Document · 1998
MoD file DEFE 24/2018: UFO Parliamentary questions and correspondence, December 1997 – October 1998
Also known as DEFE 24/2018, MoD UFO PQs 1998, Howden Moor PQ file
A Ministry of Defence registered file of the UFO desk, Secretariat (Air Staff), covering Parliamentary questions and correspondence from December 1997 to October 1998, opened at The National Archives on 3 March 2011 in the release of 35 files. Names of members of the public are redacted.
Among its papers is the MoD's handling of the Howden Moor incident of 24 March 1997, a year after the event: the questions tabled by Helen Jackson MP after David Clarke's enquiry, the answer and the note drafted for the minister, and the RAF search-and-rescue log that the answer was built on.
Source: The National Archives, DEFE 24/2018 (our copy is from a public mirror of the March 2011 release; page numbers are those of the PDF)
Facts and claims
- documented The Howden Moor papers (pp. 232–254) hold the four written questions tabled by Helen Jackson MP in March 1998, the MoD's answer and background note of 26 March 1998, David Clarke's letter of 2 March 1998 and his Star article of 24 March 1998, a draft reply by the RAF's public relations officer in Scotland, the log of the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre at RAF Kinloss for 24–25 March 1997, the night low-flying sector booking sheets and the Leconfield Sea King's signal. Source: defe-24-2018-1-1.pdf
- documented The background note says the occurrence “remains unexplained” and that, with the radar tapes re-used, “it is not practicable to carry out any meaningful investigation”; the rescue-centre log records the British Geological Survey's reply that “THE SIGNAL LOOKS LIKE A TYPICAL SONIC BOOM”. Source: defe-24-2018-1-1.pdf
Connected files
Organizations
- Ministry of Defence (UK) (prepared by) — Papers of the MoD's UFO desk, Secretariat (Air Staff) 2a
- The National Archives (UK) (released in) — Opened on 3 March 2011
Incidents
- Howden Moor incident: the Peak District 'air crash' search and the two sonic booms (about) — Pages 232–254: Helen Jackson MP's questions, the MoD's answer and background note of 26 March 1998, David Clarke's letter and Star article, the RAF Kinloss rescue-centre log with the British Geological Survey's sonic-boom reading, the night low-flying booking sheets
Documents
Mentioned in this file
- National Archives and Records Administration (Organization)
- David Clarke (Person)
More documents
- The National Archives: guides to the Ministry of Defence UFO files (2008–2013)
- The National Archives (UK): UFO files release, highlights guide (August 2009)
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 21 June 2013 (25 files)
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 12 July 2012 (25 files)
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 11 August 2011 (34 files)
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 5 August 2010 (18 files)