Declassified: UK’s Secret Hunt for UFO Technology

Newly declassified Ministry of Defence documents from the 1990s reveal that British military intelligence was actively investigating how to acquire UFO technology for military applications. According to internal memos transferred to The National Archives in Kew, officials were not merely documenting sightings but exploring the possibility of reverse engineering whatever was flying over UK airspace.

The investigation was triggered in part by the Belgian UFO wave between November 1989 and April 1990, when thousands of witnesses including police officers, military personnel, and air traffic controllers reported massive silent black triangles. According to the Belgian Ministry of Defence, two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled on March 30, 1990, and achieved radar lock multiple times before the object performed maneuvers that exceeded known aircraft capabilities.

An internal Ministry of Defence memo dated March 1997 stated that if significant numbers of people were reporting strange objects, there may be a basis in fact. The memo further argued that UAPs posed a potential threat to the defense of the realm. A separate briefing letter marked “Secret UK Eyes B” referenced technology acquisition as a supplementary issue, noting that UAPs do not appear to use conventional reaction propulsion and that if this represents real technology, perhaps it should be acquired.

These documents connected to an earlier incident at RAF Woodbridge in December 1980, known as the Rendlesham Forest encounter. According to US Air Force Security Policeman John Burroughs, who spoke with me in a 2022 interview, servicemen witnessed strange lights in the forest accompanied by unusual atmospheric conditions. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt documented the encounter in an official memo to the Ministry of Defence, describing a metallic triangular object and radiation levels ten times higher than normal at the landing site.

Between 1997 and 2000, British Defence Intelligence Staff conducted Project Condign (not to be confused with the Condon Report), a secret study examining roughly 10,000 UAP reports. The final report concluded that UAPs had an observable presence that was indisputable but attributed most sightings to natural atmospheric plasmas. However, Condign still recommended further research into novel military applications of these phenomena.

The National Archives in Kew

The documents are publicly accessible at The National Archives in Kew and can be viewed in person or requested as copies, which take 24 business days to receive. 

Sources

Cristina Gomez. (2022, August 31). RENDLESHAM FOREST UFO ENCOUNTERS (Military Witness) John Burroughs [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8CMx4jA--Y

Dpa. (2026, January 5). German UFO centre logged record number of sightings in 2025. Yahoo News. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/german-ufo-centre-logged-record-192526453.html

Horne, M. (2026, January 4). MoD ordered officers to find UFO technology, secret files reveal. The Sunday Times. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/history/article/mod-ordered-officers-to-find-ufo-technology-secret-files-reveal-hnr62vcn9?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqdxQ3cbkvf6AH9tLjU5jU8PuyFEIhO66uQ05In0n8PTBSMWaohHUdVUp80A47E%3D&gaa_ts=695aa578&gaa_sig=OeLouppM4asuaIioELelzaRxioMwa-5uy2QZ99UzuiF3NQqgMRGcoflXyHlirz2ExEksYx4VuTMLzQtDa10fvQ%3D%3D