Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe LONDON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- The British Ministry of Defense released documents Monday detailing hundreds of UFO sightings and extraterrestrial "close encounters" between 1981 and 1996. The 4,000 pages of documents, separated into 14 files, include sightings reported by police officers and fighter pilots as well as young children, the Daily Mail reported Monday. Advertisement David Clarke, a UFO expert and Sheffield Hallam University journalism lecturer who has studied the files, said UFO sightings jumped from 117 in 1995 to 609 in 1996 -- the year the alien-invasion themed blockbuster "Independence Day" was released into theaters. "Obviously, films and TV programs raise public awareness of UFOs and it's fascinating to see how that appears to lead more people to report what they see to the authorities," Clarke said.
