Britain details UFO sightings

LONDON, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- The British Ministry of Defense has released details of 97 alleged encounters with unidentified flying objects reported by Britons in 2006.

The reports, along with details of UFO and extraterrestrial sightings dating back to 1998, were released by the government after a Freedom of Information Act request, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

The sightings included reports of discs, pyramids, orbs and cigar-shaped objects traveling through the British sky.

Among the reports was "a silver pyramid that was rotating at a low speed and off center" spotted by a Sunderland resident Oct. 14. In the same area two weeks later, "a black triangular UFO was seen, with three lights on it."

Robert Rosamond, chairman of the British UFO Research Association, said the majority of the reports can be explained away as helicopters, balloons, satellites, cloud formations and other common objects and phenomenon.

"Around 98 percent of cases can be explained. The remaining two percent keep us fascinated," he said.