Intelligence officers and UFO reports

Dear readers

Today's post arises from an interesting article in the March 2012 issue of the English Fortean Times magazine (issue 284 pp390-31.)

Researchers David Clarke and Andy Roberts, in an article titled "On the Saucer Beat" explore the issue of official UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) investigations into U.K. UFO reports.

They quote the head of S4(Air) MOD, John Peduzie, speaking of the MOD's specialist intelligence branches, "[These] branches have their own methods - and [the UFO desk] has 'no need to know' about them - but we are aware that DI55 ( click here for more) sometimes makes extensive enquiries." Clarke and Roberts go on to say that  "It's no surprise then, that most of the intelligence files on UFO investigations were destroyed long before the arrival of Freedom of Information."

A number of papers survived and were located in the Archives, which showed "...that, on some occasions, intelligence officers were sent out to conduct field investigations." (Click here for my previous post on UFOs and British Intelligence agencies.)

The authors cite a UK March 1966 instance, where a Police Constable, Colin Perks, reported an object hovering over shops at Wilmslow. "...the MOD...sent a Defence Intelligence Officer from London to interview Perks, and to visit the scene.

MIB?

Roberts and Clarke note that "It is possible - indeed likely - that some of these visits were responsible for rumours about the activities of the sinister 'Men in Black.'"

In another case, Police Constable Martyn Johnson was out walking with his girlfriend, when they both saw two colourful lights moving slowly, soundlessly, close to the ground. Then the two lights became four, and vanished at speed. The PC was told to attend his boss' office, where he found two other men present.

"...they were dressed just like the spies on TV, in trench-coats and trilby hats...He was reassured when his boss told him he wasn't in trouble and that the two men were 'members of a government investigation department in London..." The men questioned the PC about the UFO sighting. The next day they accompanied him to the location of the event.

The PC ran into them again later, and they told him "What you have seen is an unidentified flying object or UFO. Some people call them spaceships and if the people of the world knew how many genuine sightings there were like yours, they would panic."

Clarke and Roberts found PC Johnson's report on a file and note "All the reports on this file were copied to the RAF Strike Command and to DI55."

Australian and New Zealand intelligence agencies:

I have previously written about the involvement of Australian and New Zealand intelligence agencies and UFOs (click  here.)

Britain's X-files

Dear readers

A refreshing cool change swept through Adelaide overnight, after a few days of warmer weather.

The subject of today's post, comes from issue 280, November 2011 of the English Fortean Times magazine.

In an article about the latest release of UK Ministry of Defence UFO files, containing 8600 pages, David Clarke takes a look at some of the contents which interested him.

DI55:

In a document dated July 1995, and written by a desk officer of the Ministry's scientific intelligence area, Clarke writes:

"In what I believe to be the most important revelation so far, an intelligence officer reveals that '...lack of funding and higher priorities' had prevented any detailed study of the thousands of reports they had received since the end of world war II." This was just one year before the Ministry conducted Project Condign (click here for details.)

RAAF Lakenheath:

"...it is worth noting  that the new files contain details of a more recent incident involving RAAF Lakenheath that occurred in January 2007. In this case an unusual object was detected by the pilot of a USAF F-15 on his airborne radar during a routine exercise...When the captain of the F-15 took a closer look he found the "UFO" was actually the size of a soccer ball and was drifting in the wind at between 17-18,000 feet..." For a look at details known prior to the release of these new files click here.

Balloons:

"Balloons were also responsible for a type of UFO sighting that spread like a virus across the British isles from the summer of 2006. These are the ubiquitous orange lights in the sky that drift slowly across the night sky in formation that resembles fleets of flying saucers... Chinese lanterns..."

Comments:

The continuing release of thousands of papers from the UK's UFO files, reveals more about the background interest of intelligence agencies, in the UFO phenomenon. The official line is that intelligence areas of the British Ministry of Defence; the Australian Department of Defence and the New Zealand state in summary that some UFOs are not explainable in conventional terms; that they are scientifically interesting but are of no defence threat. See a previous post on just this topic (click here.)

For more material by David Clarke on these files, click here.

"Plane spotting"

Dear readers

Adelaide is in the grips of a cold spell. Yesterday's minimum of 1 degree Celsius was a three year record.

Today's post concerns an article by English ufologist Jenny Randles which just appeared in the June 2011 issue of the English Fortean Times magazine (issue no 275, page 27.)

In the article Jenny takes a look at two previously unknown pilot encounters from the United Kingdom, which were discovered in the latest batch of UFO files released by the UK Ministry of Defence.

The first was on 28 August 2001 when a light aircraft pilot was flying over Cherry Valley, near Belfast. In clear sky, he reported seeing "...a large, circular white light moving silently and at high speed at an estimated height of 500 feet."

The second pilot encounter took place on 13 Aug 2005 from an Air France aircraft flying at 30,000 feet 10 miles west of Gatwick airport, near London, at 5.11pm. The object was travelling in front of the plane. The pilot adds that this sausage-like object was "...one-two metres long...and shaped like a 'yellow cylinder'."

Jenny then goes on to relate other aircraft observations she had investigated over the years.

Findings:

The 2001 observation was investigated by the Ministry of Defence which concluded"...nothing of any defence significance."

Jenny comments that "This is a useful insight, because it illustrates the futility of chasing major UFO secrets within the official files..."

At the end of the article Jenny writes "...makes us consider just what does or does not get documented when it comes to aviation source. How much more evidence exists 'out there,' but not on the official record?"

Comments:

I was taken, by Jenny's comments about the negative possibility of finding major UFO secrets in government files.

A previous post of mine (click here to view) looked at what the New Zealand, Australian and British government's defence intelligence agencies had said about UFOs. They all said that the UFO phenomenon had no defence implications. However, they also said that the UFO phenomenon deserved scientific study.

The New Zealand "UFO Investigating Committee"

Dear readers

Today's post is about the former New Zealand Government "Unidentified Flying Object Investigating Committee" a body of which I had no prior knowledge.

One of the recently released NZ Government files is AIR 244/10/1 Volume 1, titled "Reports on UFOs" with a date range of 1959-1982.

Who was on the Committee?

The first document I found which mentioned this Committee was a Minute dated 16 Dec 1969 with a file reference of 66/30/17 DSI. It was from " Squadron Leader A Dyer, IPO(Air) Directorate of Service Intelligence" and addressed to member of the Committee. In part it read "...On 10 April 1968 a meeting of representatives from interested agencies ...was held to discuss the action to be taken on receipt of UFO sighting reports..." and called for a further meeting to be arranged.

The other Committee members listed were:

Dr E I Robertson, DSIR
Mr W J H Fisher, Carter Observatory
Squadron Leader A N Nilestone, D.DATC Ops
Dr D E Thompson, NZ Meteorology Service
Squadron Leader Irvine, D Ops

The Committee meets:

The next Minute of interest was one dated 20 June 1972 to which was attached a record of the Committee meeting of 29 January 1970. The attendee list is of interest, please note the Directorate of Service Intelligence was present. Members were:

Wing Commander R R Black, Directorate of Service Intelligence
Dr E I Robertson, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Dr D C Thompson, NZ Meteorology Service
Mr W J H Fisher, Carter Observatory
Sqd Leader A N Nilestone, D.DATC OPs, Ministry of Transport
Flt Lt C Mitchell, Directorate of Operations, RNZAF HQ
Flt Lt C Cole, RNZAF Public Relations Officer
Sqd Leader A Dyer, Directorate of Service Intelligence, Ministry of Defence.

The subject of discussions was the "...action to be taken upon receipt of U.F.O. sighting reports..."

Intelligence involvement:

A Ministry of Defence Minute dated 20 June 1972 with a reference 66/20/1 DSI states:

"The fact that an intelligence agency is involved would, to my mind, give the subject of UFOs and aura which it does not deserve. DSI became involved in UFOs as a result of integration. Originally the subject was handled by DAI (on the security side) on behalf of the Air Staff...I believe we have little interest in the subject...I understand that the Air Staff already keep their own files on the subject...If necessary S10 JIB could become a member of the Committee in order that the intelligence community could maintain a watching brief..."

A memo dated 27 June 1972 Reference 66/20/1 DSI from Lt Col DSI to ACDS(Pol) read in part:

"Our involvement is by inheritance from the Directorate of Air Intelligence who presumably were given it primarily as a security chore in the days when the Air Department controlled Civil Aviation...and went onto say "Any intelligence interest in UFOs is of a scientific and technical rather than a service nature...the committee is not an active one. It last met in January 1970..."

Department of Defence washes its hands:

In a Secretary of Defence, Memo dated 8 August 1972 Reference 66/20/1 which went to the DSIR, Transport, Carter Observatory cc to the Commissioner of Police, there is:

"For a number of years the Ministry of defence has been associated with this Committee in a leading role...the overall subject does appear to be primarily a matter of scientific interest rather than Defence..." The DOD sought to pass the UFO subject on to the DSIR or the Department of Transport. The memo closed with "In any reconstituted body which examines sighting reports of UFOs Defence representation would be restricted to Mr G M Seere, the Scientific Intelligence Officer at the Joint Intelligence Bureau."

1976:

Finally, in 1976 on file AIR 244/10/1 in a Memo dated 4 Nov 1976 attempts were made to finalise the matter.

The Secretary of Defence, reference Def 66/20/1 DDI, wrote: "I agree there seems no need to have a committee to investigate reported sightings of UFOs...As we have no interest other than to ensure that a reported sighting is checked as far as practicable by Air Traffic Control to eliminate the possibility of an unknown intruder, and in view of the lack of interest by other Government agencies, our further action will be limited to station log entries of the report."

So, it seems the New Zealand UFO Investigating Committee" met its end.

Comment:

As you know, I maintain a keen interest in intelligence agencies and UFOs. It was therefore, of particular interest to read this portion of this file and see that at the bottom of those interested in NZ UFOs was the NZ Department of Defence's own intelligence staff. As you can see from the notes above, they were not interested in the scientific side of the UFO phenomenon, just the defence implications, and in 1972 were trying to move away from their involvement to place the subject with either the DSIR or the Dept of Transport. However, despite all that they said they wanted to have the Scientific Intelligence Officer, of the Department of Defence Joint Intelligence Bureau maintain a "watching brief."

If you have read any of the material located by the Disclosure Australia Project (see http://disclosureaustralia.freewebpages.org ) you will find that the Australian Department of Defence JIB, in 1972, was also looking to devolve its UFO responsibilities. Given this timing, same year, it would seem that the DOD Intelligence agencies in Australia and New Zealand were talking to each other about the subject of UFOs.

More New Zealand UFO files

Dear Readers

For our first post-Xmas day, the weather in Adelaide is a pleasant 22 degrees celsius, after a 32 degree Xmas day. Today, is a rest day, after the merriment of yesterday's Xmas lunch with family.

Today's post sees me taking another look at the New Zealand Government's UFO files release. Rather, I am taking a look at what is not yet available. For you see, there are other NZ Government UFO files which are not part of the batch released by the NZ Defence Force (NZDF).

I decided to check the files which are listed on the Archives New Zealand website
at click here against the list of files released by the NZDF. There are five files listed in the Archives which were not released by the NZDF as they are not NZDF files.

The other NZ UFO files:

1. Miscellaneous Files - UFO [Unidentified Flying Objects] Affair (1978 Kaikoura incident)- The Truth is Out There.
Agency: CAHG Accession CH135 Box 36/1 1979-1979.
This file is open to the public.

2. Political Affairs - Outer Space - Unidentified Flying Objects [UFOs]
Reference: ABHS 6958 W5579/227 1972-1982.
Details on accessing this file cannot be found.

3. Public Weather Service - Flying Saucers and Unidentified Flying Objects [UFOs]
Agency: BAIB Series 4052 Box 376 Record no 2/13 1956-1988.
This file is open to the public.

4. Support Services - Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) - General
Agency: AAAJ Series 965 Accession W 3239 Box 180 Record no 37/21/1 Pt 1 1972-1972.
Access to this file is restricted by the agency, which is the Commissioner of Police.

5. Support Services - Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO)- General
Agency: AAAJ Series 965 Accession W4443 Box 103 Record no 37/21/1 Pt 1 1972-1972.
Access to this file is restricted by the agency, which is the Commissioner of Police.

Comment:

Re items 4 &5. These files probably relate to the 1972 Ashbourne, NZ, space debris event, mentioned in NZDF file AIR 244/10/1 Volume 1.

I found a reference to this event in Kevin D Randle's latest book "When UFOs fall From the Sky." 2010. New Page Books. Franklin Lakes, NJ. ISBN 978-1-60163-100-8. Pages 256-257.

"April 7, 1972
New Zealand

The Space Defense Centre reported that they had witnessed two objects "de-orbit" and that the objects fell to the ground in New Zealand. At least one of the objects was recovered and turned over to the police department in Christ Church New Zealand. Captain D W Boucher from the US tracking station at Mt John, South Canterbury said that he thought it was part of a pressure tank.

The ball was 48 inches in circumference and had a blue-green sheen to it. It left a 6-inch indentation in the ground where it hit. Two other balls were also discovered. ll were made of titanium, which caused a New Zealand UFO expert, Captain Bruce Cathie to suggest it wasn't part of a prank. Titanium was too difficult for someone to use it as part of a joke. He had no real answer for what the balls were.

Officials in the Soviet legature in Wellington denied that the objects belonged to them,.

The most likely answer is that the objects were some type of terrestrially manufactured objects used in space flights."

I wonder if anyone in New Zealand has copies of any of these other NZ Government UFO files, they can share with us?

First quick look at New Zealand Government UFO files

Dear readers

I have just spent some time taking my first quick look at the New Zealand Defence Forces newly released UFO files. They are to be found at
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4486327/Original-files-NZs-UFO-sightings

They are split up into nine "books." Here are my notes from my quick review:

Book 1
File number: 1630/2 Volume 2
Time span: 1990-2009
Title: Reports on UFOs and Ethnology
Contains: Various pieces of correspondence from members of the public. Various UFO reports, mainly lights in the sky. Request from Dennis Grant of ACT, Australia for access to UFO files-denied.

Book 2
File number: 1630/2 Part 1
Title: Reports on UFOs and Ethnology
Contains: Correspondence from members of the public. Request from Timothy Good in the UK for information from files. Defence report on 1978 Kaikoura sightings.

Book 3
File number: Air 39/3/3 Volume 4
Title: Reports on UFOs
Timespan: 1981-1984
Contains: Request for information from Mr Harold J Knapman, MUFON, Christchurch re 1954 movie films and Mrs Moreland's 1959 encounter- three requests denied. Document dated 5 April 1984lists a number of cases 1979-1982 reported to Air Staff. Various reports from the public.

Book 4
File number: Air 39/3/3 Volume 3
Title: Reports on UFOs
Contains: Various reports of UFOs from members of the public. Query on Kaikoura events. Radar observation of 9 April 1979 by an aircraft of No 5 Squadron. "I believe this contact to have been a cloud contact..." Interesting internal documents on the Kaikoura investigation.

Book 5
File number: Air 39/3/3A Volume 1 Parts 1 &2
Title: Reports on UFOs and Ethnology
Time frame: 1979-1984
Contains: "Exclusively devoted to correspondence from/to a Christchurch based person on UFOs and Ethnology."

Book 6
File number: Air 1080/6/897 Volume 1
Title" Investigation of Unidentified & radar sightings East Coast South Island-December 1978."
Time frame: 1978-1981
Contains: Interviews with people involved in the 1978 Kaikoura sightings conducted by the RNZAF preparatory to the preparation of a final report into these sightings, File also contains technical reports from DSIR and other scientific experts and an independent report of the Kaikorua sightings by the NZ UFO Studies Centre.

Comment: This is worthy of a detailed review.

Book 7
File number: Air 244/10/1 Volume 1
Title: Reports on UFOs
Time frame: 1959-1982
Contains: Reports, interviews and requests for UFO information from media on Moreland sighting. RAAF report on Kaikoura. Interdepartmental correspondence on the future of the Government UFO Investigating Committee. Report on the 1972 Ashburton space debris event. Various information requests.

Comment:
1. The Government UFO Investigating Committee papers will bear a detailed look.
2. The NZ Secretary of Defence states: "All I will say is that empiric evidence shows conclusively that there are no defence factors involved with UFO sightings." Memo 5 October 1976.

Book 8
File number: Air 39/3/3 Volume 2 Parts 1 & 2
Title: Reports on UFOs
Time frame: 1956-1979
Contains: Reports on UFOs from the public. RZAF investigation into Kaikoura. Summary of UAS from Australian Department of Defence. Correspondence from public.

Book 9:
File number: Air 39/3/3 Volume 1 Parts 1&2
Title: Flying saucers
Time frame: 1952-1955
Contains: Reports form public. Newspaper clippings. 75 questions and answers asked of George Adamsksi by "Adamski Flying Saucer Group of Timaru.

Overall comments:

As with the Australian Government UFO files, the New Zealand Defence Force files are a mix of:
1. Low significance UFO reports, specifically "lights in the sky" which may well have mundane explanations e.g. the planet Venus.
2. Correspondence from members of the public expressing views on the UFO phenomenon.
3. Frequent enquiries from UFO researchers from all over the world for details of the files.

However, what is different from the Australian experience is the detailed examination of the 1978 East coast of the South Island sightings which have become known as the "Kaikoura" events. The papers on these files will need careful examination. The papers concerning the Government's UFO Investigating Committee" will also be worth a detailed study to see who was on it and what it did.

Take some time and have a look for yourselves.

Release of New Zealand UFO files

Dear readers

A little Christmas present has come our way!

The New Zealand Defence Force has released its UFO files. I went to the website of Archives New Zealand to see if they had the files, but no!

Click here to find out how to access them.