14 DAY TRIAL // Recently, about 1,500 pages containing 19 files on UFO and alien sightings and encounters were released by the Ministry of Defense as a sequel to a similar action in May. Still, those who hoped to finally bask in the light that these would shed on the controversial topic were bitterly disappointed. Not only did the release not explain anything in further detail or confer more credibility to some events but, in fact, it had the exact opposite effect. Obviously, the public release of the archives rather fueled the beliefs of conspiracy theory adepts in a massive cover-up.
The files address events occurring between 1986 and 1992, including the sighting of laser lights coming from a Tina Turner concert that were mistaken for UFO-emitted lights, or of alien kidnappers in black clothing speaking perfect English. These are pointless to discuss, but there are some that may still appear intriguing. One of the cases presented was the repeated sighting by different persons of an object “similar to a missile – light brown or fawn – about three meters in length but without any exhaust flame,” which almost collided with 3 different aircrafts.
Another report involves the case of an American Air Force pilot, Milton Torres, who was given direct order to open fire against an UFO hovering over the East Anglia region. He received confirmation to unleash all 24 of the airplane's missiles in a salve that would bring down the UFO. However, before he got to execute the order (which, according to his words, made him “almost [expletive] [his] pants!”), the object escaped from his radar lock-on and disappeared in an instant at an impossible speed.
Upon returning to the ground, the pilot was instructed by a person in civilian clothes to keep silent in order not to cause “a national security breach.” David Clarke, the UFO expert who collaborates with the National Archives associates this with a radar-jamming military experiment attempted at the time, which could be true, since Torres had no direct visual contact with the craft.
With these released files bringing nothing new to quench the thirst of UFO and alien hunters, all hopes converge towards the American government performing a similar action, perhaps revealing the circumstances that surrounded the Roswell incident, or shedding more light on what happens in Nevada's Area 51. Until then, the questions posed by Sir Winston Churchill in July 1952, and which are also highlighted on the National Archives' part of site dedicated to UFOs, still remain valid: “What does all this stuff about flying saucers amount to? What can it mean? What is the truth?”