Ufologists are always keen to play down the amount of hoaxing that goes on within their field and, to be fair, hoaxes only account for a small proportion of UFO reports (as Jenny Randles pointed out recently in FT206’s UFO Files). But many of the central planks of the subject such as ‘good’ photographs, contactees and ‘leaked’ Government documents are rooted in hoaxes of varying complexity. It is only now, after more than a decade, that one of the most complex and influential UFO hoaxes has finally begun to unravel.

On 5 May 1995, FT’s Bob Rickard joined a large group of people, mainly ufologists but also representatives of various religions, journalists, MoD minions and others, gathered in the hushed darkness of the Museum of London’s film theatre (see FT81:41–43).