The UK government has finally released several UFO documents they have been promising to release for years. The UK government claimed to have released all of their UFO files in 2013. However, in 2014, found 18 others they neglected to include in the original bunch. Although the files are available as of today, they cannot be accessed online. They can only be seen by visiting their office in Kew, a few miles outside of London. This means it may be a few days until we know what is in the files.
Map showing the location of the UK National Archives building in Kew.
(Credit: Google Maps)
The news of the release of the files was posted by online radio station KGRA. An email had been sent from the UK National Archives to Kerry McClure in response to an inquiry about the files. McClure forwarded the response, which includes a link to information about the files, to KGRA. KRGA posted the contents of the email earlier today. Although the UK National Archives has claimed they will be releasing 18 files, only 15 files are represented in the link provided to McClure.
The files may never have been discovered, if it were not for the efforts of John Burroughs. He witnessed an amazing UFO event while in the US Air Force stationed at a base in the UK in 1980. He had discovered the existence of several UFO files he wanted to review while investigating his UFO incident. The UK government said they were releasing all of their UFO files and he would have to wait until they were released with the rest of the UFO documents which were being made public in batches.
John Burroughs (right) and his lawyer Pat Frascogna presenting their case at the 2015 International UFO Congress.
(Credit: Carlo Petrick)
Once all of the UFO files were supposedly released, the documents he was looking for where not present. He then asked the UK government to release them, but was not taken seriously. Then, a UK citizen who had read about Burroughs’ efforts made a request for the files as well. He received a response. He was told the files had been overlooked and would be released in about 9 months. That was several years ago. Even a member of the House of Lords made inquiries about why it was taking so long for the files to be released.
Suffice it to say, there has been much anticipation to see these files, but for those who do not live near London, it may be a few more days until we know more about these files.
Photograph of the The National Archives, taken by Nick Cooper 3 February, 2007.
(Credit: Nick Cooper/Wikimedia Commons)
For now, here is a list of the files:
UFO policy
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. UFO policy.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 27 April 2004 – 07 May 2004
Reference: DEFE 24/3156
Subjects: Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Copy of DEFE 24/2879: UFOs: reports; correspondence; with redactions
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. UFOs: reports; correspondence. Copy of DEFE 24/2879: UFOs: reports; correspondence; with redactions.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 1976 – 1977
Reference: DEFE 24/2879/1
Subjects: Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Copy of DEFE 24/2862: UFO reports; with redactions
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. UFO reports. Copy of DEFE 24/2862: UFO reports; with redactions.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 16 November 1986 – 23 February 2001
Reference: DEFE 24/2862/1
Subjects: Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Copy of DEFE 24/3129: UFOs: administration and general; with redactions
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. UFOs: administration and general. Copy of DEFE 24/3129: UFOs: administration and general; with redactions.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 13 May 1982 – 02 January 1983
Reference: DEFE 24/3129/1
Subjects: Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Copy of DEFE 24/3122: Defence policy issues: UFOs; with redactions
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. Defence policy issues: UFOs. Copy of DEFE 24/3122: Defence policy issues: UFOs; with redactions
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 06 May 1997 – 15 March 2000
Reference: DEFE 24/3122/1
Subjects: Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Copy of DEFE 24/2822: UFO reports: C3I air traffic control; low flying UFOs; with redactions…
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. UFO reports: C3I air traffic control; low flying UFOs. Copy of DEFE 24/2822: UFO reports: C3I air traffic control; low flying UFOs; with redactions.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 04 January 1993 – 30 January 1995
Reference: DEFE 24/2822/1
Subjects: Air transport | Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Copy of DEFE 24/2821: UFO reports: C31 air traffic control; low flying UFOs; with redactions…
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. UFO reports: C3I air traffic control; low flying UFOs. Copy of DEFE 24/2821: UFO reports: C31 air traffic control; low flying UFOs; with redactions.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 15 March 1991 – 20 December 1992
Reference: DEFE 24/2821/1
Subjects: Air transport | Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Copy of DEFE 24/2823: UFO reports: C3I air traffic control; low flying UFOs; with redactions…
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. UFO reports: C3I air traffic control; low flying UFOs. Copy of DEFE 24/2823: UFO reports: C3I air traffic control; low flying UFOs; with redactions.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 06 November 1995 – 21 January 1996
Reference: DEFE 24/2823/1
Subjects: Air transport | Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Copy of DEFE 24/3128: Air Defence Ground Environment: UFO reports; with redactions
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. Air Defence Ground Environment: UFO reports. Copy of DEFE 24/3128: Air Defence Ground Environment: UFO reports; with redactions.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 01 September 2001 – 22 October 2002
Reference: DEFE 24/3128/1
Subjects: Air Force | Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Copy of DEFE 24/3127: Air Defence Ground Environment: UFO reports; with redactions
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. Air Defence Ground Environment: UFO reports. Copy of DEFE 24/3127: Air Defence Ground Environment: UFO reports; with redactions.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 16 November 1999 – 13 August 2001
Reference: DEFE 24/3127/1
Subjects: Air Force | Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Copy of DEFE 24/3124: Air Defence Ground Environment: UFO reports; with redactions
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. Air Defence Ground Environment: UFO reports. Copy of DEFE 24/3124: Air Defence Ground Environment: UFO reports; with redactions.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 06 January 1995 – 21 November 1996
Reference: DEFE 24/3124/1
Subjects: Air Force | Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Copy of DEFE 24/3126: Air Defence Ground Environment: UFO reports; with redactions
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. Air Defence Ground Environment: UFO reports. Copy of DEFE 24/3126: Air Defence Ground Environment: UFO reports; with redactions.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 01 October 1997 – 15 November 1999
Reference: DEFE 24/3126/1
Subjects: Air Force | Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Copy of DEFE 24/2863: Freedom of Information Act 2000: copyright issues concerning internet publication; reports…
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. Freedom of Information Act 2000: copyright issues concerning internet publication; reports of UFO sightings. Copy of DEFE 24/2863: Freedom of Information Act 2000: copyright issues concerning internet publication; reports of UFO sightings; with redactions.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 28 June 2007 – 15 August 2007
Reference: DEFE 24/2863/1
Subjects: Armed Forces (General Administration) | Communications | UFOs
UFO policy. This is a redacted version, which is the only surviving copy of this…
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. UFO policy. This is a redacted version, which is the only surviving copy of this file.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 13 June 2000 – 12 December 2000
Reference: DEFE 24/3154
Subjects: Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
UFO policy. This is a redacted version, which is the only surviving copy of this…
Ministry of Defence: Defence Secretariat Branches and their Predecessors: Registered Files. UFO policy. This is a redacted version, which is the only surviving copy of this file.
Held by: The National Archives, Kew – Ministry of Defence
Date: 09 December 1971 – 11 December 1996
Reference: DEFE 24/3152
Subjects: Armed Forces (General Administration) | UFOs
Update 6/22/2017
We received an email from Nick Pope, former UK Ministry of Defence UFO investigator. He writes: “The National Archives decided not to go with a proactive media launch this time around, probably because of the previous adverse publicity about the delay in making these files available – especially as there are still three to come, so they can’t even say this concludes the release project. They essentially shifted from seeing this as a potential good news story about open government and freedom of information to regarding it as a potentially bad news story about delay and bureaucracy. Unfortunately, the perception will be that they slipped this out and hoped people wouldn’t notice until some time afterwards, making media coverage less likely, as journalists tend not to like beginning a story by saying that something interesting happened last month.”
Pope suggests that with enough pressure from the media and/or public, perhaps the UK National Archives will release the files online for free as they did with the previous UFO files. Albeit, the files were only free for a limited time. Unlike the U.S., the British government maintains copyright over government documents and charges for them.
For more about Burroughs and the UK UFO files visit these links:
Vet says government has acknowledged he was injured by UFO while on duty
UK Defence Intelligence suggests witnesses may have been exposed to UFO radiation
Stalled UFO file release questioned in the UK House of Lords
