- LONDON (Reuters) - The British
government will publish files on reported UFO sightings as part of a shake-up
of its laws on freedom of information.
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- Among the documents to be published is the "Rendlesham
File," which deals with one of the country's best known sightings
of an unidentified flying object.
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- Until now, only about 20 members of the public have seen
the file, which relates to a sighting in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, eastern
England, in 1980.
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- According to some UFO enthusiasts, eyewitnesses including
U.S. officers at a nearby military base saw a brilliantly lit spaceship
land in the forest on two consecutive nights.
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- Skeptics say the witnesses were fooled by the beam from
a lighthouse on the nearby coast.
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- The Rendlesham file has been available to the public
for some time but only at the discretion of the Ministry of Defense.
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- Now, the government says it will publish it on the Internet
before the end of this week, along with other files on reported UFO sightings.
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- "These first steps mark important progress toward
changing the culture of government and extending the public's right to
know what is being done in their name," Freedom of Information Minister
Yvette Cooper said in a statement.
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- The government says it intends to repeal or amend up
to 100 pieces of legislation which currently prohibit disclosure of information.
It aims to replace them with provisions of a new Freedom of Information
Act, passed in 2000.
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