A UFO was visible on military radar for seven hours above the Wash in Skegness in 1996 but officials were ordered to do nothing about it, according to a shocking document from 'Britain's X-Files'.

The RAF was 'overruled at the highest level' and told to ignore the strange bright lights - which flashed red, blue and white - despite the fact several witnesses also spotted it.

The Ministry of Defence was criticised for a shambolic reaction which some believed could have put the nation at serious risk in one of the country's most mysterious UFO sightings.

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The RAF were 'overruled at the highest level' and told to ignore the strange lights - which flashed red, blue and white - despite the fact several witnesses also spotted it (stock image)

WHAT ARE 'BRITAIN'S X-FILES'? The cache of 15 files, which have been published by the National Archives, contain details of sightings of UFOs over almost five decades. They contain information about a number of high profile incidents that are believed to be related to extra-terrestrials, including in Rendlesham Forest in 1980, dubbed 'Britain's Roswell.' The papers were originally meant to be released in 2013 alongside thousands of others which did see the light of day, but 18 specific documents were withheld. No one knows exactly why. Fifteen have now been published with the remaining three still withheld. The release marks the final stages of what's been a nine-year long project to declassify and release the MoD's entire archive of UFO files. Mysteriously, the files have not yet been digitised so enthusiasts must go to the National Archives in Kew, West London if they want to have access to them. Advertisement

The UFO files have revealed that on the morning of 5 October 1996 bright lights were reported by several civilians but the Defence Secretary at the time, Michael Portillo, did nothing, according to a report from The Sun.

An unnamed government official wrote to the Ministry of Defence voicing concerns.

'The RAF is supposed to, or so I believed, to be keeping a watchful eye on activity in the UK, but seem to have no idea what is going on', the minister wrote.

'Do they have standard procedure for these incidents? They had enough time to think about it, because the object was on our radar for upwards of seven hours!' he said.

'While I am interested in finding out what was seen, my primary concern stems from the absolute shambles that such events seem to cause'.

Reports of the strange lights made front pages and were serialised in various TV shows at the time.

'I remember this well. It was a bizarre case', Nick Pope who was part of the Ministry of Defence's UFO project from 1991 to 1994 told MailOnline.

'The official verdict was that the anomalous radar return might have been caused by a nearby church spire (an effect that can happen in certain meteorological conditions) but, in parallel, there were visual sightings from witnesses including police officers, and these were more difficult to explain.

'Furthermore, the events took place in the middle of a 'UFO flap' where there had been numerous sightings from locals.'

The late Martin Redmond - an MP who had taken a close, personal interest in the UFO phenomenon - raised the question with the MoD Mr Pope explained.

'He was concerned that whatever the cause of the radar return, it seemed the RAF had done nothing, perhaps because of the MoD's notorious defensiveness when it came to the anything to do with UFOs.

'He felt that, at the very least, further enquiries should have been made and maybe a jet scrambled - which would have cleared up the mystery in minutes.

'The bottom line was that Martin Redmond felt these events highlighted a fundamental weakness in the UK's air defence system', he said.

The letter also suggests a police video of the lights mysteriously disappeared.

The cache of 15 files, which have been published by the National Archives, contain details of sightings of UFOs seen all over the country (stock image)

'It sounds like an important UFO incident, as it has the relatively rare element of simultaneous visual and radar sightings', Nigel Watson author of the UFO Investigations Manual told MailOnline.

'In the cold light of day the nation was not at risk, but it does show that when people are looking out for UFOs, an innocent star or planet will fill their imaginations', he said.

This document is just one of many that was released last week as part of a series of files that were released by the government having been kept secret for almost 50 years.

The cache of 15 files, which have been published by the National Archives, contain details of UFO sightings seen all over the country.

A UFO was visible on military radar for seven hours above The Wash in Skegness in 1996 but officials were ordered to do nothing about it, according to a shocking document from 'Britain's X-Files'

They contain information about a number of high profile incidents that are believed to be related to extra-terrestrials, including in Rendlesham Forest in 1980, dubbed 'Britain's Roswell.'

Mysteriously, the files have not yet been digitised so enthusiasts must go to London's National Archives in Kew if they want to have access to them.

The papers were originally meant to be released in 2013 alongside thousands of others which did see the light of day, but 18 specific documents were withheld.

The files are believed to date from 1971-76, 1996-2000 and 2004.

The release marks the final stages of what's been a nine-year long project to declassify and release the MoD's entire archive of UFO files.

Three of these documents have still not been released.

This prompted claims of a conspiracy to cover-up the existence of alien life among some theorists and another delay in publication last year added to this speculation.

Conspiracy theorists are hoping the files may shed light on the notorious Rendlesham Forest incident in 1980, dubbed Britain's Roswell

'I think these files perfectly capture the wonder and fascination of the UFO mystery and show how MoD officials - myself included - struggled to make sense of one of the great mysteries of the modern era', said Nick Pope, who was part of the Ministry of Defence's UFO project from 1991 to 1994.

'Sadly, there's no 'smoking gun' in these files that will prove we've been visited by extraterrestrials, but there are plenty of intriguing UFO reports, as well as policy papers explaining how the MoD handled this subject.'

'The lack of a smoking gun and the fact that these files seem to have been slipped out without a formal media announcement is bound to start some conspiracy theories, and I know that many people believe the 'good stuff' is being held back', he said.

Conspiracy theorists are hoping the files may shed light on the notorious Rendlesham Forest incident in 1980, dubbed Britain's Roswell.

Strange lights were reported by servicemen in the forest near RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge.

RENDLESHAM FOREST INCIDENT Strange lights were reported by servicemen in the forest near RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge. The incident came to be known as 'Britain's Roswell' after the UFO sightings in New Mexico. Soldiers investigated what the lights were, including Staff Sgt Jim Burroughs, Airman First Class Edward Cabansag and Airman First Class Larry Warren. The disputed sightings, over three nights between December 26-28, occurred when Britain and the West were on high alert during the Cold War. Retired US Air Force officer Steve Longero broke a 36 year silence, in December 2016, to reveal he also saw something in the night sky. Mr Longero said the UFOs looked like red and green fluorescent lights hovering over treetops. He also dismissed one theory that the lights had been caused by a lighthouse. The incident became a topic of fascination in the UK after a group of servicemen went into Rendlesham Forest to investigate the mysterious lights and came out convinced they had seen seen an alien spacecraft. The Suffolk sightings resurfaced claims from those living in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947 when an unexpected crash was alleged to have been the remains of a spacecraft and alien bodies. But this was rejected by the U.S. military following a close investigation into the wreckage. The British Ministry of Defence has also dismissed the claims regarding Rendlesham. It said there was no threat to national security and the UFOs were likely to be caused by a series of nocturnal lights. Advertisement

The disputed sightings, over three nights between December 26-28, occurred when Britain and the West were on high alert during the Cold War.

'What's readily apparent from a detailed study of all this is that the MoD was telling Parliament, the media and the public that the UFO phenomenon was of 'no defence significance' and of limited interest to the MoD', said Mr Pope.

'However, the files show that behind the scenes, the subject was obviously taken more seriously than we let on, with many of the cases self-evidently being of great defence significance – e.g. when UFOs were seen in close proximity to military bases, were encountered by RAF pilots, or were tracked on radar by fighter controllers or air traffic controllers.'

The remaining three files are due to be released later this year.

'This is a good day for open government and for freedom of information', Mr Pope said.

The last batch of files that was released contained some papers relating to anti-gravity and gravity modification research expressed by MoD scientists.

'I wasn't joking when I referred to MoD's UFO project as being 'the real-life X-Files'', said Mr Pope.