今天看CCTV10在说UFO，给大家找点X-files

The Real British X-Files

There's some amazing stuff in amongst the mass of more routine material, says Nick Pope. UFOs seen by police officers and pilots, UFOs tracked on radar, craft seen performing speeds and maneuvers significantly in excess of those of our most advanced military aircraft, intriguing photos and videos...
By Nick Pope
Nick Pope used to work for the British Ministry of Defense and for 3 years headed up their UFO project. His remit was to investigate UFO sightings reported to the British government, looking for evidence of any potential threat, or anything judged to be of any “defence significance.”

Abstract
Late in 2007 the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) gave an undertaking to release its entire archive of UFO files. On May 14 2008 the National Archives released the first batch of files, leading to worldwide media coverage, including articles in the New York Times and coverage on CNN News. On October 20 2008 the National Archives released the second batch of files, again generating global media coverage, including a feature on ABC News’s Nightline. I used to work at the MoD on these files and although I left government service in 2006, I assisted the National Archives in the release process by reviewing the files, selecting cases of potential interest to the media and acting as someone to whom they would refer journalists wanting to discuss the files. I will set out the background to this release and explain how the French government’s 2007 decision to release its UFO files was a major factor in the UK decision, as was the fact that the MoD receives more FOI requests on UFOs than any other topic. I will then give detailed information about the files, explaining how much material there is, what it comprises and what the timeline is for full disclosure. I will also discuss the level of classification involved and the various FOI exemptions that mean certain information will not be released. Finally, I will pick out some cases from the newly released files and discuss the wider implications of this release.
Introduction
I used to work for the MoD in the UK and for 3 years I ran their UFO project. My remit was to investigate UFO sighting reported to the British government, looking for evidence of any potential threat, or anything judged to be of any “defence significance”. In 2007 the French government released their archive of UFO files and this was followed by many stories suggesting that the British government was about to do the same. This process has now begun and has commented upon extensively in the media and in the UFO community. However, the situation is more complex than many suppose and some of what’s been written has been misleading or wrong. Accordingly, I’ll clarify the position, explain what’s already happened, what’s happening now and what future developments people can expect to see.
The Public Records Acts
Before the UK’s Freedom of Information Act came fully into force in 2005, the Public Records Acts set down the rules on access to government files. The best-known feature of these acts was the so-called 30 Year Rule, which did pretty much what it said on the tin and meant that most files wouldn’t be opened until 30 years after the most recent document. Some more sensitive files were withheld for longer, while some would never be released. The ‘default position’, as it were, was not to release. It was a totally different culture, and when I joined the MoD in 1985, it was a closed organization with limited public and media interface. The Department I left in 2006, after a 21 year career, was virtually unrecognizable from the organization I’d joined over two decades ago.
1967
There was a major wave of UFO sightings in the UK in 1967 (and indeed in the US and elsewhere) and the subject enjoyed extensive media coverage. There was parliamentary interest too and one of the key decisions in relation to MoD UFO documents was taken in that year. It was agreed by Defense ministers that in view of the historical/public interest, all UFO files would be kept permanently and considered for eventual release. Prior to that, files on the subject had been reviewed 5 years after closure and might be either destroyed, sent to MoD records management divisions or sent to the Public Records Office (now renamed the National Archives). What this meant was that prior to 1967, few UFO files had survived this process and with a few exceptions, UFO files from the Fifties and early Sixties had been destroyed. There was nothing sinister about this and such decisions were made all the time on a wide range of subjects. It was a subjective business and I’ve done it myself: administrative staff would bring me files and I’d have to decide whether to authorize destruction, permanent retention or a further review. I never authorized the destruction of a UFO file and following the 1967 ruling, nobody should.
Freedom of Information
The introduction of the Freedom of Information Act (passed in November 2000 and coming fully into force in January 2005) effectively reversed the default position and the presumption now is that information is released, unless any of the formal exemptions apply. I was trained in this and have dealt with Freedom of Information (FOI) requests myself, so have first-hand experience of this. Ufologists have used FOI (and the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which preceded FOI but attempted to apply some of the principles) extensively and researchers such as Georgina Bruni and Timothy Good have achieved some high-profile successes. The file of the Rendlesham Forest incident and on the Cosford incident, the Flying Saucer Working Party and Project Condign (a highly classified UFO study sponsored by the Defence Intelligence Staff and undertaken by a defence contractor) were all obtained using the Code or FOI. All these files and more besides are now available on the MoD website, www.mod.uk. Go to the Freedom of Information section and search the Publication Scheme and the Disclosure Log, using keywords such as UFO and UAP and it’s all there, alongside documents and files on a vast range of other fascinating subjects including MoD’s 2001 remote viewing study.
FOI or Investigation?
The MoD receives more FOI requests relating to UFOs than on any other subject, including the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. The section where I worked is now so busy dealing with FOI requests that this has taken precedence over the research and investigation that was done in my day. Few UFO sightings are currently investigated in any meaningful sense of the word and most sightings elicit little more than a standard letter. A major case such as Ray Bowyer’s sighting over the Channel Islands on 23 April 2007 will at least be investigated, but not to the extent that has previously been the case. The case file on the Channel Islands UFO sighting ran to 9 pages. Compare that with previous major cases such as Rendlesham Forest or the Cosford Incident, where the case files ran to over 100 pages of documentation. Investigations are suffering because of the workload being put on staff due to FOI, but FOI is taking priority because if it fails to comply, MoD would be breaching the law.
Disclosure
By 2007 the workload involved in dealing FOI requests was becoming intolerable and I know that staffs were getting increasingly frustrated. Accordingly, because of the administrative burden involved in responding to UFO-related FOI requests on a case by case basis, MoD decided to proactively release its entire archive of UFO files. As mentioned earlier, the French government did this in 2007 (and the dedicated server crashed due to the volume of hits as around 220,000 people attempted to access the material on the day of release) and this was another reason for the release, as was the hope that the move would help deal with accusations that MoD was covering up the truth about UFOs. Indeed, both the MoD and the National Archives hope that this will be a good news story about open government and freedom of information. MoD confirmed to me in December 2007 that the final decision had been taken and I duly broke the story in the media.
The Details
There are around 160 files in all, covering sighting reports, public correspondence, policy files and files detailing with how the MoD handles the subject when raised in parliament and in the media. MoD decided not to release the material all in one go, mainly because of the administrative burden of redacting the files, i.e. deleting any information covered by the various exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act, ensuring that classified information and personal data isn’t released. Names, addresses and other personal details relating to witnesses and officials have to be removed, to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act. Other exemptions cover categories such as defense and national security and examples of the sort of information that is being withheld include classified information such as the capability of military radar systems, information passed to the UK in confidence by allies, commercially-sensitive information and information which, if disclosed, would reveal intelligence sources or methods of gathering intelligence. It’s a massive job: MoD has received over 11,000 UFO reports to date and case files on major incidents can run to over 100 pages of documentation. The entire process is likely to take 3 -- 4 years.
The Asbestos Files
While most files are ones from the secretariat branch that has the policy and investigative lead on UFOs (i.e. the division where I worked) 24 Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) UFO files are also being releasd. The DIS provided specialist advice and assistance on a number of areas related to specific investigations. These 24 files were part of a batch of several thousand DIS files that had been contaminated by asbestos. It was feared originally that they’d have to be destroyed. Historians were outraged and conspiracy theorists smelt a rat. But at a cost of around ￡3M all the files have now been decontaminated and scanned onto CD-ROMs. Many UFO researchers have made Freedom of Information Act requests relating to these files, so the material can now be considered for release in the usual way.
What’s in the Asbestos Files?
The 24 files cover the period 1975 to 1999 and cover a wide range of material, including both policy and investigations. Many of the UFO sightings detailed are mundane, but there are some more interesting ones, including sightings by civil and military pilots and sightings corroborated by radar evidence. And of course the period covered means that there will be documents on Rendlesham Forest, the Cosford Incident and Project Condign. Some of the documents will be new, but many will be copies of ones in the secretariat divion’s file. This is because the DIS UFO files mirror those of the secretariat division responsible for setting policy and leading investigations, because the secretariat and the DIS were looking at the same cases and corresponding with each other about them. Some documents I wrote are in the files and some documents are ones that were written to me. Brief details of these 24 files are available on the MoD website, in the Disclosure Log. A search on the phrase “DIS UFO Incident Files” will turn up the information.
The First Batch
The first batch of files were released on May 14 2008. They covered the period 1978 -- 1987. There were 8 files in this first batch, which led to some misunderstanding as many people thought this was the same as saying that there were only 8 individual cases. In fact, most of the files were sighting report files and each file contained several hundred pages of documentation, consisting mainly of one or two page summaries of individual sightings: the raw data, as it were, recorded in a standard format by the person receiving the UFO report. Overall, therefore, there were thousands of pages of documentation in these 8 files, detailing several hundred sightings. Most cases had mundane explanations and were clearly misidentifications of ordinary objects and phenomena, mainly aircraft lights, satellites and meteors. But some were more difficult to explain, including cases where the witnesses were pilots and police officers, together with instances where UFOs had been tracked on radar. There were also some more light-hearted cases, which were almost certainly hoaxes or instances where some practical joke had got out of hand. Some of the more interesting incidents included:
26th April 1984: Members of the public report a UFO in Stanmore. Two police officers attend the scene, witness the craft and sketch it.
13th October 1984: a saucer-shaped UFO is seen from Waterloo Bridge in London by numerous witnesses.
11th September 1985: 2 UFOs tracked on a military radar system travelling 10 nautical miles in 12 seconds.
4th September 1986: a UFO passes an estimated 1.5 nautical miles from the port side of a commercial aircraft.
The release made the news all around the world and within a couple of months the material had been downloaded around 2 million times. The National Archives regarded this as one of their most succesful proactive events of all time.
The Second Batch
A second batch of Ministry of Defence UFO files was released on October 20 2008 and are now available at the National Archives. There are 19 files, many of which contain several hundred individual documents. The files date from 1986 to 1992 and therefore include cases from my tour of duty on the MoD’s UFO project (1991 to 1994). It’s fascinating to see these files again -- it’s a real blast from the past. As with the first batch, most of the UFO sightings in these newly released files can be explained as misidentifications of ordinary objects or phenomena, with around 5% being more difficult to explain. The cases that concerned me most were those involving near misses between UFOs and commercial aircraft. There are several such cases in these files, along with more sightings from police officers and more cases where UFOs have been tracked on radar. I did a seemingly constant stream of TV and radio interviews, appearing on most TV news programmes (including a number of US shows such as ABC News’s Nightline) and on others shows such as GMTV, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and Newsround, as well as prestigious radio shows such as Radio 4’s Today programme and BBC World Service’s The World Today. I appeared twice on this latter show, once giving a conventional interview and the second time reading a science fiction story they asked to write, based on the files, which listeners were then invited to continue. The fact that such extensive media coverage resulted not only from the first release but from the second illustrates the appeal that this subject has with the media. The British file release is helping move the UFO phenomenon out of the fringe and into the mainstream.

Nick’s web site: www.nickpope.net
UK National Archives UFO Files: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ufos

美国研究ufo的地方叫51区，苏联的是卡普斯京亚尔。The Real British X-Files

There's some amazing stuff in amongst the mass of more routine material, says Nick Pope. UFOs seen by police officers and pilots, UFOs tracked on radar, craft seen performing speeds and maneuvers significantly in excess of those of our most advanced military aircraft, intriguing photos and videos...
By Nick Pope
Nick Pope used to work for the British Ministry of Defense and for 3 years headed up their UFO project. His remit was to investigate UFO sightings reported to the British government, looking for evidence of any potential threat, or anything judged to be of any “defence significance.”

Abstract
Late in 2007 the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) gave an undertaking to release its entire archive of UFO files. On May 14 2008 the National Archives released the first batch of files, leading to worldwide media coverage, including articles in the New York Times and coverage on CNN News. On October 20 2008 the National Archives released the second batch of files, again generating global media coverage, including a feature on ABC News’s Nightline. I used to work at the MoD on these files and although I left government service in 2006, I assisted the National Archives in the release process by reviewing the files, selecting cases of potential interest to the media and acting as someone to whom they would refer journalists wanting to discuss the files. I will set out the background to this release and explain how the French government’s 2007 decision to release its UFO files was a major factor in the UK decision, as was the fact that the MoD receives more FOI requests on UFOs than any other topic. I will then give detailed information about the files, explaining how much material there is, what it comprises and what the timeline is for full disclosure. I will also discuss the level of classification involved and the various FOI exemptions that mean certain information will not be released. Finally, I will pick out some cases from the newly released files and discuss the wider implications of this release.
Introduction
I used to work for the MoD in the UK and for 3 years I ran their UFO project. My remit was to investigate UFO sighting reported to the British government, looking for evidence of any potential threat, or anything judged to be of any “defence significance”. In 2007 the French government released their archive of UFO files and this was followed by many stories suggesting that the British government was about to do the same. This process has now begun and has commented upon extensively in the media and in the UFO community. However, the situation is more complex than many suppose and some of what’s been written has been misleading or wrong. Accordingly, I’ll clarify the position, explain what’s already happened, what’s happening now and what future developments people can expect to see.
The Public Records Acts
Before the UK’s Freedom of Information Act came fully into force in 2005, the Public Records Acts set down the rules on access to government files. The best-known feature of these acts was the so-called 30 Year Rule, which did pretty much what it said on the tin and meant that most files wouldn’t be opened until 30 years after the most recent document. Some more sensitive files were withheld for longer, while some would never be released. The ‘default position’, as it were, was not to release. It was a totally different culture, and when I joined the MoD in 1985, it was a closed organization with limited public and media interface. The Department I left in 2006, after a 21 year career, was virtually unrecognizable from the organization I’d joined over two decades ago.
1967
There was a major wave of UFO sightings in the UK in 1967 (and indeed in the US and elsewhere) and the subject enjoyed extensive media coverage. There was parliamentary interest too and one of the key decisions in relation to MoD UFO documents was taken in that year. It was agreed by Defense ministers that in view of the historical/public interest, all UFO files would be kept permanently and considered for eventual release. Prior to that, files on the subject had been reviewed 5 years after closure and might be either destroyed, sent to MoD records management divisions or sent to the Public Records Office (now renamed the National Archives). What this meant was that prior to 1967, few UFO files had survived this process and with a few exceptions, UFO files from the Fifties and early Sixties had been destroyed. There was nothing sinister about this and such decisions were made all the time on a wide range of subjects. It was a subjective business and I’ve done it myself: administrative staff would bring me files and I’d have to decide whether to authorize destruction, permanent retention or a further review. I never authorized the destruction of a UFO file and following the 1967 ruling, nobody should.
Freedom of Information
The introduction of the Freedom of Information Act (passed in November 2000 and coming fully into force in January 2005) effectively reversed the default position and the presumption now is that information is released, unless any of the formal exemptions apply. I was trained in this and have dealt with Freedom of Information (FOI) requests myself, so have first-hand experience of this. Ufologists have used FOI (and the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which preceded FOI but attempted to apply some of the principles) extensively and researchers such as Georgina Bruni and Timothy Good have achieved some high-profile successes. The file of the Rendlesham Forest incident and on the Cosford incident, the Flying Saucer Working Party and Project Condign (a highly classified UFO study sponsored by the Defence Intelligence Staff and undertaken by a defence contractor) were all obtained using the Code or FOI. All these files and more besides are now available on the MoD website, www.mod.uk. Go to the Freedom of Information section and search the Publication Scheme and the Disclosure Log, using keywords such as UFO and UAP and it’s all there, alongside documents and files on a vast range of other fascinating subjects including MoD’s 2001 remote viewing study.
FOI or Investigation?
The MoD receives more FOI requests relating to UFOs than on any other subject, including the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. The section where I worked is now so busy dealing with FOI requests that this has taken precedence over the research and investigation that was done in my day. Few UFO sightings are currently investigated in any meaningful sense of the word and most sightings elicit little more than a standard letter. A major case such as Ray Bowyer’s sighting over the Channel Islands on 23 April 2007 will at least be investigated, but not to the extent that has previously been the case. The case file on the Channel Islands UFO sighting ran to 9 pages. Compare that with previous major cases such as Rendlesham Forest or the Cosford Incident, where the case files ran to over 100 pages of documentation. Investigations are suffering because of the workload being put on staff due to FOI, but FOI is taking priority because if it fails to comply, MoD would be breaching the law.
Disclosure
By 2007 the workload involved in dealing FOI requests was becoming intolerable and I know that staffs were getting increasingly frustrated. Accordingly, because of the administrative burden involved in responding to UFO-related FOI requests on a case by case basis, MoD decided to proactively release its entire archive of UFO files. As mentioned earlier, the French government did this in 2007 (and the dedicated server crashed due to the volume of hits as around 220,000 people attempted to access the material on the day of release) and this was another reason for the release, as was the hope that the move would help deal with accusations that MoD was covering up the truth about UFOs. Indeed, both the MoD and the National Archives hope that this will be a good news story about open government and freedom of information. MoD confirmed to me in December 2007 that the final decision had been taken and I duly broke the story in the media.
The Details
There are around 160 files in all, covering sighting reports, public correspondence, policy files and files detailing with how the MoD handles the subject when raised in parliament and in the media. MoD decided not to release the material all in one go, mainly because of the administrative burden of redacting the files, i.e. deleting any information covered by the various exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act, ensuring that classified information and personal data isn’t released. Names, addresses and other personal details relating to witnesses and officials have to be removed, to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act. Other exemptions cover categories such as defense and national security and examples of the sort of information that is being withheld include classified information such as the capability of military radar systems, information passed to the UK in confidence by allies, commercially-sensitive information and information which, if disclosed, would reveal intelligence sources or methods of gathering intelligence. It’s a massive job: MoD has received over 11,000 UFO reports to date and case files on major incidents can run to over 100 pages of documentation. The entire process is likely to take 3 -- 4 years.
The Asbestos Files
While most files are ones from the secretariat branch that has the policy and investigative lead on UFOs (i.e. the division where I worked) 24 Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) UFO files are also being releasd. The DIS provided specialist advice and assistance on a number of areas related to specific investigations. These 24 files were part of a batch of several thousand DIS files that had been contaminated by asbestos. It was feared originally that they’d have to be destroyed. Historians were outraged and conspiracy theorists smelt a rat. But at a cost of around ￡3M all the files have now been decontaminated and scanned onto CD-ROMs. Many UFO researchers have made Freedom of Information Act requests relating to these files, so the material can now be considered for release in the usual way.
What’s in the Asbestos Files?
The 24 files cover the period 1975 to 1999 and cover a wide range of material, including both policy and investigations. Many of the UFO sightings detailed are mundane, but there are some more interesting ones, including sightings by civil and military pilots and sightings corroborated by radar evidence. And of course the period covered means that there will be documents on Rendlesham Forest, the Cosford Incident and Project Condign. Some of the documents will be new, but many will be copies of ones in the secretariat divion’s file. This is because the DIS UFO files mirror those of the secretariat division responsible for setting policy and leading investigations, because the secretariat and the DIS were looking at the same cases and corresponding with each other about them. Some documents I wrote are in the files and some documents are ones that were written to me. Brief details of these 24 files are available on the MoD website, in the Disclosure Log. A search on the phrase “DIS UFO Incident Files” will turn up the information.
The First Batch
The first batch of files were released on May 14 2008. They covered the period 1978 -- 1987. There were 8 files in this first batch, which led to some misunderstanding as many people thought this was the same as saying that there were only 8 individual cases. In fact, most of the files were sighting report files and each file contained several hundred pages of documentation, consisting mainly of one or two page summaries of individual sightings: the raw data, as it were, recorded in a standard format by the person receiving the UFO report. Overall, therefore, there were thousands of pages of documentation in these 8 files, detailing several hundred sightings. Most cases had mundane explanations and were clearly misidentifications of ordinary objects and phenomena, mainly aircraft lights, satellites and meteors. But some were more difficult to explain, including cases where the witnesses were pilots and police officers, together with instances where UFOs had been tracked on radar. There were also some more light-hearted cases, which were almost certainly hoaxes or instances where some practical joke had got out of hand. Some of the more interesting incidents included:
26th April 1984: Members of the public report a UFO in Stanmore. Two police officers attend the scene, witness the craft and sketch it.
13th October 1984: a saucer-shaped UFO is seen from Waterloo Bridge in London by numerous witnesses.
11th September 1985: 2 UFOs tracked on a military radar system travelling 10 nautical miles in 12 seconds.
4th September 1986: a UFO passes an estimated 1.5 nautical miles from the port side of a commercial aircraft.
The release made the news all around the world and within a couple of months the material had been downloaded around 2 million times. The National Archives regarded this as one of their most succesful proactive events of all time.
The Second Batch
A second batch of Ministry of Defence UFO files was released on October 20 2008 and are now available at the National Archives. There are 19 files, many of which contain several hundred individual documents. The files date from 1986 to 1992 and therefore include cases from my tour of duty on the MoD’s UFO project (1991 to 1994). It’s fascinating to see these files again -- it’s a real blast from the past. As with the first batch, most of the UFO sightings in these newly released files can be explained as misidentifications of ordinary objects or phenomena, with around 5% being more difficult to explain. The cases that concerned me most were those involving near misses between UFOs and commercial aircraft. There are several such cases in these files, along with more sightings from police officers and more cases where UFOs have been tracked on radar. I did a seemingly constant stream of TV and radio interviews, appearing on most TV news programmes (including a number of US shows such as ABC News’s Nightline) and on others shows such as GMTV, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and Newsround, as well as prestigious radio shows such as Radio 4’s Today programme and BBC World Service’s The World Today. I appeared twice on this latter show, once giving a conventional interview and the second time reading a science fiction story they asked to write, based on the files, which listeners were then invited to continue. The fact that such extensive media coverage resulted not only from the first release but from the second illustrates the appeal that this subject has with the media. The British file release is helping move the UFO phenomenon out of the fringe and into the mainstream.

Nick’s web site: www.nickpope.net
UK National Archives UFO Files: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ufos

美国研究ufo的地方叫51区，苏联的是卡普斯京亚尔。