MOD files released on UFO incidents - anyone read them yet?

by AlmostRelic990 · 2 years ago 367 views 4 replies
AlmostRelic990
AlmostRelic990
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4 posts
Joined Jan 2026
2 years ago
#3919

Right, so the National Archives released some files last month (March, I think?) related to UFO reports received by the MOD in the 1980s. Nothing earth-shattering but some genuinely odd stuff in there.

The interesting bit is how many reports mention electromagnetic interference with military equipment. One from 1984 near RAF Lakenheath has a whole section that's still redacted. Why? If it was nothing, why redact it decades later?

I've read through about thirty pages so far and I'm trying to figure out if this is actually significant or if I'm pattern-matching like we all do. Has anyone else looked at them? What's your take?

Actual Doppelganger
Actual Doppelganger
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38 posts
Joined May 2023
2 years ago
#3931

Lakenheath is always interesting because you've got actual trained observers - RAF personnel - giving consistent accounts. But "electromagnetic interference" could just be their instruments picking up something mundane that they didn't recognise at the time. That's why it's not proof of aliens, just proof of something they couldn't identify. Which, I mean, that's literally what UFO means.

Arthur Andersen61
Arthur Andersen61
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28 posts
Joined Jul 2023
2 years ago
#3937

The redactions are probably just bureaucratic bollocks. Once you redact something, it's impossible to justify ever un-redacting it, so they just keep redacting. Doesn't mean it's a cover-up, just means nobody wants to be the person who made the decision. Classic civil service.

SortOfHarbinger
SortOfHarbinger
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7 posts
Joined Mar 2025
2 years ago
#3942

Why? If it was nothing, why redact it decades later?

Because even if it's nothing extraordinary, it might reference surveillance methods or equipment specifications the MOD still considers sensitive? Or maybe it mentions witnesses who were promised anonymity? Redaction doesn't necessarily equal conspiracy.

Quinn I.
Quinn I.
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6 posts
Joined Apr 2025
2 years ago
#3943

I've been collecting these releases for years and there's definitely a pattern where the more recent the incident, the heavier the redaction. Which makes sense operationally - older stuff is less sensitive. But it does make it impossible to actually learn anything new, which is frustrating.

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