UK UFO Sightings from 1981 to 1996
MOD and National Archives Release Flying Saucer Data
Aug 17, 2009
The National Archives, in conjunction with the UK’s Ministry of Defence, has released the latest batch of Unidentified Flying Object-related papers covering the years 1981 to 1996. They will be free to download for one month from the published date of 17th August 2009 and will be available after that for a small fee. Previously published UFO files from the UK Government currently now cost £3.50 to view from DocumentsOnline.
Files Include Details of Britain’s Own Roswell Incident
The most interesting file for UFOlogists is bound to be that covering the Rendlesham Forest Incident of December 1980. Dubbed the UK’s version of the Roswell Incident, it concerns unexplained sightings in the forest next to RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk. The main evidence of this incident is a report by the Deputy Base Commander of RAF Bentwaters, Lt. Col. Charles I. Halt of the USAF, dated January 13, 1981.
In the report, Lt. Col. Halt describes how, in December 1980, three security policemen reported seeing a metallic, glowing triangular shaped object which was lighting up the whole of the forest. The unexplained object had a pulsating red light on the top and was about two metres high with blue lights underneath. As the men approached it, it moved away and disappeared. There was a repeat sighting about an hour later.
When the area of the sighting was investigated the next day, three indentations were found on the ground and a nearby tree had radiation moderate readings on the side of it that faced the indentations. Later that night, a red sun type of light was seen through the trees, again pulsating and then almost straightaway, three star like objects were seen moving very fast through the sky.
The Cosford UFO Sightings of 1993
Another case file covers UFO sightings which took place over about three hours in the early hours of March 31, 1993. Named the Cosford Incident because an initial report came through from a Corporal based at RAF Cosford, the strange lights were seen and reported by over 30 people, mainly in Cornwall, Devon, South Wales and Shropshire. Witnesses included police, military and civil aviation personnel. Military investigations showed that radar recordings displayed nothing particularly unusual.
The sightings were investigated by both the MOD and the civilian Devon UFO Research Organisation (DUFURO). The official conclusion to this incident is that the lights seen were caused by the break up of a Russian rocket, used to launch a Cosmos satellite, on re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere. However, DUFURO were not convinced that all the sightings on that night can be rationalised this way.
List of Latest UK UFO Data Files Available for Download
The following list gives details of this latest set of files on flying saucer incidents which are available for download from the National Archives website.
- DEFE 24/1948 – Includes the December 1980 Rendlesham Forest sightings
- DEFE 24/1959 – Includes UFO sightings in Scotland
- DEFE 24/1960 – Includes the Glastonbury Festival Incident
- DEFE 24/1961 – Includes details of an attempted alien abduction in Staffordshire
- DEFE 24/1962 – Includes close encounters in London and Scotland
- DEFE 24/1963 – Includes UFO incidents in Teesside, Hampshire, London and Scotland
- DEFE 24/1964 – Includes accounts of UFOs in Cambridgeshire, Jersey, Northamptonshire and London
- DEFE 24/1965 – Includes details of flying saucer sightings in Yorkshire and Devon
- DEFE 24/1970 – UFOs: Parliamentary Correspondence 1985 - 1995 including the results of the MOD’s enquiry into the activities at Rendlesham
- DEFE 24/1972 – Includes UFO sightings in Essex, Suffolk and Northern Ireland
- DEFE 24/1974 – Includes details of the loss of a Lightning F6 and its pilot, Captain William Shaffner in 1970
- DEFE 24/1975 – Includes flying saucer incidents in Wales, Wiltshire and Worcestershire
- DEFE 24/1976 – Includes an incident at a cemetery near Widnes, Cheshire where a hole was burned into a railway sleeper
- DEFE 24/2086 – Includes the Cosford Incident 31st March 1993
Whilst much of the National Archives file content simply consists of statements relating to unexplained objects in the sky with personal details removed because of data protection, it will be of interest to anyone who is curious about official recordings of flying saucer activity over the UK. However, they also show that military personnel need to be careful with internal correspondence as this article on UFO Dossier Highlights Need for Writing Training demonstrates.
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