House of Lords: UFO Report Statistics Inquiry

Parliamentary Inquiry Lord Clancarty (Brinsley Le Poer Trench) raised questions in the House of Lords regarding the volume of UFO reports received by the Ministry of Defence. He sought clarification on sighting statistics from the preceding four-year period.

Official Response Viscount Long, representing the Government, provided annual figures: 750 sightings in 1978, 550 in 1979, 350 in 1980, and 600 in 1981. He noted that not all civilian reports reach official channels. When asked about unidentified cases, Long indicated such data was unavailable, stating reports "disappeared into the unknown before we got them."

Historical Records Discussion Peter Hill-Norton questioned the destruction of pre-1962 reports, asking whether they were discarded as having no defence significance. Long clarified that all reports have been systematically preserved since 1967, reversing earlier practices of routine destruction after five years.