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 Defence that divulge details of mysterious incidents in British skies, reports The Sun.
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 shaped object near an RAF base in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk.
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 digitised, so enthusiasts must join a queue to inspect the paper records at the National Archive’s reading room in Kew, West London.
Further to this, there are an additional three files which have still not been released, according to Nick Pope, a former civil servant who worked for the MoD.
Mr Pope, who ran the defence 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 digitised, 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.
BRITAIN’S MOST FAMOUS UFO SIGHTING
The Rendlesham Forest incident took place in December 1980 over several nights.
On December 26, 1980, military personnel at the twin bases of RAF Bentwaters and RAF 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-shaped 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 Deputy Base Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt and his team then encountered the UFO.
“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,” he said.
Despite an MOD investigation, the Rendlesham Forest incident remains unexplained.