Even if ET phones, there'll be no-one home

Published on Friday 4 December 2009 22:10

FOR decades, thousands of people have made frantic reports of strange objects and lights in the skies above Britain, convinced we are not alone.

However, after spending decades probing paranoid fantasies and apparently genuine sightings, the Ministry of Defence has decided it is no longer prudent to continue the search for little green men.

A telephone hotline and e-mail address that allowed people to file sightings have been taken offline. From now on, claims of extraterrestrial life will no longer receive a response, or be subject to investigation.

The MoD, which has financed its so-called "X Files department" since the 1950s, said the operation was an "inappropriate" use of resources when the country is engaged in long-standing military operations in Afghanistan.

The decision comes at a time of increased sightings, with 394 reports between January and August. But the MoD department, formerly known as DI55, having dealt with more than 12,000 reports, now believes UFO inquiries "divert resources from tasks that are relevant to defence".

The officer who dealt with UFO reports has been shifted to another post, saving 44,000 a year. The move represents the final downsizing of a department that was relocated earlier this year from the MoD's Whitehall headquarters to RAF Command in High Wycombe, Bucks.

The change in policy by Britain's defence officials emerged after an application under the Freedom of Information Act. No decision was announced and the disclosure was instead buried on its website earlier this month.

The MoD said that in more than 50 years "no UFO report has revealed any evidence of a potential threat to the United Kingdom". After investigation, around 5 per cent of reports remain unexplained.

"The MoD has no opinion on the existence or otherwise of extra-terrestrial life," the statement said. "The MoD has no specific capability for identifying the nature of such sightings. There is no defence benefit in such investigation and it would be an inappropriate use of defence resources. Furthermore, responding to reported UFO sightings diverts MoD resources from tasks that are relevant to defence."

It went on: "MoD will no longer respond to reported UFO sightings or investigate them."

The programme whereby departmental files on UFO matters are released to the National Archives will continue.

An MoD spokesman added: "Our resources are focused on the top priority – the frontline in Afghanistan."