The National Archives (UK)
The UK government's archive at Kew, which released the Ministry of Defence's UFO files, including the Rendlesham Forest papers.
- Location
- Kew, southwest London
- Modern country
- United Kingdom
- Formed
- 2003 (Public Record Office dates from 1838)
- UFO files
- Ministry of Defence files released 2008–2013
- Key files
- DEFE 24/1948 and 24/1970 (Rendlesham)
What is The National Archives known for?
The National Archives at Kew in southwest London is the official archive of the UK government and of England and Wales. It was formed in 2003 by joining the Public Record Office, founded in 1838, with the Historical Manuscripts Commission. It holds records running from Domesday Book to modern government files.
Between 2008 and 2013 the National Archives released the Ministry of Defence's UFO files, thousands of pages of sighting reports, letters and policy papers, in a series of public releases. The files are in the DEFE (defence) series and many are free to download.
Among them are the files on the Rendlesham Forest incident of December 1980, which the Archives describes as Britain's best-known UFO event and others call 'Britain's Roswell'. DEFE 24/1948, released in 2009, contains the Halt memo and related correspondence, and DEFE 24/1970 contains the MoD's final position statement on the case.
The UK National Archives released the Ministry of Defence's Rendlesham Forest files.
Mentioned on these pages
Sources
- The National Archives (UK), 'UFO reports'Reference
- The National Archives (UK), Discovery catalogue, DEFE 24/1948: UFO reports of sighting: Rendlesham Forest, December 1980Primary text
- Wikipedia, 'The National Archives (United Kingdom)'Reference
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