The British government finally shut down a special unit investigating UFO sightings after more than 50 years as it was a drain on resources and not a single report ever revealed " a potential threat to the United Kingdom," newly released government files showed Friday.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) closed a hotline and an email address to which sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) could be reported in 2009, saying at the time that "no UFO report has revealed any evidence of a potential threat to the United Kingdom".

The newly released files show that civil servant Carl Mantell briefed then defence minister, Bob Ainsworth, that the desk was "consuming increasing resource".

"The level of resources diverted to this task is increasing in response to a recent upsurge in reported sightings, diverting staff from more valuable defence-related activities," he remarked.

An MoD employee whose job was to investigate UFO reports was moved to another post.

Source: AFP