British Defense Ministry Closes UFO Department after More Than 50 Years

Rendlesham Forest Incident, 1980

http://www.allgov.com/ViewNews/British_Defense_Ministry_Closes_UFO_Department_after_More_Than_50_Years_91206

Sunday, December 06, 2009

After more than 50 years of investigations and finding no potential threats, the British government has decided to quietly shut down its UFO office. Officials with the Ministry of Defense, which housed the special investigative unit, felt there was no point in continuing to spend £50,000 (about $70,000) a year to delve into reports of UFOs appearing over the United Kingdom.

Since 1950 when the office was opened, British investigators looked into more than 12,000 reports, including 135 in 2008. Most sightings were explained as either natural or man-made phenomena, although approximately 600 over the years remained unexplained. Citizens will no longer be able to file accounts of new sightings now that the government hotline has been discontinued.
-Noel Brinkerhoff

MoD Department that Investigated UFO Sightings ‘Closed’ (by Andrew Hough, Telegraph)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/ufo/6723067/MoD-department-that-investigated-UFO-sightings-closed.html

Highlights Guide (National Archives UK) (pdf)
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/aug-2009-highlights-guide.pdf

Newly Released UFO Files from the UK Government (National Archives UK)
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ufos/

Previously Released UFO Files (National Archives UK)
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ufos/existing-files.htm