Ministry of Defence Correspondence File: Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) - 1989

This document is a collection of correspondence and internal memoranda from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Secretariat (Air Staff) 2a, spanning the year 1989. The file documents the MOD's standard response to public inquiries regarding Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). The consistent official position articulated throughout the correspondence is that the Ministry of Defence does not have a dedicated department for the study of UFOs, nor does it conduct general surveys or in-depth investigations into the phenomenon. The MOD's involvement is strictly limited to determining whether reported sightings pose a threat to the security of the United Kingdom. The documents reveal that the MOD frequently received reports from members of the public, UFO research groups such as BUFORA and ICUFON, and occasionally from Members of Parliament like William Cash. In response to these inquiries, the MOD consistently stated that it had not received conclusive evidence that alien spacecraft or beings had landed on the planet. The file also contains internal discussions regarding the 'nuisance correspondence' procedure, which allowed the department to blacklist individuals who persistently wrote about UFOs or other topics deemed irrelevant to the MOD's mission. Several letters address specific historical incidents, most notably the Rendlesham Forest incident of 1980, with the MOD maintaining that it had no further information beyond the report submitted by Lt. Col. Charles Halt. The correspondence also highlights the tension between public interest in UFOs and the government's adherence to the Public Records Act, which generally keeps official files closed for 30 years. The file includes various letters from individuals claiming to have been subjected to electromagnetic experiments or reporting sightings of strange lights, all of which were met with the standard MOD disclaimer regarding the lack of defense implications. The document serves as a record of the administrative burden and the policy of non-engagement that characterized the British government's approach to the UFO phenomenon during this period.