§ Lord Hill-Nortonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answers by the Lord Chancellor on 14 October (WA 99–100) and by the Lord Gilbert on 19 November (WA 190), what is the location of the Ministry of Defence files covering the period 1970-1985 which contain information about UFOs; and what are the references and the titles of these files? [HL310]
177WA
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Gilbert)Thirty-eight files are held at the Public Record Office for release under the terms of the Public Records Acts 1958 and 1967, the 30-year rule applying: AIR 2/18564 & 18565 UFO Reports—due for release 2002.
AIR 20/12067, 12297 to 12306 Unidentified flying objects—due for release 2001.
AIR 20/12399 to 12411 UFO reports—due for release 2003.
AIR 20/12544 to 12555 UFO reports—due for release 2004.
BJ 5/311 UFO: Met aspects—due for release 2001
Four files are held by the MoD records management branch pending acceptance and transfer to the PRO, PRO references and transfer arrangements awaiting confirmation:
AF/7463/72 UFO reports—provisionally assigned to PRO reference AIR 2/18831 for release in 2003.
AF/7464/72 UFO reports—provisionally assigned to PRO reference AIR 2/18872 for release in 2004.
AF/7464/72 Pt. II UFO reports—provisionally assigned to PRO reference AIR 2/18873 for release in 2005.
AF/7464/72 Pt. III UFO reports—provisionally assigned to PRO reference AIR 2/18874 for release in 2006.
In the absence of a thematic index of files stored in MoD's archives the identification of files has, of necessity, been limited to those created by the Air Staff Secretariat and predecessor branches. The following files have been identified and are earmarked for review by MoD at future dates, at which point they will be assessed for their suitability for preservation at the PRO. It is possible that some files created by other Headquarters divisions or establishments may contain papers on this topic. These could only be identified at disproportionate cost:
AF/S4f(A)/422—one file—UFOs, BBC Radio Oxford Programme.
AF/S4f(Air) U/506—one file—Statistical Analyses of UFOs.
AF/3459/75—one file—UFOs: Policy and Policy statements—1970.
AF/584 to 595–12 files—UFO reports.
AF/596 to 602—seven files—UFO reports.
AF/447—one file—UFO reports.
AF/607 & 608—two files—UFO reports.
AF/610 to 613—four files—UFO reports.
AF/616 to 619—four files—UFO reports.
AF/419—one file—BBC 2, Man Alive Programme: UFOs.
178WAD/DS8/75/2/1—six parts—UFO reports, correspondence.
D/DS9/75/2/2–12 parts—UFO correspondence.
D/DS8/75/2/3—six parts—UFO reports, edited copies.
D/DS8/75/2/4—three parts—UFO reports.
D/DS8/75/2/5—two parts—UFO reports.
D/DS8/75/3—one part—UFO, Parliamentary Correspondence.
D/DS8/75/6—one part—UFO, TV discussion.
D/DS8/75/7—one part—UFO, satellite debris.
D/DS8/10/209—seven parts—UFO briefs, reports and correspondence.
D/DS8/10/209/1—three parts—general briefs, reports, UFO correspondence.