An official government UFO dossier that’s referred to as “Britain’s X-Files” has finally been released.
The National Archive has opened up a cache of 15 files from the Ministry of Defense that divulge details of mysterious incidents in British skies.
They include material relating to an unsolved encounter that’s been likened to the Roswell UFO incident in America.
The incident took place in December 1980, when three military personnel claimed to see flashing bright lights and a triangular object near a Royal Air Force base in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, about 100 miles northeast of London.
An investigation was opened but the mystery remains unsolved.
But alien hunters will have to wait a little longer to find out the truth, thanks to the process that’s been put in place to read these newly released files.
They have not been digitized, so enthusiasts must join a line to inspect the paper records at the National Archive’s reading room in London.
What’s more, there are an additional three files which have still not been released, according to Nick Pope, a former civil servant who worked for the Ministry of Defense.
Pope, who ran the defense ministry’s UFO project from 1991 to 1994, said: “The lack of a smoking gun and the fact that these files seem to have been slipped out without a formal media announcement is bound to start some conspiracy theories, and I know that many people believe the ‘good stuff’ is being held back.”
“Furthermore, the fact that some files haven’t been digitized, can’t be downloaded, and can only be viewed in person at the National Archives will doubtless also generate conspiracy theories.”
“After this, there are only three more UFO files still to be released, and they should be made public later this year, so there’s still more to come.”
“This is a good day for open government and for freedom of information.”
Last year, an American airman involved in the incident won a legal bid to force military health chiefs to pay for the treatment of injuries he claimed to have sustained at Rendlesham Forest.
“In citing the [MoD radiation documents] and in granting John Burroughs full disability for his injuries in Rendlesham Forest, the US Government has by de facto acknowledged the existence of unidentified aerial phenomena which, in John Burroughs’ case, resulted in physical injury,” his lawyer Pat Frascogna said.
The Rendlesham Forest incident: Britain’s most famous UFO sighting
The Rendlesham Forest incident took place in December 1980 over several nights.
On Dec. 26, 1980, military personnel at the twin bases of Royal Air Force Bentwaters and Royal Air Force Woodbridge in Suffolk saw a strange light in Rendlesham Forest, which lies between the two bases.
Three men were sent out to investigate and two of them encountered a small, triangular craft.
One man, Jim Penniston, got close enough to touch the side of the object.
He and another of the airmen present, John Burroughs, made sketches of the craft for witness statements.
Two nights later a deputy base commander, Lt. Col. Charles Halt, and his team encountered the UFO.
He said later: “Here I am, a senior official who routinely denies this sort of thing and diligently works to debunk them, and I’m involved in the middle of something I can’t explain.”
Despite a Ministry of Defense investigation, the Rendlesham Forest incident remains unexplained.