The latest batch of files from the Ministry of Defence documenting alleged UFO sightings has been released by the National Archives. They contain sketches of supposed incidents made by those who witnessed them.
The records cover the period from 1981 to 1996 and mostly depict circular craft appearing in the night's sky. These objects were observed from a prison, seemingly hovering over a city centre.
Bonnybridge in central Scotland became the UK's UFO hotspot during the 1990s when there were several sightings of small, moving beams of light. In other places, people apparently saw actual aircraft and could sketch their features and movements.
It was common for witnesses to see strange lights or objects close to legitimate aircraft. In one incident in 1993, more than 30 sightings were eventually linked to a Russian rocket re-entering the atmosphere.
Some people reported much closer encounters of the third kind. In 1995, two men from Staffordshire told police that as they returned home from an evening out an alien appeared under a hovering UFO hoping to take them away.
But experts say there is a direct correlation between the kind of sightings made and popular culture. Reports jumped from 117 in 1995 to 609 in 1996 - the year that Will Smith films Independence Day and Men In Black were released.
Previously, one of the busiest years for reports had been 1978 - the year in which Steven Spielberg's blockbuster Close Encounters of the Third Kind came out in cinemas.
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