UFO sightings 'unlikely to be investigated'

UFO sightings are increasingly unlikely to be investigated because of mounting paperwork, a former government expert has warned.

Britain is "wide open" to being visited by aliens without officials knowing about it, according to Nick Pope, who ran the Ministry of Defence UFO project from 1991 to 1994.

Despite a series of "highly credible" sightings and landings of metallic aircraft projecting lightbeams and emitting humming sounds, there is no longer formal interviewing of witnesses or investigation into the sightings, he said.

Instead, those working for the Ministry of Defence UFO project spend their time releasing formerly classified documents in response to Freedom of Information Act requests from the media or members of the public.

Mr Pope said he decided to speak out about the failure to seriously address the issue for the first time since resigning from his post at the Directorate of Defence Security.

He said: "The consequences of getting this one wrong could be huge. The X-Files have been closed down."

While there is no evidence of hostile intent, he said, it cannot be ruled out.

"There has got to be the potential for that and one is left with the uneasy feeling that, if it turned out to be so, there is very little we could do about it," he added.