Saturday, December 05, 2009
The truth may not be out there after all
Avid fans of the X-files will be disappointed to learn from today's Guardian that the Ministry of Defence has closed down the hotline on which members of the public could previously report UFO sightings.
They have concluded that after 11,000 sightings that in these tough economic times investigating UFOs can no longer be justified:
Are we alone in the universe? The MoD doesn't care any more. When you ring the old hotline number, you get a terse recorded message, which you can listen to here:
Listen!
"Please note it is no longer MoD policy to record, respond to, or investigate UFO sightings," it says.
An MoD statement on the matter is a little more expansive. It says: "The MoD has no opinion on the existence or otherwise of extra-terrestrial life. However, in over 50 years, no UFO report has revealed any evidence of a potential threat to the United Kingdom."
Nick Pope who ran the UFO project in early 1990s said the decision to scrap it was "outrageous". Speaking to the Sun, which broke the story, he said: "We're leaving ourselves wide open to terrorist attack."
The last major UFO scare in Britain earlier this year involved claims that aliens had destroyed windturbines in Lincolnshire, after sightings of "massive balls of light". But then a "local blogger for a small newspaper group" revealed that her family had hosted a fireworks party in the area.
Maybe Mulder and Scully should have a word with them.
They have concluded that after 11,000 sightings that in these tough economic times investigating UFOs can no longer be justified:
Are we alone in the universe? The MoD doesn't care any more. When you ring the old hotline number, you get a terse recorded message, which you can listen to here:
Listen!
"Please note it is no longer MoD policy to record, respond to, or investigate UFO sightings," it says.
An MoD statement on the matter is a little more expansive. It says: "The MoD has no opinion on the existence or otherwise of extra-terrestrial life. However, in over 50 years, no UFO report has revealed any evidence of a potential threat to the United Kingdom."
Nick Pope who ran the UFO project in early 1990s said the decision to scrap it was "outrageous". Speaking to the Sun, which broke the story, he said: "We're leaving ourselves wide open to terrorist attack."
The last major UFO scare in Britain earlier this year involved claims that aliens had destroyed windturbines in Lincolnshire, after sightings of "massive balls of light". But then a "local blogger for a small newspaper group" revealed that her family had hosted a fireworks party in the area.
Maybe Mulder and Scully should have a word with them.
