14 DAY TRIAL // The British Ministry of Defense publishes annual lists of UFO sightings on its website, and now it is to publish a 400-page report detailing their analysis. The report is a consequence of the freedom of information laws due to which the ministry was asked in 2005 for details of its plans for "dealing with the arrival of extra-terrestrials". This study was completed in December 2000 but it was, until now, secret.
However, the Ministry of Defense told the BBC that they had found no evidence that "flying saucers" or unidentified flying objects were anything other than natural phenomena.
"No evidence exists to suggest that the phenomena seen are hostile or under any type of control, other than that of natural physical forces," the report said, according to extracts quoted by the BBC. "Evidence suggests that meteors and their well-known effects, and possibly some other less-known effects, are responsible for some unidentified aerial phenomena. Considerable evidence exists to support the thesis that the events are almost certainly attributable to physical, electrical and magnetic phenomena in the atmosphere, mesosphere and ionosphere."
A Ministry of Defense (MOD) spokesman said the full report, "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK Air Defense Region," would be published on its website on May 15.
An unidentified official was quoted saying: "While we remain open-minded, to date the MOD knows of no evidence which substantiates the existence of these alleged phenomena and therefore has no plans for dealing with such a situation."