UFO FILES: THREAT OF ALIEN INVASION TAKEN SERIOUSLY BY MILITARY

UFO files: threat of alien invasion taken seriously by military

A blown up scan of a photograph of a Lancaster bomber with an object above it to the right, taken from Withernsea June 2002 Photo: P{A
Richard Alleyne
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent6:30AM GMT 03 Mar 2011

The police, armed forces and intelligence services were all mobilised after a "very successful" practical joke for a student rag week sparked fears of a real alien invasion, newly released secret files reveal.

The authorities, including four local forces and a bomb disposal unit, swung into action after six "flying saucers" were found by members of the public in a perfect line across southern England.

But fears of a real "war of the worlds" incident petered out after examination of the "spacecraft" showed that it was an elaborate rag week hoax by engineering students.

The incident, which was taken seriously for a number of hours, took place in 1967 but has only just been revealed by secret UFO files released by The National Archives.

They show that early in the morning of 4 September the police and RAF were flooded with calls from the public reporting six small “flying saucers” that had been discovered in locations in a perfect line across southern England from the Isle of Sheppey to the Bristol Channel.

Four police forces, bomb disposal units, the army and the MoD’s intelligence branch were all mobilised, before it emerged the saucers were a hoax by engineering students from Farnborough Technical College.

The joke was only discovered after bomb disposal experts opened up one of the objects and found it was a fake.

The story emerged as part of the largest ever release of UFO files.

They also revealed a number of military sightings of UFOs, a claimed "alien abduction" in London and an unidentified aircraft shadowing a Lancaster bomber.

The extraterrestrial files reveal how the phenomenon was discussed at the highest level of government and security services worldwide, including at the United Nations (UN), the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and was even the subject of a debate in the House of Lords.

The previously-classified records show that in January 1979 – during the peak of the "Winter of Discontent" – in addition to discussions on trade union strikes, the House of Lords held a debate of the subject of UFOs – the only full debate on UFOs ever held in British Parliament.

The files reveal that in December 1977 the government used its influence to talk down a call by Grenada president, Sir Eric Gairy, for a UN agency to conduct research into UFO sightings.

Sir Eric eventually withdrew his proposal but continued his campaign for a full UN debate on UFOs – calling on the UN General Assembly to make 1978 "the year of the UFO".

One of the 35 newly-released files shows 15 unidentified aircraft were detected on radar approaching the UK between January and July 2001 in the months leading up to 9/11.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) received just one UFO report (with no radar corroboration) on September 11 itself.

A report from a man who believed he may have been abducted by aliens after seeing an unusual aircraft one evening and experiencing a period of "missing time".