According to the MoD's press release at
May 14 2008, the decision to release the
files is the direct result of the countless
Freedom Of Information requests concerning
the UFO Files.
The MoD also states that the only
interest they really have in the UFO
phenomena is "solely to establish
whether UK airspace may have been
compromised by hostile or unauthorised
military activity".
The files include descriptions of
alleged Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon or
"UFO" sightings and subsequent MOD
evaluations of the reports.
The MOD receives a large number of
requests each year for information relating
to UFOs, and so has introduced a system
to meet this demand by releasing these
historic files in a structured way.
The released files can be seen on The
National Archives' website, see Related
Links >>> The files will
be available to download free for the first
month, after which The National Archives
will charge for them.
The rest of the files are currently under
review and will be added to The National
Archives over the next three years.
To date, independent experts have concluded
that there are straightforward explanations
behind alleged UFO reports, such as aircraft
lights or natural phenomena.
Reports of UFOs are examined by the
Ministry of Defence solely to establish
whether UK airspace may have been
compromised by hostile or unauthorised
military activity.
If required, sighting reports are
examined with the assistance of the
Department's air defence experts. Unless
there is evidence of a potential threat, no
further work is undertaken to identify the
nature of each sighting reported.
The Ministry of Defence has no other
interest or role regarding UFO matters and
does not consider questions regarding the
existence or otherwise of extraterrestrial
life-forms.
The MOD now routinely releases
information on reported UFO sightings.
This information can be found on the
MOD website, through our Freedom Of
Information Publication Scheme.