UK Ministry of Defence Begins Releasing UFO Files

The UK Ministry of Defence began a five-year programme of releasing declassified UFO files through the National Archives, ultimately publishing over 250,000 pages across ten tranches between 2008 and 2013. The files covered approximately 11,000 UFO sighting reports collected between 1950 and 2009. The MoD's UFO desk, which had operated since 1950 and was headed by Nick Pope from 1991 to 1994, was formally closed in 2009 after the final tranche was prepared. The release represented the largest single UFO declassification by volume undertaken by any government.