Ministry of Defence UFO and FOI Request File D/DAS/64/6

This document is a compilation of correspondence and administrative records from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) regarding Freedom of Information (FOI) requests related to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) and Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). The file, registered as D/DAS/64/6, covers the period from August 2007 to January 2008, though it contains references to historical documents dating back to the 1960s. The primary focus of the file is the MOD's management of the public's increasing interest in UFO records and the department's strategy for releasing these files to the National Archives. The correspondence reveals a consistent MOD policy: the department does not conduct research into UFOs, nor does it have evidence of extraterrestrial life. Its interest is strictly limited to identifying potential threats to the security of United Kingdom airspace. The documents detail the MOD's decision to proactively transfer approximately 160 files to the National Archives over a three-year period, starting in 2008, to manage the workload of responding to individual FOI requests. The file includes numerous exchanges with members of the public, journalists, and researchers, such as Lord Hill-Norton, who frequently submitted parliamentary questions regarding historical incidents like the Rendlesham Forest event of 1980. The MOD consistently directs these inquiries to existing public records or explains that the requested information does not exist or is withheld under specific FOI exemptions, such as Section 22 (information intended for future publication) or Section 40 (personal information). The file also touches upon the complexities of copyright law regarding public correspondence and the challenges of redacting personal information from thousands of pages of documents. The MOD's stance remains that the 'industry' surrounding UFO phenomena is often based on speculation, and that the department's resources are better spent on core defence tasks rather than investigating unexplained aerial sightings that do not pose a security threat.