WIREDGOV

Aliens and UFOs have captured the public's imagination both home and abroad. The latest batch of UFO files saw over 450,000 file downloads from ET enthusiasts in the first two days of their release.

The story was covered extensively in both the national and international press, as online visitors from Europe, America and Australia have sought to uncover details from the newly opened files.

The release is part of a three-year project by the Ministry of Defence and The National Archives to open up these records to a worldwide audience. The latest instalment consisted of 14 files of sightings, letters and Parliamentary Questions spanning from 1981 to 1996.

Popularity of online files

The current total figure of downloaded files stands at over 830,000 since their release last month. For a short period there were 15 downloads of the UFO files a second! The videocast, featuring UFO history expert Dr David Clarke, has also been viewed by thousands across the globe.

Latest release

Included in this release are papers relating to the famous Rendlesham Forest sightings, often described as 'Britain's Roswell', and reports of a lemon-headed alien trying to lure two men away in Staffordshire.  Also recorded are accounts of UFO sightings in Belgium that led to the Belgian Air Force scrambling F-16 fighters to intercept the strange flying objects.

UFO sightings had a marked increase in 1996 – the year the film Independence Day was released and the hit television show, The X Files, was at the height of its popularity.