Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Secret UFO Files: In Print

It’s not often that I follow one blog-post with another one on broadly the same subject - unless there is good reason to, of course.

And, right now, there is.

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s post about Dave Clarke’s attempts to secure the name of the author of the British Ministry of Defense’s “Condign Report” on UFOs, comes the news that Dave has a new book looming on the horizon that deals with the specific issue of the British MoD’s UFO files.

And here’s Dave himself with all the details:

Copies of my new book based upon the Ministry of Defense’s UFO files can now be pre-ordered via Amazon.

The UFO Files: the Inside Story of Real-life Sightings will be published in paperback during July 2009 by The National Archives. The recommended cover price is £12.99 but those who order early can obtain a discount.

The book has been specially produced to accompany the ongoing releases of MoD files via the TNA website UFO page.

The UFO Files showcases accounts of UFO experiences extracted from the entire TNA collection from the 19th century to the present day.

The first two chapters include official accounts of sightings and investigations of phantom airships, foo-fighters and flying saucers from the first half of the 20th century.

Later chapters cover classic UFO incidents featured in the Air Ministry and Ministry of Defence files, ending with the most recent material released under the Freedom of Information Act. The book concentrates upon primary documents and interviews conducted with key witnesses, much of which will be new even to seasoned UFOlogists.

Working with The National Archives has meant that some key historical documents have been made available for publication for the first time. The book will include over 70 original images from the files, including accounts collected by an Air Ministry investigation of strange phenomena sighted over London in 1921!

A summary of the contents, taken from the TNA new books page, follows:

Original records reveal how British Intelligence and the CIA investigated many Cold War sightings, from the Roswell incident of 1947 to ghost aircraft, Radar Angels to the RAF’s confidential files. The book sheds new light on many famous cases, such as RAF Topcliffe, 1952; the Flying Cross in Devon, 1967; RAF West Freugh, Scotland, 1957; the Berwyn Mountains UFO crash and the Phantom Helicopter Mystery, as well as the notorious ‘Welsh triangle’ and the Rendlesham Forest incident. Dramatic witness statements and personal interviews - many undertaken by the author himself - combine with rarely seen photographs, drawings and newly available documents to bring these extraordinary experiences vividly to life. From aerial phenonema of the First World War to crop circles and a secret UFO study of more recent times, The UFO Files offers a unique guide to our most intriguing mysteries.

Monday, April 13, 2009

UFO Files: The Secret Author

Over in England, Dave Clarke has an interesting new article on the identity of the man who wrote the British Ministry of Defense “Condign” report on UFOs.

As Dave says:

The identity of an MoD intelligence expert who wrote a controversial report on UFOs must remain a secret, the Information Commissioner has decided.

Three years ago the Ministry released - under the Freedom of Information Act - a copy of a four volume report, code-named ‘Project Condign’, that was completed in 2000 and classified Secret - UK Eyes Only.

Condign was the brainchild of a mysterious intelligence officer, working as a contractor for the MoD, who was given access to secret documents covering DI55’s investigations of UFO incidents over three decades.

He was asked to produce the report because of his long experience as an advisor to the Defence Intelligence Staff onthe subject of UFOs.

His study concluded that UFOs - or UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) - did exist but were mostly likely to be natural, but poorly understood, atmospheric phenomena such as ball lightning and dusty plasmas.

But what of the identity of the man who wrote the report? On this matter, Dave has been digging deep to try and resolve things, as the following from his new post demonstrates:

One of the questions asked “who the author was, what the author’s qualifications in this subject were; to whom the report was circulated [and] what actions were taken on the recommendations of the report.”

In response Baker was told the report cost the public around £50,000 but they would not name the author or say anything more about his background. “The author of the report was a contractor and was employed by the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) on a long-term contract,” Ingram responded in Hansard, 19 March 2007. “Further details of the author, including the name, are being with-held under the Data Protection Act 1998 [Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act].”

And what happened when Dave - obviously not satisfied with that response - took further steps to try and identify the elusive author?

Click right here to find out!