• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

The UK's X-Files: MOD Files / Condign Report / Etc.

C

crunchy5

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
Joined
Aug 24, 2005
Messages
1,756
No details yet but I just heard on the BBC news that a 5 year study by the MOD has found that UFO's exist. 8) 8) 8)
Details to follow I hope!
 
Classic bbc rad 5 Sunday news on the news half hour later they say the report reveals that UFOs are real plasma !!!!!! :lol: :lol:
 
UFO study finds no sign of aliens
Mark Simpson
BBC News

A confidential Ministry of Defence report on Unidentified Flying Objects has concluded that there is no proof of alien life forms.

In spite of the secrecy surrounding the UFO study, it seems citizens of planet Earth have little to worry about.

The report, which was completed in 2000 and stamped "Secret: UK Eyes Only", has been made public for the first time.

Only a small number of copies were produced and the identity of the man who wrote it has been protected.

His findings were only made public thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, after a request by Sheffield Hallam University academic Dr David Clarke.

The four-year study - entitled Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK - tackles the long-running question by UFO-spotters: "Is anyone out there?"

The answer, it seems, is "no".


The 400-page report puts it like this: "No evidence exists to suggest that the phenomena seen are hostile or under any type of control, other than that of natural physical forces."

It adds: "There is no evidence that 'solid' objects exist which could cause a collision hazard."

So if there are no such things as little green men in spaceships or flying saucers, why have so many people reported seeing them?

Well, here is the science bit.

"Evidence suggests that meteors and their well-known effects and, possibly some other less-known effects are responsible for some unidentified aerial phenomena," concludes the report.


"Considerable evidence exists to support the thesis that the events are almost certainly attributable to physical, electrical and magnetic phenomena in the atmosphere, mesosphere and ionosphere.

"They appear to originate due to more than one set of weather and electrically-charged conditions and are observed so infrequently as to make them unique to the majority of observers."

People who claim to have had a "close encounter" are often difficult to persuade that they did not really see what they thought they saw. The report offers a possible medical explanation.

"The close proximity of plasma related fields can adversely affect a vehicle or person," states the report.

"Local fields of this type have been medically proven to cause responses in the temporal lobes of the human brain. These result in the observer sustaining (and later describing and retaining) his or her own vivid, but mainly incorrect, description of what is experienced."

There are, of course, other causes of UFOs - aeroplanes with particularly bright lights, stray odd-shaped balloons and strange flocks of birds, to name but a few.


Yet, it will be difficult to convince everyone that there is a rational explanation for all mysterious movements in the sky.

Some UFO-spotters believe governments will always cover up the truth about UFOs, because they are afraid of admitting that there is something beyond their control.

It is not clear how much time and effort the MoD has spent looking at the skies in recent years, but it appears there are no plans for an in-depth UFO report like the one written in 2000.

A MoD spokesperson said: "Both this study and the original "Flying Saucer Working Party" [already in public domain in the national Archives] concluded that there is insufficient evidence to indicate the presence of any genuine unidentified aerial phenomena.

"It is unlikely that we would carry out any future studies unless such evidence were to emerge."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/4981720.stm
 
Seems the MOD have been investigating this in secret and David Clarke has tracked down their report and it seems they favour "Skylights" not Earthlights (although one can't discount the effect of geology on this) as discussed here:

www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10365

See here for more discussion of Budden:
www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=313

The Sunday Times May 07, 2006

Sorry ET, you're just a puff of plasma

Jack Grimston

They didn't come from outer space: UFOs crash on Planet Sceptic

BRITAIN’s defence intelligence chiefs have come up with a detailed scientific explanation to solve the mystery of unidentified flying objects.
After a four-year inquiry, they have concluded that most sightings can be explained by a little-understood atmospheric phenomenon.

Scientists at the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) describe how glowing “plasmas” of gas are created by charges of electricity. Air flows then sculpt the plasmas into aerodynamic shapes which appear to fly at extraordinary speeds through the sky.

The document is emphatic that UFOs do not come from alien civilisations or hostile powers, but equally it does not dismiss those who claim to have seen them as fantasists or hoaxers.

Instead, the scientists say such plasmas can play tricks on the mind, creating vivid impressions. They note that “local [electromagnetic] fields . . . have been medically proven to cause responses in the temporal lobes of the brain”.

As a result, UFO witnesses may not be mad but instead suffering from “extended memory retention and repeat experiences” induced by the plasmas.

Their report says that, though UFOs have “defied credible description” as to their cause, they are confident that they now have “a reasonably justified explanation”.

It goes on to recommend that the findings on UFOs — of which more than 100 are sighted in most years — could be developed for “novel military applications”, adding that Russia is already investigating such weapons.

The report has been released under the Freedom of Information Act following an application by Dr David Clarke, a lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, and Gary Anthony, a fellow researcher. The pair will give a presentation on the results this week.

It has been a bad year for conspiracy theorists. Last month, the “Roswell incident”, another favourite, was debunked. John Humphreys, a special effects expert behind the television cyber-presenter Max Headroom, claimed he was one of the hoaxers behind grainy black and white footage supposedly showing an autopsy on alien corpses in 1947. He said the bodies were latex models.

Files released last year under freedom of information laws showed that the Ministry of Defence maintained a special unit, named S4F, responsible for logging sightings of UFOs by the public and the military, which numbered 88 in 2004.

Those files gave detailed accounts of sightings but did not indicate that the intelligence services were using the information as the basis of
an inquiry codenamed Project Condign.

They began their inquiry in 1996, apparently without the knowledge of Michael Portillo, who was then defence secretary and responsible for the DIS.

The project was intended to assess any military danger UFOs might pose to Britain (it concludes they pose none).

The investigation by the DIS’s section DI55 was completed in 2000 under Geoff Hoon, now Europe minister, when other branches of the same agency were busy trying to find Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.

The document, marked UK Eyes Only and entitled Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK Air Defence Region, analyses 30 years of evidence on UFOs. Only 11 copies of the report were made.

“Credited with the ability to hover, land, take off, accelerate to exceptional velocities and vanish, they can reportedly alter their direction of flight suddenly and clearly can exhibit aerodynamic characteristics well beyond those of any known aircraft or missile,” states the report.

While some non-hoax sightings of UFOs may be caused by wrongly identifying aircraft, various optical illusions or obvious natural phenomena, the most common explanation, the report concludes, is “several types of rarely encountered natural events within the atmosphere and ionosphere”.
It describes how an “electrically charged . . . gaseous mass” can form in the atmosphere which is often invisible to radar but resembles the bright, fast-moving, round or cigar-shaped objects typically reported by UFO spotters.

Although the plasmas share the characteristics of reported UFOs, they remain a mystery. “The method of formations of the electrically charged plasmas . . . is not fully understood,” the report finds.

Many of the other phenomena reported by UFO spotters can be explained by plasmas. For example, the report says the space between two plasmas sometimes “forms an area . . . from which the reflection of light does not occur”, giving the impression of a “black ‘craft’, often triangular and even up to hundreds of feet in length”.

In addition, the report finds that because plasmas are electrically charged, they can change shape or colour if hit by another energy source, such as a radio signal sent by a UFO spotter. “This has led ‘ufologists’ to imagine that an ‘alien response’ is being given to their signals,” the report says.
Click to expand...

www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2168694_1,00.html

I've thrown my thoughts in here and while it is very interesting I'd like to see it backed up by facts and the like.

Hopefully we'll get a more detailled write up in the next FT.
 
It's not a new theory, is it? And like all the UFO theories, it doesn't explain everything. I would say it sounds far-fetched, but hey, this is UFOs we're talking about.
 
UFO study finds no sign of aliens

Where can I download that 400 page paper? I want to read it NOW! :blah:

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4981720.stm

UFO study finds no sign of aliens
Mark Simpson
BBC News

Alleged UFO sightings
A confidential Ministry of Defence report on Unidentified Flying Objects has concluded that there is no proof of alien life forms.

In spite of the secrecy surrounding the UFO study, it seems citizens of planet Earth have little to worry about.

The report, which was completed in 2000 and stamped "Secret: UK Eyes Only", has been made public for the first time.

Only a small number of copies were produced and the identity of the man who wrote it has been protected.

His findings were only made public thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, after a request by Sheffield Hallam University academic Dr David Clarke.

The four-year study - entitled Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK - tackles the long-running question by UFO-spotters: "Is anyone out there?"

The answer, it seems, is "no".

The 400-page report puts it like this: "No evidence exists to suggest that the phenomena seen are hostile or under any type of control, other than that of natural physical forces."

It adds: "There is no evidence that 'solid' objects exist which could cause a collision hazard."

So if there are no such things as little green men in spaceships or flying saucers, why have so many people reported seeing them?

[...]
Click to expand...

I hope this is not some kind of 1 April hoax, but the date says:

Last Updated: Sunday, 7 May 2006, 12:35 GMT 13:35 UK
Click to expand...
 
If it exists please pass on the link. However, from a purely scientific point of view, there is no evidence that aliens exist, or have come to earth. Of course, there is no evidence that they have not either. Ho hum. Look forward to bringing out the old razor.
 
UFOs are tricks of the mind

:D the over view xpressed in this news item just cracked me up.
the link to the ufo photos at the end of this post are really only plasma...yup ..ok .. no worrys..... :D


UFOs are tricks of the mind: scientists
From: AAP

May 07, 2006


A SCIENTIFIC explanation of unidentified flying objects has reportedly emerged from an inquiry by defence intelligence.
The Sunday Times newspaper says after a four-year study experts concluded most sightings could be explained by a little-known atmospheric phenomenon.

Scientists have described how glowing plasmas of gas are created by charges of electricity.

It says air flows then sculpted the plasmas into aerodynamic shapes which appeared to fly at extraordinary speeds through the sky.

The researchers say UFOs don't come from alien civilisations but say people who claim to have seen them aren't fantasists or hoaxers.


Instead, they say plasmas could play tricks on the mind creating vivid impressions.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19 ... 09,00.html

and now for some "plasma" pics.
scuze my cynicism ..but get real.

link

edited by TheQuixote: created hyperlink to stop page break
 
This BBC report shows the sort of mentality they have to UFO's. When a MOD report is released showing that UFO's are some sort of natural phenomenon they go out of there way to promote it to the hilt. But you try and get them (BBC/Media) to acknowledge some of the weird stuff , and all you will get is a weird silence.

This report is a distraction and nothing more. The MOD is not there to help the UFO community. I am sure maybe some info can be gleaned from it about how the UK military approach the issue, but it is a distraction and nothing more. I am sure Dr Clarke will give us pages of this "report" in FT for the next several months while ignoring legitimate cases.......
 
Found a copy of the Mail just now. (Not much news, just the usual ranting). However, if the article is correct (and the posts above lead me to believe that the Mail have sort of got it right) then I must see the report. The claim that the energy contained in plasma can somehow affect perception etc?? Please, as a psychologist, explain this to me (its okay I have physics as well)....natural energy release causing similar perceptual shifts in consciousness across a wide population sample. This startling fact alone needs to be investigated...
 
It's slowly kicking off over at UFO Updates.

Heavyweight Stan Friedman has already entered the ring, commenting that "It is interesting that no mention is made of plasmas around craft as part of, for example, a magneto-aerodynamic propulsion system, about which I have been talking and writing for almost 40 years."

And Nick "Real-Life Fox Mulder" Pope has assured everyone that "I am not the author of the report", adding "It would be inappropriate for me to criticise the report, but I do not agree with some of its conclusions".

Predictably, the Magonians seem quite chuffed, while everyone else is muttering darkly about disinformation and government cover-ups and Swamp Gas.
 
I think Pope's comments are interesting:

It would be inappropriate for me to criticise the report, but I
do not agree with some of its conclusions, particularly where
they relate to subjects such as electrically-charged atmospheric
plasmas, or temporal lobe disorders, where there is no
scientific consensus.
Click to expand...

As opposed to.. you know aliens and stuff ;)

Looks like we will be able to see the whole thing:

The release of this report is part of an ongoing series of
releases under the Freedom of Information Act. The MOD is
committed to releasing as much UFO material as possible,
proactively, under the FOIA 'Publication Scheme'.

The full report will be posted on the MOD's website on 15 May.
Click to expand...

www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/20 ... -022.shtml
 
Right. As far as my education in neuropsych goes, I know that one can use transcranial magnetic stimulation to affect the brain. Pick a lobe. But currently, only (really) the outer brain structures. And only briefly. To use an electromagnetic burst that caused a change/alternation in perception so great that critical reasoning is bypassed (probably via the 'lying' left hemisphere) beggers belief. Remembering my physics, a magnetic pulse is bloody hard to project (sorry magneto, you can't exist) and in order to affect change in the human brain, it has to be bloody strong (sorry magnetic wrist band wearing suckers). I really want to see scientific references for this one.
 
They're rehashing Michael Persinger's theory of electrically-induced alien experiences, he's been in FT a few times, and has experiment with a 'magic helmet' which can induce visions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Persinger

Plasma MHD craft are pure science fiction, but plasma aerodynamic/stealth has been around since the 1960s (see Ghost Planes story in FT last month).
 
I have no problems with experiences being induced by playing around with touching parts of the brain or transcranial magnetic stimulation. But please, from a distance? The same type of effect again and again in a natural environment?. They're really going to have to explain this from not just physics, but biology and psychology.

Although I don't doubt life exists in the universe, I have many problems with Saucer folk beliefs, but this report seems to be taking the michael somewhat.
 
If they had simply suggested that some UFOs were caused by an unknown form of plasma then I might have been open to that suggestion. The fact that many UFOs are apparently no more than lights in the sky suggest that possibility.

But to introduce this stuff about temporal lobe disturbances is simply boswellox.
 
In absolute agreement. The fact that something in the sky is unidentified by a witness does not automatically confer aliens, paranormal dimensional shifts or even black project craft (although the last one has at least some plausibility). Plasma discharges seems a fair explanation on the surface. However, it is the rest that makes me say...EH?
 
Just like to say something here, there seems to be much being made of the words "Classified" and "secret". Well I used to work for those people, at that time (in fact 2 floors below the inestimable Mr. Pope) and everything that was committed to paper there was classified and secret, whether it was a memo saying "Nigel is having lunch with John" or the running order of the Adastral Hse Am-dram soc's latest production of Oliver Twist, or indeed a commisioned report into UFOs.

Whilst the words serve to add a little more impact, I thought I better put that into a little bit more of a realistic context.
 
Yeah. true. I used to own a defence conference organising company. Everything, bar certain closed door events, had to be unclassified. Funny, how a document that was supposed to be unclassified, because it hadn't been ratified for sending was still classified. How we laughed.....yeah right. Try explaining to military nomarks that it was 'they' who had sent the document, and that the previous notes had all been unclassified. Ooo no, somehow, because we weren't psychic, it was our fault.. la de da. Amazing, how after the speaker cleared it all, they were nice as pie and begging for free tickets..............GUESS
 
eburacum said:
If they had simply suggested that some UFOs were caused by an unknown form of plasma then I might have been open to that suggestion. The fact that many UFOs are apparently no more than lights in the sky suggest that possibility.

But to introduce this stuff about temporal lobe disturbances is simply boswellox.
Click to expand...

Not necessairly - EM does appear to have an effect on the brain and body (odd feelings, hallucinations, etc.) and the military are certainly interested in it:

www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25787

and other similar non-lethal

www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22933

www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6050

Equally there are UFO cases which have the hallmarks of having some kind of electrical phenomena at their root (I've thrown some in here).

My main concern with this explanation is that, as far as I'm aware, it can't explain the more fully formed encounters. They seem to be throwing out an explanation and saying they are happy with it when it clearly requires a lot more investigation and fieldwork to even establish if this explains a percentage of UFOs. Jumping in and saying it explains them all is just silly.

Then again we may want to wait and see the full report - it could be jam-packed full of excellent, never before seen evidence. I'm not holding my breath though.
 
The thing that strikes me is that plasma is a fairly well-understood phenomenon; in the sky it can be seen in the trails of meteors and in the various kinds of lightning.
None of these phenomena are associated with temporal lobe disturbances as far as I am aware.

The sort of EM that does cause neural disturbance is much more powerful than the puny fields you get from aerial plasma. You would need an MRI scanner or something like that to affect someone so strongly that they change their behaviour.
 
Exactly - I suspect "plasma" is being used here in a rather off hand way possibly because the actual source is poorly understood.

We'll have to wait for the full thing but as it stands it is an intriguing suggestion that might explain some accounts but unless they have some serious information this would (in the normal world) be the start of investigations not the end.
 
8)

"Swamp gas from a weather balloon got trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus."
 
dreeness said:
8)

"Swamp gas from a weather balloon got trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus."
Click to expand...
I was thinking 'smoke and mirrors', but dree puts it better!
 
:)

(I borrowed it from Men In Black, Tommy Lee Jones.)
 
They're really going to have to explain how a smallish ball of plasma, hell, even a huge, gigantic mcbig ball of plasma, can chuck off an em field from far away - and sometimes- for significantly extended periods of time. Where is the energy coming from? How is it stabilised? Etc etc.
 
:eek:

And the smell, sickly-sweet, like drowning in honey. Phasers have no effect on a thing like that. All we can do is beam down with a magnetic bottle full of anti-matter, and some hemoplasm to lure it in. The blast will tear the planet's atmosphere away...

(Is dreeness goofing on an old episode of Star Trek? Why yes, it appears that he is.)
 
Is is interesting to note how old S.T. episodes are being used across the forums. :lol:
 
In response to the recent news coverage, MSN are currently running a poll asking the insightful question: Do UFOs Exist?

The options are:

1) UFOs certainly exist. There's no way we're alone in the universe.
2) UFOs might exist. Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.
3) UFOs are pure science fiction.
4) I'm not sure.

So - there's two different ways of voting "maybe" but no option to vote "UFOs exist, but they're only balls of plasma".

So far, option 1 (which actually consists of two separate and not necessarily related statements) is in the lead.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top