In a plot that sounds straight out of, if not Bond, then perhaps Kingsman (or even Jonny English), the British government is set to release previously unpublished information it holds on UFO sightings in the UK, once the general election is over in June, a German website has exclusively claimed.
According to Grenzwissenschaft-Aktuell, a “newsblog on frontier science and the paranormal”, the secret dossier will reveal previously unpublished reports of UFO activity spanning 50 years collected by the British Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Back in 2013, the MoD released what it said was all of its UFO-related files via the National Archives, although in 2014 it admitted it had held back 18 documents, due to identifying some content that needed to be re-examined before it could be released to the public under the Freedom of Information Act.
This, of course, prompted claims of a cover-up of the existence of alien life by men with a penchant for dark clothing.
The MoD then announced it would be releasing these files in 2015, which got pushed back to 2016, then summer 2016, then March 2017, and now apparently June. According to a letter to the German site from a spokesperson for the National Archives, the current delay is due to the general election that will be held in the UK on June 8.
“Due to the upcoming election here in the UK and the rules relating to government departments during the pre-election period, the files will not be released until after the election,” the letter reads. “We are working to ensure that the files are ready for release as soon after this period as is possible: hopefully around the middle of June.“
Paranormal “researchers” and alien hunters are hoping for proof of extraterrestrials, conspiracies laid bare, and government cover-ups worthy of the more outlandish episode of X-files, but even if it doesn't deliver on that count (#sorrynotsorry), the documents should hold some interesting information, dating back to the 1970s.
“There's no smoking gun in these files that will confirm the existence of aliens, but there are plenty of fascinating UFO reports and MoD policy documents, so these really are the real life X-Files,” Nick Pope, a former MoD investigator into UFO sightings, told the Daily Mail.
“The delay has been a comedy of errors though, I think it's more bureaucracy than conspiracy,” he added.
Amongst the files expected to be released are documents on "Britain's answer to Roswell", the Rendlesham Forest incident of 1980, where multiple people reported seeing an unidentified flying object landing at close range... near two military RAF-bases, Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
Coincidence that Mulder and Scully returned to our screens last year after a 14-year absence? We'll see.
[H/T: RT]