FOI and UFOs: The X-Files

FOI and UFOs: The X-Files

Thousands of classified documents detailing alleged observations of unidentified flying objects reported by RAF personnel, British Airways pilots and senior police officers have been made available under the Freedom of Information laws. Files held by the special UFO department at the Ministry of Defence (SF4) are now being released to the public.

One MoD report involved a British Airways jet on a return flight from Portugal in July 1976. The report states that the captain of the Tri-Star jet reported "four objects - two round brilliant white, two cigar-shaped" 18 miles north of Faro. The captain was so alarmed by what he and the passengers had seen that the sighting was reported to air traffic controllers at Lisbon and Heathrow. The report indicates that fighters were then immediately scrambled from Lisbon.

Uncovered at last: the sightings of strange flying objects found in Britain's 'X-Files' (Independent, 22 January 2005)