RAF UFO encounters

RAF UFO encounters may have been covered up by Churchill and Eisenhower

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1. Letter(s) written by one member of the public in 1999 claimed that Eisenhower and Churchill discussed and covered up a UFO report. The Cabinet Office (not the MOD) reviewed its records in 1999 and found no records to confirm the claim. There was no investigation in the light of the National Archive publication, and there is no suggestion that there are numerous files that relate to the claim.
2. There was not a public inquiry. The Ministry of Defence received (and responded to) numerous inquiries and UFO reports from members of the public.
    

Thursday, August 5, 2010 
In light of documents released by the National Archives, The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense has investigated claims that Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower may have orchestrated a cover-up of an Unidentified Flying Object sighting by the Royal Air Force.
Numerous public inquiry files suggest that great concern was had for the proposition that former Prime Minister of The UK, Churchill and then US General Eisenhower, knew of an unknown metalic object approaching RAF aircraft off the British coast during World War II. One inquiry noted a discussion between Churchill and Eisenhower overheard by Churchill's body guard by the apparent grandson of the body guard (whose name was blacked out).
The inquiry read, "During the discussion with Mr Churchill, a consultant dismissed any possibility that the object had been a missile, since a missile could not suddenly match its speed with a slower aircraft and then accelerate again [...] Another person at the meeting raised the possibility of an unidentified flying object, at which point Mr Churchill declared that the incident should be immediately classified for at least 50 years and its status reviewed by a future prime minister".
Further records showing Churchill's general interest in UFOs were released alongside many other public inquiry files that concluded any UFO sightings were no threat to British airspace and minutes from a Joint Intelligence Committee meeting in 1959, where UFO sightings were a major theme.
Sightings made by officials and civilians were discussed at the Joint Intelegence meeting and 16 cases were singled out, 10 were identified as technical faults, misinterpretations and hoaxes - while 6 remain unidentified.
The unit of the Ministry of Defence that dealt with UFOs was closed last year.

 Sources

• Jack Malvern. "Winston Churchill may have ordered UFO cover-up, National Archives files show" — The Australian, August 5, 2010

• "Churchill and Eisenhower 'agreed to cover up RAF plane's UFO encounter during WWII', secret files reveal" — The Daily Mail, August