Case file · Government program
Project Condign (UK)
A secret Defence Intelligence Staff study (1997–2000) of about 10,000 UK sighting reports, released in 2006 after a freedom-of-information request.
2000 CE · 51.50, -0.13 · status: official
The account
The 400-page report, 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK Air Defence Region', found no evidence of intelligent craft or of a threat. It proposed that many sightings were natural atmospheric plasmas, even suggesting that these might affect witnesses' perceptions, and that the military might exploit them.
The sceptical view
Physicists have criticised its 'buoyant plasma' theory as speculative and poorly supported. Ufologists dislike it for dismissing all cases.
Connections in the atlas
- Flying Saucer Working Party (UK)
- ? Can ball lightning explain UFO reports?
- UK Ministry of Defence UFO files released
- Nick Pope
- UK MoD 'UFO desk' & DI55 (closed 2009)
- Rendlesham Forest