UFOs, alien abductions and Tina Turner feature in Close Encounters secret files
The 19 files, which date from 1986 and 1992, show the extensive records of strange sightings by members of the public and unexplained radar images from air traffic control.
In one instance, an Alitalia flight coming into land at London's Heathrow Airport reported a near miss with a UFO, which the pilot described as "similar to a missile - light brown or fawn - about three metres in length but without any exhaust flame".
Captain Achille Zaghetti was so concerned about a collision he shouted "Look out! Look out!" to his co-pilot who then spotted the same object.
A corresponding image appeared on the Air Traffic Control radar and the MoD was brought in to investigate.
In the files released by the National Archive, the military admitted that the sighting in April 1991 could not be explained, having ruled out a British or American missile.
It concluded: "In the absence of any clear evidence which could be used to identify the object, it is our intention to treat this sighting like that of any other Unidentified Flying Object."
Two further near misses were reported in the summer of 1991 when one aircraft flying in to Gatwick airport reported a "wingless projectile" passing the left side of the plane and another flight leaving Gatwick spotted a "small lozenge-shaped object" speeding past the cockpit.
The newly released files also go into detail about two American Air Force pilots who were scrambled in 1957 and ordered to fire upon a UFO target flying above East Anglia.
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
In one instance, an Alitalia flight coming into land at London's Heathrow Airport reported a near miss with a UFO, which the pilot described as "similar to a missile - light brown or fawn - about three metres in length but without any exhaust flame".
Captain Achille Zaghetti was so concerned about a collision he shouted "Look out! Look out!" to his co-pilot who then spotted the same object.
A corresponding image appeared on the Air Traffic Control radar and the MoD was brought in to investigate.
In the files released by the National Archive, the military admitted that the sighting in April 1991 could not be explained, having ruled out a British or American missile.
It concluded: "In the absence of any clear evidence which could be used to identify the object, it is our intention to treat this sighting like that of any other Unidentified Flying Object."
Two further near misses were reported in the summer of 1991 when one aircraft flying in to Gatwick airport reported a "wingless projectile" passing the left side of the plane and another flight leaving Gatwick spotted a "small lozenge-shaped object" speeding past the cockpit.
The newly released files also go into detail about two American Air Force pilots who were scrambled in 1957 and ordered to fire upon a UFO target flying above East Anglia.