Britain releases its X-Files

The truth may be out there, but so far it's not in the government files. The British government posted the first batch of its X-Files to a website today in a project that will eventually see the Ministry of Defence turn over to the National Archives 160 files on UFO sightings, reports the Guardian

Some of the incidents are truly bizarre, but although some UFO sightings remain unexplained there is no evidence in the files for alien contact. "There simply is no saucer-in-a-hangar smoking gun," said Nick Pope, a former civil servant who worked at the MoD for 21 years, spending three years on its UFO desk.

Why release them? Thank Britain's version of the Freedom of Information Act. "They are sinking in a sea of FOI requests on UFOs," said Pope. "The administrative burden in dealing with them on a case by case basis is horrendous." To avoid the sort of server meltdown France experienced last year, the U.K. has contracted with a hosting company to provide all the capacity that's needed. All very interesting but what about the aliens? A few choice reports;

• Early on August 12 1983, a 77-year-old Aldershot man who was out fishing said he was contacted by the inhabitants of a flying saucer. Four feet high and wearing pale green overalls with helmets and black visors, they gave him a tour of their craft and told him: "You can go. You are too old and too infirm for our purpose."
• At quarter past midnight on Christmas Day 1985, three police officers in Woking were surprised by a white light descending on the Horsell area. The officers were worried their report would not be taken seriously, because Horsell Common features in HG Wells's War of the Worlds as the place where the first Martians land. The account reads: "Genuine report. Two competent officers slightly embarrassed."
• In another credible sighting, from September 5 1986, a civil pilot described a UFO that shot past his aircraft 1.5 nautical miles to its left. He speculated about whether it might have been a meteorite or a missile and then wrote: "If it's a missile, myself and my crew are not impressed."