Documents / Document
This MoD file, titled UFOs - Persistent Correspondence - Dr David Clarke, holds Dr David Clarke's Freedom of Information requests and emails to the Directorate of Air Staff from 2005 to 2008. Clarke asked for the DI55 report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK Air Defence Region and for Rendlesham papers. He also sought records about Nick Pope. Other items include an internal review that released redacted passages on plasmas, the MoD's statement that it had no report of the 2008 South Wales police helicopter sighting, and a 2009 disposal form.
“DI55”38 pages
# Directorate of Air Staff - Freedom of Information MINISTRY OF DEFENCE 5th Floor, Zone H, Main Building, Whitehall, London S ENCLOSED 24Φ NUMBER Telephone (Direct dial) 020 7218 2140 (Switchboard) 020 7218 9000 (Fax) Section 40 e-mail das-ufo-office@mod.uk Dr David Clarke Our Reference Section 40 26-09-2005-091240-001 Date 28 April 2006 ## Dear Dr Clarke Please find enclosed a copy of the report entitled Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK Air Defence Region written in December 2000 as you requested on 1 September 2005, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I apologise for the length of time this request has taken, but the meticulous scrutiny this document has received has enabled us to release the vast majority of the report and I hope you will be pleased with the final result. The report consists of 465 pages divided into four parts, three Volumes and an Executive Summary. While we have endeavoured to release as much information as possible, it has been necessary to remove some information and where this is the case the appropriate Section of the Freedom of Information Act has been indicated beside the redaction. The Sections and the reasons for their use are given below. Sections 26, and 27 are qualified exemptions and in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act we have looked at the balance of public interest for and against disclosure for each Section. Details of the public interest test and our conclusions are also detailed below. Section 26 (Defence) - This information consists of details of the operation and performance of UK Air Defence radar. In favour of disclosing this information is the public interest in promoting understanding of the RAF's ability to detect and effectively respond to potential threats in UK airspace. It is important to recognise public anxiety with regard to possible attacks on the UK, particularly from acts of terrorism and the need to reassure the public that everything possible is being done to protect them. However, this public interest has already been served to a considerable extent by the publication of the Sixth Report of the House of Commons Defence Committee in 2002. In the report the Committee outline the measures the Government takes to protect the public from terrorist activity including threats from the air. Against the limited public interest in disclosure, is a countervailing public interest which favours withholding the information in order to preserve the effectiveness of the UK's air defences. The release of this information could be of significant value to the planning of an attack on the UK, including from terrorism. There is therefore a strong public interest in preserving the RAF's ability to defend the British mainland through the effectiveness of its air defences. and we therefore conclude that the balance of the public interest is firmly in favour of withholding the information in accordance with Section 26(1)(a) & (b).
Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 160 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.