UFO Sightings

Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FOI/25/007671/Y

Version Date: 26/02/2025

The Performance & Analysis Department have provided the following information.

Data Source

Crimes recorded on crime information system - NICHE

Force incident recording system - STORM

Data Processing:

Qliksense MO Text Search Report

Occurrence Date Time Created: 1st January 2024 to the 31st December 2024

Sub Type: MO Free Text

("* UFO*" or "* UAP*" or "* UAV*" or "* USO*" or "*lights in the sky*")

("* aliens*" or "* extra-terrestrial beings*" or "* drones*" or "* orbs*")

Qlikview Storm Freetext Data 2024

Incident Created Date: 1st January 2024 to the 31st December 2024

Storm Free Text Search for

("* UFO*" or "* UAP*" or "* UAV*" or "* USO*" or "*lights in the sky*")

("* aliens*" or "* extra-terrestrial beings*" or "* drones*" or "* orbs*")

Qliksense Crimes and Outcomes Report

Created Date: 1st January 2024 to the 31st December 2024

Text Search for

("* UFO*" or "* UAP*" or "* UAV*" or "* USO*" or "*lights in the sky*")

("* aliens*" or "* extra-terrestrial beings*" or "* drones*" or "* orbs*")

Caveats/Limitations

No crimes/Cancelled Crimes excluded.

The presence of a keyword only indicates its presence in the MO or Summary text and not its relevance to a crime.

The presence of a keyword only indicates its presence in the Incident Log and not its relevance to an incident.

I am requesting all information that your force hold in relation to Unidentified Flying Object/Unidentified Aerial Phenomena sightings for the period 1st January 2024 to the 31st December 2024. This includes all reports made by members of the public or employees of your force that include the following keywords: UFO, UAP, UAV, USO, lights in the sky, aliens, extra-terrestrial beings, drones, orbs This information should include date, time, location and the description given by the reporting person. No personal information of such witnesses should be included. Any reports that relate to vehicle registrations should be ignored.

This search resulted in a nil return.

Returned incidents were manually reviewed for relevance. The majority related to anti-social behaviour involving drones, drones being flown in restricted air space and

requests for the Force Drone Unit and so were excluded.

Incidents involving individuals with mental health issues have also been excluded.