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London, May 13 (ANI): Top-secret details about hundreds of sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects in the UK have been released for public viewing for the first time.

The Ministry of Defence released thousands of pages of Britain’s X-files in a move brought about by a deluge of Freedom of Information requests by UFO conspiracy theorists, reports the Sun.

The files show that the number of reports of UFOs doubled after the release of Steven Speilberg’s sci-fi drama Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977.

One of the most sensational reports is the well-known Rendlesham Forest case.

On 13th January 1981, a report from Lt.Col Charles Halt tells how on the night of December 27th security patrolmen spotted odd lights above the forest.

After seeing the lights plunge down, they went to examine the forest and found a triangular shaped object 9ft long by 6ft high hovering above the ground.

They saw that the object had a pulsing red light on top with blue lights underneath.

The patrolmen said that a white light coming from the UFO illuminated the whole forest.

All of a sudden, the object took off and flew away. Other airmen on the base also reported seeing the lights.

Investigators who examined the location where the craft landed found three depressions in a triangular shape. A radar reading spiked at each depression.

After two nights, more lights were noticed.

According to Lt.Col Halt’s report, a large red glow split into five separate white objects, which hovered in the sky for two to three hours.

His investigations revealed that there were no aircraft in the vicinity on the two nights, which could account for the phenomenon.

In the files, MoD investigators also admitted that they could find no explanation for what was seen.

However, their task was to ensure that the object was not some sort of spy craft.

Once the task was done, investigation was halted and the sighting remained a mystery.

Among the strangest reports in the files was the case in Northumbria where 12 police officers reported seeing a UFO in December 1981.

They all said they saw an intense green light.

In 1982, a group of drinkers at The Walnut Tree near Tunbridge Wells reported seeing red and green flashing lights above the pub.

On examining as to what direction the lights appeared to be travelling the investigators realised it was always towards Gatwick airport.

However, other sightings were not so easy to dismiss.

A pilot reported seeing a UFO object passing his aircraft just 1.5 nautical miles away in 1986.

“While there’s no evidence of little green men in these files, they should be of immense interest to sceptics and believers, Nick Pope, who worked for the MoD for 21 years investigating sightings, said.

“Most of the UFO sightings here are probably misidentifications of aircraft lights and meteors, but some are more difficult to explain, and include UFOs seen by police officers and pilots, and cases where UFOs have been tracked on radar,” he added.

The files also revealed that much of what is seen might be space junk burning up in the atmosphere, unusual cloud formations and weather balloons.

The memo concluded that the MoD certainly has no evidence that alien spacecraft have landed on this planet.

However, many people who reported the sightings, which feature in the files, obviously feel that they have evidence.

Dr David Clarke, journalism lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, was among the people who campaigned for the release of the files.

“It has taken 10 years of campaigning to get these papers out and now that they are it lays to rest some of the claims of a cover up by the MoD, he said.

“Personally I think that some of the sightings have got to be of scientific interest. There are some that just cannot be explained,” he added. (ANI)