'Strange things' in the sky puzzle minister

(First Edition)

The Government remains open-minded on some of the 'strange things' which appear in the sky and defy explanation, the Defence Minister, Lord Cranborne has admitted in a letter made public yesterday, writes Chris Moncrieff of the Press Association.

But he assured Tory MP Sir Teddy Taylor: 'We are not aware of any evidence that would support existence of extra-terrestrial life and we are not covering up any information on this subject.'

Sir Teddy, MP for Southend East, had sought information from the Ministry of Defence about the increasing number of reports of 'strange things in the sky'.

Lord Cranborne told him: 'Although the Ministry of Defence receives some reports of UFO sighting, our only concern is to establish whether or not there is evidence of any threat to the security of the UK. United Kingdom.

'It is clear from the reports we receive that there are many strange things to be seen in the sky. We believe that explanations could be found for most, of them, but do accept that there will always be a few sightings which appear to defy explanation. We are open-minded on these.

'We are aware of some of the more exotic stories that circulate about UFOs, but most of the reports that we get refer to little more than a vague light or shape in the sky,' he added. Lord Cranborne added.

(Photograph omitted)