Investigation

The UK conducted assorted investigations into UFO sightings and accompanying stories. The capacity of some of these investigations accept back been appear to the public.

Eight book collections on UFO sightings, dating from 1978 to 1987, were aboriginal appear on May 14, 2008, to the UK Civic Archives by the Ministry of Defence. Although kept abstruse from the accessible for abounding years, best of the files accept low levels of allocation and none is classified Top Secret. 200 files are set to be fabricated accessible by 2012. The files are accord from the accessible beatific to government officials, such as the MoD and Margaret Thatcher. The MoD appear the files beneath the Freedom of Advice Act due to requests from researchers. These files include, but are not bound to, UFOs over Liverpool and the Waterloo Bridge in London.

On October 20, 2008 added UFO files were released. One case appear abundant that in 1991 an Alitalia commuter aircraft was abutting Heathrow Airport back the pilots saw what they declared as a "cruise missile" flew acutely abutting to the cockpit. The pilots believed that a blow was imminent. UFO able David Clarke says that this is one of the best acceptable cases for a UFO he has appear across.

British investigations accommodate the UK's Flying Saucer Working Party. Its final report, appear in 1951, remained abstruse for over 50 years. The Working Party assured that all UFO sightings could be explained as misidentifications of accustomed altar or phenomena, optical illusions, cerebral delusions or hoaxes. The address stated: ‘We appropriately acclaim actual acerb that no added analysis of appear abstruse aeriform phenomena be undertaken, unless and until some actual affirmation becomes available’.

A abstruse abstraction of UFOs undertaken for the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) amid 1996 and 2000 and was about appear in 2006. The address is blue-blooded "Unidentified Aeriform Phenomena in the UK Defence Region" and was code-named Project Condign. The address accepted beforehand allegation that the capital causes of UFO sightings are misidentification of counterfeit and accustomed objects. The address noted: "No artefacts of alien or alien agent accept been appear or handed to the UK authorities, admitting bags of UAP reports. There are no SIGINT, ELINT or radiation abstracts and little advantageous video or still IMINT." It concluded: "There is no affirmation that any UAP, credible in the UKADR [UK Air Defence Region], are incursions by air-objects of any able (extraterrestrial or foreign) origin, or that they represent any adverse intent."

In contrast, Nick Pope, who headed the MoD UFO board from 1991 to 1994, states that while about 80 % of the cases he advised were misidentifications of accepted altar and phenomena (while 15 % of sightings had bereft information), about 5 % "seemed to baffle any accepted explanation." These included cases with assorted and/or awful accomplished assemblage such as pilots or aggressive personnel, acceptance from alarm or video/photography, and complex credible structured ability with speeds and maneuverability above that of animal origin. Stopping abbreviate of an exoteric account (though not discounting it), Pope believes the UFO abnormality is absolutely absolute and raises austere defense, civic security, and air assurance issues. Pope describes abounding of the abstract cases, such as the Rendlesham Forest incident, and the backroom surrounding UFOs in his book Open Skies, Closed Minds.