Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) Briefing document

This briefing document, prepared by Dr. David Clarke for The National Archives in 2008, provides a historical overview of the British government's engagement with the subject of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). The document traces the origins of official interest back to the early 20th century, noting sightings of 'phantom airships' in 1909 and 1913, which were often attributed to German espionage. During the First World War, the War Office and Admiralty investigated various aerial reports, concluding that the vast majority were misidentifications of natural phenomena or conventional aircraft.

The post-Second World War era saw a significant shift in public and official interest, influenced by the emergence of the 'flying saucer' phenomenon in the United States in 1947. The British government's policy was primarily driven by national security concerns, specifically the need to identify potential threats from the Soviet Union. In 1950, the Flying Saucer Working Party was established under the Directorate of Scientific Intelligence to review evidence. This group concluded in 1951 that flying saucers did not exist and recommended against further investigation, a stance that set the template for subsequent British policy.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Air Ministry and later the Ministry of Defence (MoD) continued to collect and analyze UFO reports, often relying on studies conducted by the United States Air Force, such as Project Blue Book and the Condon Report. Despite the logging of over 11,000 reports between 1959 and 2007, the MoD maintained that there was no evidence to suggest that UFOs represented a defence hazard or were of extraterrestrial origin. The document details the evolution of internal responsibility for UFO matters, moving from the Air Ministry to various MoD secretariats and the Defence Intelligence Staff.

Finally, the document serves as a guide to the extensive records held at The National Archives, explaining the categories of material available—including policy files, parliamentary correspondence, and sighting reports—and the history of file preservation and destruction policies. It highlights the transition toward transparency, noting the release of files under the Freedom of Information Act and the ongoing efforts to transfer remaining records to the public domain.