Declassified UFO files reveal Scottish cases

By John Kilbride
UFO documents: Case of Cumernauld sighting.

A number of previously-secret UFO files from the Ministry of Defence have been declassified and made public and published by the National Archives. Among the documents are a number of cases that involve apparently strange phenomena in Scotland.

Perhaps the most interesting case that involved Scotland was correspondence involving a person referred to in a MoD memo as "die-hard 'UFO' Correspondent' who had 'put two and two together and come up with seven' about an incident off the Western Isles in October 1996.

In his initial letter he asks about 'astonishing aerial sightings' in the area which led to 'an extensive land, sea and air search involving the RAF and coastguard' which 'failed to find the cause of the mystery.' He asks if a meteorite is 'still the official explanation.'

In an answer from the department that handles search and rescue issues, the MoD says that 'Following reports of an alleged explosion in the air, an extensive search of the area was carried out by the RAF and the Coastguard SAR. This search was later called off after t became clear that no aircraft had been reported overdue." It added: "We have no evidence to support any of the media theories about the cause of the incident."

One letter from the Ministry of Defence sent to an address in Tayside on October 1995 discusses an apparent sighting of a UFO the in August of that year in the Dundee area. It says that the Ministry received no other reported sightings that day, and adds that there was a Tornado aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth flying in the area at the time of the sighting.

Another item that has come to light is a a report of a UFO near Callander dating from August 1995. The object, which was described as a very large orange circle or sphere, was observed for five minutes travelling very slowly in a straight like. The witness is described as a "civil servant...sober...level headed" There were other witnesses who did not want to come forward.

Details are also published of a case from August 1996, when an Aberdeenshire man took pictures of a strange aerial phenomenon he saw in the sky over the village of Carnbulg. He contacted the MoD about the apparent sighting, but on developing pictures he took he said that he believed he had identified the sighting as the vapour trail of a rocket. What he thought was the object moving was in fact particles of ice crystals moving in the wind.

It also details the correspondence in 1998 between a modern studies teacher at Buckhaven high School in Fife who asks the Prime Minister, on behalf of a second year pupil, about whether the government investigates UFOs and what conclusion it has come to. A reply states that "The Ministry of Defence looks into reports...but only to establish if what was seen may have some defence significance." It adds that the department "Does not carry out research into UFO/flying saucers" and has "No direct interest, expertise or role with respect to such matters or the question of the existence or otherwise of extraterrestrial lifeforms, about which we remain open minded."
 
A question about a sighting near Freuchie was met with a reply that RAF Tornado planes were operating in the Fife area at the time on night time low-level flying training.

A sighting in Cumbernauld reports an object seen in 1996 from a bus stop in the Balloch area of the town, which appeared black in color and stationary, and did not appear to be a plane.

The documents also include replies sent from the MoD to reports of unexplained aerial sighting in Haddington, Dundee, Glenrothes, Airdrie, Burntisland, Kirkcaldy, Alloa, Montrose and other places.

The letters sent in these instances all read similarly, stating that the MoD's position is to examine UFO reports to determine whether they might have been of any defence significance, in particular if a hostile foreign aircraft might have compromised the UK's security. The letters conclude that in these cases they were not aware of any instance that would indicate a breach of the UK's air defences had occurred.

While the documents do not have any major developments in the search for proof of the existence of UFOs, the documents do put forward one reassuring piece of information: The matter of abduction by alien lifeforms is a non-issue as far as the Ministry of Defence is concerned. It points out that Abduction is a criminal offence, and as such is a matter for the civil police.

Further files are expected to be released by the Ministry of Defence later this year.

IN DETAIL