by the Cabinet Office's Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC).

The files also contain dozens of UFO sightings reported to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) between 1995 and 2003, including more than 600 instances in 1996 alone. The files are available to download for free for a month at nationalarchives.gov.uk/ufos.

From defence to PR

Dr David Clarke, author of The UFO files and senior lecturer in Journalism at Sheffield Hallam University, said the latest papers demonstrate the extent to which official policy towards UFOs changed after the Cold War: 'In 1957, some officials were so concerned by a spate of incidents involving UFOs the subject was placed on the agenda of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC),' Dr Clarke explained. 'But by the 50th anniversary of the "flying saucer" mystery, in 1997, the MoD was no longer interested in UFOs as a defence problem, but as a purely public relations issue. This inevitably led to the closure of the MoD's public UFO hotline at the end of 2009.'

Among hundreds of reports of sightings, 'UFO crashes' and other close encounters, the files reveal details of several unusual incidents which landed on the MoD's 'UFO desk' - Sec(AS)2. These include the unlikely tale of a man from Leeds who believed his 100-1 bet on alien life being discovered on earth before the end of the century was a winner. He approached the government for evidence to support his claim after Ladbrokes refused to pay out. The MoD said they were open-minded about extra-terrestrial life, but had no evidence of its existence. (See DEFE 24/2012, p72-77).

Further highlights from the files

Sketch of UFO - like a space station - with rotating coloured lights, Crumlin, Gwent, 9 May 1998; catalogue reference: DEFE 24/1998/1
  • A 'psychic premonition' of a terrorist attack on an RAF base in 1990 (see DEFE 24/1973, p13-14, p15, p18, p60-61 and DEFE 24/1978, p216, p220).
  • The mountain rescue team called to investigate a 'crashed UFO' in the Berwyn Mountains in Wales in 1974 (see DEFE 24/2045, p17-20, p57-78).
  • The inside story of the 14-minutes of 'missing' film relating to the Blue Streak missile test launch in 1964, believed by some to show a 'spaceman' (see DEFE 24/1983, p145-73).
  • Sightings of a black triangular UFO over the home of the Shadow Home Secretary, Michael Howard, in Folkestone, March 1997 (see DEFE 24/1926, p13, p18, p74-75 and DEFE 24/2013, p10).
  • The attempted break-in by individuals seeking the truth about RAF Rudloe Manor in Wiltshire - sometimes referred to as Britain's 'Area 51' (see DEFE 24/1995, p249-51).
  • An account of a wartime meeting attended by Winston Churchill in which the Prime Minister allegedly discussed a UFO encounter with RAF bombers (see DEFE 24/2013, p205-209 and p273-77).

There are 18 files in total, released today as part of a three-year project between The National Archives and the Ministry of Defence. The files are made up of more than 5,000 pages of UFO reports, letters and drawings drawn from correspondence with the public and questions raised in parliament.