FT264

Every new British Prime Minister receives a full postbag, and we know from the MoD files that this always contains letters from press­ure groups who demand the release of ‘the truth’ about UFOs and aliens. David Cameron is no exception and, as we reported last year (FT247:28), he promised to be “entirely open and frank” about the subject if elected when challenged by UFO buff Richard Hall at a public meeting. Cameron responded with a joke that he was “convinced we have been visited by alien life forms”, one of which was the former Labour business secretary Lord Mandelson. Hall was not pleased and said Cameron “will not be making jokes when the truth comes out”.

A year passes and the amusing exchange reappears on the Internet not as a joke but as a declaration from the coalition leader that “aliens in UFOs have visited Earth”. According to George Filer’s ‘Filers Files’, Cameron actually said: “I am convinced the Earth has been visited by aliens and vow to publish any secret files that may exist on UFOs if I become Prime Minister.” Of course, this isn’t nearly as exciting as Cameron’s honest admission, after the laughter, that he has no idea “whether any of the sightings which have taken place have any basis in truth” and that most UFO claims, when subjected to critical scrutiny, turn out to have rational explan­ations. While Dave checks his postbag you can revisit the exchange between Cameron and Hall on YouTube.