Declassified UFO / UAP Document
Ministry of Defence File: Information Management - Freedom of Information Act - Requests for Information
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AI-Generated Summary
This file documents the Ministry of Defence's administrative handling of 2006 Freedom of Information requests regarding UFOs and the 'Condign Report.' It highlights the MOD's policy of directing the public to online resources rather than providing printed copies of large reports and includes internal rebuttals to media claims about the Rendlesham Forest incident.
This document is a Ministry of Defence (MOD) file (D/DAS/10/2/8/13) containing administrative records and correspondence regarding Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted to the MOD between May and August 2006. The primary focus of the file is the management of public inquiries concerning Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) and the 'Condign Report,' a large, previously released document titled 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK Air Defence Region.'
The correspondence reveals a consistent MOD policy: the department does not conduct research into UFOs, does not hold expertise on extraterrestrial life, and does not consider UFO reports to have defence value. Consequently, the MOD routinely denied requests for paper copies of the 465-page Condign Report, citing Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act, which states that information already reasonably accessible to the applicant (via the MOD website) does not need to be reproduced. The MOD provided guidance to applicants on how to access the report via public libraries or internet facilities.
Several specific cases are documented, including requests from individuals in Scotland, Ireland, and England. The file also contains internal discussions regarding the handling of media inquiries, specifically from ITV News, and the drafting of responses to public allegations regarding the Rendlesham Forest incident. Internal notes within the file explicitly refute claims made in a 'News of the World' article, characterizing the story as a 'fabrication' and clarifying that the MOD did not classify the Rendlesham incident as 'top secret.' The file also includes a table of UFO sightings reported in Scotland between 2002 and 2006, which the MOD compiled to assist the public, despite noting that such records are not systematically tracked or segregated by geography. The document concludes with administrative forms for file disposal, recommending permanent preservation.
The News of the World story appears to be one fabrication after another.
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Official Assessment
The MOD does not have any expertise or role in respect of 'UFO/flying saucer' matters or to the question of the existence or otherwise of extraterrestrial lifeforms.
The MOD maintains that UFO reports are not researched, and that the 'Condign Report' (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK Air Defence Region) was a study to determine if UFO reports had value for the Defence Intelligence Staff, which was concluded to be unnecessary.
Key Persons
- Lt. Col. HaltSubject of News of the World article