UFO sightings proliferate in Britain

LONDON, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- British officials have reported a surge in the number of UFO sightings called in to the Ministry of Defense last year.

The number of sightings in 2007 was 135 -- up from 97 the previous year -- and they included clusters of as many as 100 mysterious objects, bright white lights and triangular shaped objects, the Telegraph reported Thursday.

The ministry last year publicized for the first time details of UFO sighting reports, and even opened to public scrutiny the archive of sightings dating back to 1998, the newspaper said.

Previous policy called for details of such classified reports to be kept secret for 30 years.

One report from Duxford, Cambridgeshire, described 50 objects -- each equipped with an orange light -- gathering in the sky on April 12 and then ascending.

Two pilots flying separate planes over the Channel Island reported a sighting 11 days later -- a bright orange craft, followed by another, identical object.

Hilary Porter of the British Earth and Aerial Mysteries Society said there has been an "absolutely enormous" increase in the number of UFOs.

"We have had call after call after call, from business people right down to ordinary folk in their cars," she said.