Which agency produced DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era)?

DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era) is a primary-source record from UK Ministry of Defence / Secretariat Air Staff. Its original classification was RESTRICTED/UNCLASSIFIED.

What programs and topics appear in DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era)?

DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era) references Sec(AS)2a, DS8, DI 55, DSTI, LATCCMIL and RAF Fylingdales.

← Files

DISCLOSURE / FILE

DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era)

DEFE 24/1922 is the UK Ministry of Defence's earliest released UFO desk file, holding 1962-1979 sighting reports and policy correspondence including the 1977 Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle wave handled by Secretariat Air Staff.

Brief

The file, registered as D/DS8/10/209/1 Part C, was opened 14 September 1984 by MoD Secretariat Air Staff and marked for permanent retention on 26 March 1990 under the policy 'MoD policy to retain UFO reports permanently.' The bulk of the extractable pages reproduce MoD Form sighting reports and LATCC/RAF station signal traffic from January 1985, including a Stansted-area dome with small lights observed through binoculars on 10 January 1985, a saucer-shaped object with 'fifty pence piece type edges' seen from the M3 motorway on 13 January 1985, and a V-shaped object 'larger than a jumbo jet' over Hillingdon on 23 January 1985. Witnesses include a retired professor of physiology and physics observing 12 miles south of Aberystwyth, RAF Fylingdales duty staff, and South Wales Police constables. The released corpus is mirrored on Internet Archive and was deposited pre-2008.

Metadata

Agency: UK Ministry of Defence / Secretariat Air Staff
Release: 2008-10-08
Type: PDF • .pdf
Length: 120 pages
Classification: RESTRICTED/UNCLASSIFIED
Programs: Sec(AS)2a, DS8, DI 55, DSTI, LATCCMIL, RAF Fylingdales, RAF St Athan, RAF Shawbury, Stansted ATC
Tags: UK MoD, DEFE 24, Broad Haven, Welsh Triangle, V-shape, saucer, cigar, dome, Pembrokeshire, RAF Fylingdales, RAF Shawbury, LATCC, 1985, Sec(AS), DI 55

Key points

File D/DS8/10/209/1 Part C was opened 14 September 1984 under subject 'GENERAL BRIEFS + REPORTS / UFO CORRESPONDENCE / REPORTS' by MoD Secretariat Air Staff.p.2
On 26 March 1990, Sec(AS)2a recommended permanent retention with the rationale 'MoD policy to retain UFO reports permanently.'p.3
RAF Shawbury logged a 26 January 1985 sighting at 2202Z lasting about five minutes: a bright light that hovered then accelerated rapidly under clear sky, reported by a man walking his dog in Sutton Hill, Telford.p.4
LATCC signal CAB148 records a 23 January 1985 Cwmbran sighting of a 'WHITE BRIGHT OBJECT. TWO DIAGONAL STROKES' moving 'UP AND DOWN LIKE A BOUNCING BALL' for five minutes before angling off over Thornhill.p.7
A Hillingdon witness reported a V-shaped craft 'LARGER THAN A JUMBO JET' with 'FIVE OR SIX DULL WHITE LIGHTS ON EACH WING' overhead at 2012Z on 23 January 1985, visible for two to three seconds.p.13
RAF Fylingdales signalled an EUJ/Z6F report of 'FLASHING LIGHTS RED/GREEN/WHITE' observed for 10-15 minutes from a phone booth in Helredale, Whitby, through 10x50 binoculars on 22 January 1985.p.14
A motorist on the M3 two miles past Junction 3 described a saucer 'WITH FIFTY PENCE PIECE TYPE EDGES. WHITE LIGHTS AT FRONT, BLUE LIGHTS AT REAR WITH A RED AND WHITE LIGHT IN EACH CORNER' on 13 January 1985 at 0620Z.p.18
A retired professor of physiology and physics 12 miles south of Aberystwyth watched an exceptionally large reddish 'BRIGHT STAR' from 1830Z to 1930Z on 10 January 1985 using naked eye and 10x50 binoculars, joined by his son and grandson.p.19
Gwent Police reported a 4 January 1985 sighting at Bettws where PC Parkin concluded the object was 'A BRIGHT STAR WHICH HAS THE APPEARANCE OF MOVING' due to frost-induced scintillations.

Verbatim

MoD policy to retain UFO reports permanently.
p.3
ONE, LARGER THAN A JUMBO JET, QUOTE-V UNQUOTE SHAPE. 5 OR 6 DULL WHITE LIGHTS ON EACH QUOTE WING UNQUOTE
p.13
SAUCER SHAPED WITH FIFTY PENCE PIECE TYPE EDGES. WHITE LIGHTS AT FRONT, BLUE LIGHTS AT REAR WITH A RED AND WHITE LIGHT IN EACH CORNER. NO SOUND OR SHELL
p.18
WHITE BRIGHT OBJECT. TWO DIAGONAL STROKES
p.7
UP AND DOWN LIKE A BOUNCING BALL. AFTER 5 MINUTES MOVED AWAY AT A 45 DEGREE ANGLE OVER THORNHILL AND THE MOUNTAIN BEHIND
p.7
FLASHING LIGHTS RED/GREEN/WHITE
p.14
SEEMED LIKE A GENUINE CHAP WHO WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE RESULT, IF ANY.
p.20

Most interesting

The file jacket explicitly states MoD policy is to retain UFO reports permanently, the institutional commitment that produced the DEFE 24 series itself.
Witnesses across these January 1985 reports include a retired professor of physiology and physics, a South Wales constable, an amateur photographer and aircraft enthusiast in Cwmbran, and RAF duty staff at Fylingdales and St Athan, a cross-section that resists easy dismissal.
Standard MoD distribution routed every sighting signal to DI 55 (Defence Intelligence) and DSTI, showing that even routine public reports were funnelled to the intelligence and scientific-technical desks.
The Cwmbran witness on 23 January 1985 was described as 'A KEEN AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER AND AIRCRAFT ENTHUSIAST' who had already made enquiries about forwarding photographs to MoD and reported seeing the same phenomenon at Christmas 1983.
Police explanations in the file frequently invoke conventional causes (PC Parkin attributing the Bettws sighting to a scintillating star in frost) showing the contemporaneous skeptical filtering inside the police-to-MoD channel.

Cross-references

PDFDEFE 24/1925, MoD UFO Reports 1980 (Rendlesham era public correspondence)UK Ministry of Defence / Secretariat Air Staff
PDFCalvine UFO Incident, DEFE 24/1940 (Sec(AS) briefing on August 1990 Perthshire diamond photograph)UK Ministry of Defence / Secretariat Air Staff
PDFDEFE 24/2006, MoD UFO Desk Reports c.1998–2000 (Bonnybridge / Falkirk Triangle era)UK Ministry of Defence / Sec(AS)
PDFDEFE 24/2030, MoD UFO Desk Correspondence 1990 (Calvine-era reporting)UK Ministry of Defence / Sec(AS) / DI55

Common questions

What is DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era)?: DEFE 24/1922 is the UK Ministry of Defence's earliest released UFO desk file, holding 1962-1979 sighting reports and policy correspondence including the 1977 Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle wave handled by Secretariat Air Staff.
What does DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era) reveal?: File D/DS8/10/209/1 Part C was opened 14 September 1984 under subject 'GENERAL BRIEFS + REPORTS / UFO CORRESPONDENCE / REPORTS' by MoD Secretariat Air Staff. On 26 March 1990, Sec(AS)2a recommended permanent retention with the rationale 'MoD policy to retain UFO reports permanently.' RAF Shawbury logged a 26 January 1985 sighting at 2202Z lasting about…
Which agency produced DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era)?: DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era) is a primary-source record from UK Ministry of Defence / Secretariat Air Staff. Its original classification was RESTRICTED/UNCLASSIFIED.
When is DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era) dated?: DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era) is dated 1962-1979 (file opened 14 September 1984; released 8 October 2008). It was declassified 2008-10-08.
What programs and topics appear in DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era)?: DEFE 24/1922, MoD UFO Reports 1962–1979 (Broad Haven / Welsh Triangle era) references Sec(AS)2a, DS8, DI 55, DSTI, LATCCMIL and RAF Fylingdales.

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