FOI 1078-2024 / Dec 2024 / UFO
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 1078-2024
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 9th December 2024 as follows:
I am requesting all information you have on ufo/uap’s under the freedom of information act (2000).
Especially concerning the sighting which was reported in the local papers I.e. over 1000 calls were made to the police concerning a ufo that flew over Leamington crossing the campion hills and Newbold/lillington area. I witnessed this craft and I remember the article in the newspaper which said about 1000 calls made from the public. I believe this a time sensitive request and that you have a set amount of time to send me all info about any and all sightings from 1970-2024.
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: Please be advised that there is no identifier within the Command & Control System to identify reports of UFO sightings. Further, such sightings would not necessarily be recorded as there is no crime/incident occurring and callers may be directed to other channels such as the Civil Aviation Authority. In order to attempt to determine the number of times such a report has been recorded it would be necessary to review each and every incident log, recorded during the stated period, on an individual basis. This would equate to tens of thousands of logs which would take an inordinate amount of time to review and greatly exceed the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the ‘appropriate level’ as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
In accordance with s12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for this request.
However, as a gesture of goodwill and in keeping with the duty to provide advice and assistance under Section 16 of the Act, the business area conducted a search of the Command-and-Control System for where any of the following keywords are present within the free text of logs.
- UFO / UFOs
- UAP
- Alien
- Extra-terrestrial
- Lights in sky
- Spaceship
However, please note that records held on the Command & Control System only go back to 2008; therefore, information prior to this time is not held. Therefore, the stated search was conducted for all logs recorded between 1st January 2008 and 12th December 2024.
The resulting records were then reviewed to determine whether the caller/informant was making a report in relation to sightings. Based on this keyword search I can advise that there were six records located which would meet the criteria of your request. However, it is important to note that if there are relevant incidents which have been logged, but where the keyword/s is not present within free text, then these will not have been returned within the search. For this reason information retrieved by way of a keyword search cannot be assumed to be entirely accurate and should be treated with caution.
|
Year |
Location by Policing Area |
Summary |
|
2010 |
Warwick District |
Reported seeing UFO hovering in air, an orange light that vanished. |
|
2010 |
Stratford District |
Reported seeing UFO bright and orange in colour and then the light became two lights which hovered one on top of the other and then more lights went past. |
|
2014 |
Stratford District |
Reported seeing UFOs in the sky that looked like shooting stars |
|
2014 |
Stratford District |
Reported seeing what thought was a cluster of lights in the distance resembling a cross type shape. Also saw two further lights appear nearer before they went away. |
|
2021 |
Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough |
Reported seeing a cluster of UFOs hovering in mid air |
|
2023 |
North Warwickshire District |
Reported seeing a dark grey oval shape in the sky with a white haze around it and with a spinning motion at the bottom. |
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible.
Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of complaint.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or email the Freedom of Information Unit quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB