The Earliest Strange Secret?

Dave Clarke tells a fascinating story of what may very well be the earliest official X-Files-type investigation.

As Dave says: "The September issue of Fortean Times reveals my discovery of what may be the very first British Government inquiry into 'UFO' sightings - in 1865. 'The False Lights' were mysterious revolving lights seen above a rocky headland at Whitburn, county Durham, by mariners negotiating a hazardous stretch of the northeast coast. During a ten year period from 1860 more than 150 ships were wrecked on the rocks near Whitburn after following a light or lights in the sky which they wrongly believed were from a lighthouse at the mouth of the Tyne."

Check it out!

Secret Serpent Files?

Just recently, one of my Lair of the Beasts columns over at Mania.com was devoted to the British Government's files on the Loch Ness Monster (here's the link).

It seems, however, that as interested as the Government has certainly been in Nessie at times, that interest is not reflected by Britain's Royal Navy, who confirm that while sailors may, theoretically, wish to report a sighting of a sea-serpent while sailing the oceans, there is no official "Sea Serpent File," or official mandate to collect reports...

MoD Files & UFOs

Dave Clarke has an excellent new post over at his blog, which provides all the required info on the British Ministry of Defence's decision to close its "UFO Desk."

As Dave says: "Britain's Ministry of Defence is destroying all UFO reports it receives so it can avoid answering Freedom of Information requests. This decision means that any future sightings - even those made by reliable sources such as aircrew, radar and police - will in future be shredded after 30 days, according to a formerly secret MoD document I have obtained using the FOIA."

And here's the link to Dave's complete post, which explains how and why the MoD took the steps that have created so much controversy recently.

New UFO Files Surface

Newly-released UFO files from the archives of the British Ministry of Defense are getting a lot of coverage in Britain's media right now - and they do contain some interesting and weird reports.

Here's links to just a few items that demonstrate the nature of the media coverage:

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/158874/UFOs-Close-encounters-of-the-weird-kind

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1251850/MOD-records-UFO-sightings-include-Michael-Howard-encounter.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8520717.stm

But for definitive coverage - and explanation - of the files, check out Dave Clarke's latest post, which can be found right here.