Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to request access to the classified version of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Assessment, dated 25 June 2021, from the Office of the Direction of National Intelligence in the United States of America.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes all credible threats to UK airspace very seriously and we work with many allies to ensure its integrity. It is not MOD policy to comment on details of classified information, passed to Her Majesty's Government by an ally.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have had any role in the government of the United States' Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force; if they had no such role, what contact and information exchange they have had with that Task Force; and whether that government has contacted the UK Government about a report being prepared by the US Director of National Intelligence on this issue.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Her Majesty's Government does not have a role in the United States' Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. Whilst the Ministry of Defence is aware of the planned report, it has not contributed to it and would be unable to provide any comments on the report ahead of its official release by the US Government.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what events they are planning to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem in September.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Headquarters and The Association of The Parachute Regiment are closely engaged with our in-country staff in co-ordinating a series of events taking place in and around Arnhem over the period 20-22 September 2019. Both the Chief of the General Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff will be in attendance at the main Dutch event in Arnhem at the invitation of their respective opposite numbers within the Royal Netherlands Armed Forces.
As part of the commemorations, both the Mercian Regiment and the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment will be providing substantial representation; given their antecedent Regiments’ involvement in the form of the South Staffordshire Regiment and the Border Regiment, respectively, as glider-borne troops who made up the 1st Air Landing Brigade.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D–Day in 2019.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Her Majesty's Government's plans to formally commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day in 2019 have yet to be decided. Elements of Defence routinely support annual local events both in the UK and in France.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have undertaken any follow-up work as a result of the MoD study <i>Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK Air Defence Region</i> published on 15 May 2006; and if so, what was the nature and status of such work, and what units were involved.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
No.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Ministry of Defence currently outsources investigations into unidentified aerial phenomena to the private sector; and if so, which are the contracted agencies.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
No.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of claims of new evidence from Colonel Charles Halt, whether they will confirm that United Kingdom radar operators tracked unidentified flying objects over Rendlesham Forest in December 1980; whether the 18 Ministry of Defence unexplained flying object files that have yet to be released to the public contain information about these radar reports; and whether the original radar tapes will be released to the public.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
All 18 files have been examined by officials and I can confirm that Rendlesham Forest is mentioned. However, this is only in relation to replies to parliamentary questions and responses to enquiries from members of the public advising that the Ministry of Defence could not confirm Colonel Halt's account.
None of the files contain radar reports or any type of tapes.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in relation to the 18 Ministry of Defence files on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) that have yet to be released to the public, what is the originating division of the file reference M9/18; what is the remit of that division in relation to UAP; and what is their latest estimate of when the 18 files will be passed to the National Archives, and then released to the public.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The originating branch of file reference MO9/18 relates to ministers' private offices. The latest estimate of when the 18 files will be delivered to the National Archives is before March 2016. The National Archives will make the necessary judgement about when they release these files to the public.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 10 March (HL5350), why the timescale for the transfer of the 18 unidentified flying object files from the Ministry of Defence to the National Archives has been delayed from the end of 2014, as previously announced, to late 2015 or early 2016.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
The schedule for the transfer of files from the Ministry of Defence to The National Archives consists of around 10,000 files per annum. The schedule is continually updated to take into account changes in priority and progress on different record sets. Additional processing requirements on the unidentified flying object files and focus on other Departmental records from the period 1982 - 1986 led to a change in the planned transfer date to late 2015 or early 2016. The Ministry of Defence will, however, continue to discuss with The National Archives if the 18 unidentified flying object files can be transferred earlier
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Provost and Security Services conducted an investigation into sightings of unidentified flying objects in West Wales during 1977.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
Any files relating to the West Wales sighting in 1977 will be held by the National Archives. Consequently, the Ministry of Defence holds no information on this incident.