civilian-claim2008· The National Archives, Kew, London, England
Between 2008 and 2013 the UK Ministry of Defence transferred nearly 60,000 pages of UFO investigation files to the National Archives, making them freely downloadable. The releases covered every recorded sighting from 1953 to 2009, more than 12,000 reports, and included the complete case files for Rendlesham, Cosford, and West Freugh. The MoD formally closed its UFO desk in November 2009.
The declassification program was managed with input from former MoD UFO desk officer Nick Pope, who selected highlight cases for media briefings. The files are catalogued under the DEFE 24 series. The National Archives published a research guide and an audio transcript to accompany each release batch. A final tranche was released in 2019.
Citations
- UFOs. Research Guide· UK National Archives, 2019
- UFO file release May 2008· UK National Archives, 2008
- PRESS RELEASE: UFO Desk Closed. Last Tranche of UFO Files Released· UK National Archives, 2019
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