Ministry of Defence File D/DAS/10/2/8/13: Information Management - Defence Info Management - FOI Act - Request for Information

This document is a Ministry of Defence (MOD) administrative file, D/DAS/10/2/8/13, covering the period from 1996 to 2006. It primarily contains correspondence related to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted by members of the public regarding Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). The file documents the MOD's internal processes for handling these requests, including the coordination between the Directorate of Air Staff (DAS), the Secretariat (Air Staff), and other departments. A significant portion of the file consists of responses to parliamentary questions tabled by Martin Redmond MP in 1996, which sought information on the MOD's role in UFO investigations, the function of various intelligence branches, and the history of RAF Rudloe Manor. The correspondence consistently reiterates the MOD's official policy: that it does not investigate UFOs for the purpose of identifying them, but only to determine if there is any evidence of a threat to the United Kingdom's airspace from hostile or unauthorised air activity. The file also includes internal discussions regarding the release of background briefing notes, the application of exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act (specifically Section 36), and the conduct of Public Interest Tests. Several specific sighting reports are referenced, including incidents in Northumberland, Cumbria, and Somerset, as well as historical inquiries about the 'Calvine' photograph and the Rendlesham Forest incident. The file reflects the transition of the MOD's UFO reporting procedures and the increased public interest in the subject, partly attributed to the publication of books by former MOD employees like Nicholas Pope. The documents demonstrate the MOD's efforts to manage these inquiries while maintaining that they hold no evidence of extraterrestrial life or structured craft of unknown origin.