DEFENCE
Unidentified Flying Objects
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which office within his Department deals with sightings of unidentified flying objects. [35845]
Mr. Soames: The focal point within my Department for reports of sightings of unidentified flying objects is Secretariat (Air Staff) 2a.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) date and (b) location for the last 10 years unexplainable sightings of unidentified flying objects received by his Department; and what action was subsequently taken. [35844]
Mr. Soames: My Department evaluates reports of "unexplained" aerial phenomena solely in order to establish whether they may have any defence significance. Unless there is evidence to indicate that the UK air defence region may have been compromised, and to date no sighting has provided such evidence, my Department does not investigate or seek to provide an explanation for what was observed. The question of unexplainable sightings has therefore not arisen.
House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 24 July 1996
DEFENCE
Uncorrelated Radar Tracks
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions RAF aircraft have been (a) scrambled and (b) diverted from task to investigate uncorrelated targets picked up on radar; and if he will make a statement. [39218]
Mr. Soames: In the past five years RAF aircraft have been scrambled or diverted from task on two occasions to intercept and identify uncorrelated radar tracks entering the United Kingdom air defence region.
Unidentified Craft
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is his Department's assessment of the incident that occurred on 5 November 1990 when a patrol of RAF Tornado aircraft flying over the North sea were overtaken at high speed by an unidentified craft; and if he will make a statement; [39245]
(2) if he will make a statement on the unidentified flying object sighting reported to his Department by the meteorological officer at RAF Shawbury in the early hours of 3l March 1993. [39246]
Mr. Soames: Reports of sightings on these dates are recorded on file and were examined by staff responsible for air defence matters. No firm conclusions were drawn about the nature of the phenomena reported but the events were not judged to be of defence significance.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department made of the photograph of an unidentified craft at Calvine on 4 August 1990; who removed it from an office in secretariat (air staff) 2a; for what reasons; and it he will make a statement. [39248]
Mr. Soames: A number of negatives associated with the sighting were examined by staff responsible for air defence matters. Since it was judged that they contained nothing of defence significance the negatives were not retained and we have no record of any photographs having been taken from them.
House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 5 Nov 1996
DEFENCE
Unidentified Flying Craft
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the reports of encounters by Royal Air Force pilots with unidentified flying craft since 1966 which have not been released to the public; on what grounds they have been retained; and if he will make a statement. [2201]
Mr. Soames: The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the Royal Air Force's practice as regards investigating sightings of unidentified flying craft which correlate with radar information; if there is a requirement to investigate such phenomena by scrambling aircraft; and if he will make a statement. [2200]
Mr. Soames: Unidentified contacts penetrating UK airspace or the UK air defence region are identified by all available means, including interception.
House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 11 Nov 1996
DEFENCE
Unidentified Flying Objects
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the circumstances of the two occasions referred to in his answer of 24 July, Official Report, column 424, when RAF aircraft were scrambled or diverted from task to investigate uncorrelated radar targets; if the objects were identified; if it was judged that breaches of United Kingdom airspace had occurred; and if he will list all similar incidents which have occurred since 1979. [2932]
Mr. Soames: The targets were identified as Russian maritime patrol aircraft and were in the northern portion of the UK air defence region. They did not penetrate UK airspace. Information covering the period from 1979 is not held in a readily available form and could be provided only at disproportionate cost and effort.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when United Kingdom military personnel were briefed about the scrambling of Belgian F-16 aircraft on 30 and 31 March 1990; when the unidentified flying object concerned was detected on United Kingdom radar systems; and if RAF aircraft were scrambled. [3185]
Mr. Soames: The Belgian authorities did not notify adjacent countries because no threat was perceived. There is no evidence of radar contacts within the UK air defence system.
House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 12 Nov 1996
DEFENCE
Unidentified Flying Objects
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence
(1) what factors underlay his Department's decision that the reported sightings of unidentified flying objects on 5 November 1990 and 31 March 1993 were not of defence significance; [2898]
(2) for what reasons his Department assessed the sightings of an unidentified flying object over RAF Shawbury, referred to in his answer of 24 July, Official Report, column 424, as having no defence significance. [2928]
Mr. Soames: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on 8 July 1996, Official Report, column 26.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons his Department does not collate information on the number of written and oral parliamentary answers issued by his Department that require correction. [3222]
Mr. Soames: Where a correction to a parliamentary answer is necessary it is usually our practice for this to be done by means of a pursuant answer in the Official Report. My Department has not thought it necessary to record such corrections centrally.
House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 13 Jan 1997
DEFENCE
Scheduled Exercises (Purple Series)
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the dates and locations of scheduled exercises in the Purple series in the next 12 months. [9873]
Mr. Soames: The next exercise in the Purple series is programmed for October 1997 and has been designated Purple LINK. It will be a computer-assisted exercise based in the United Kingdom and will be undertaken with the Americans. This is the only Purple exercise planned for 1997.
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