2026-07-21 12:34:57

UFO sightings in the UK are said to be “in decline” with fewer people than ever claiming to have witnessed an unexplainable object in the sky.

British UFO Research Association (BUFORA) expert Peter Wooton has revealed sightings have dropped off in recent years with fewer reports being filed to the organisation or to the police and he’s convinced the closure of a number of United States Air Force (USAF) bases and the scaling back of flights from RAF stations could be behind the dwindling numbers.

In a piece written for the BUFORA website, Wooton explained: “Where have all the UFOs gone? … Where indeed one might well ask.

“Judging by the number of sighting reports received by BUFORA and from responses to Freedom of Information (FoI) requests submitted to several constabularies in the east of England asking for information on the number of UFOs reported to them, it appears that such sightings are very much in decline.

“From the sighting reports sent to BUFORA that I have personally dealt with the majority have been night-time sightings of strange [lights] … Very few sightings have been of actual craft.”

He went on to add: ” Could it be that since the end of the Cold War in 1991 and the withdrawal in 1993, of the USAF from several of its bases close to England’s east coast, the closure or cessation of flying from several RAF stations also in the east of England and the corresponding reduction of military flying activity, that many UFO sightings were in fact military aircraft, both USAF and RAF or from other NATO nations visiting UK air bases, seen in poor lighting or adverse weather conditions or perhaps at night or from odd angles in bright sunlight?

“From the noticeable reduction in sighting reports received by BUFORA and local constabularies, this would certainly seem to be the case.”

Wooton went on to explain it’s now easier than ever to explain away mysterious objects using flight and satellite trackers or sky charts, while information about secretive aerospace projects has always been kept tightly under wraps and the relocation of military installations away from the UK could be behind the drop in sightings.

He wrote: “In terms of UFO sightings where does that leave us? Probably back at the beginning, i.e. where have all the UFOs gone?

“As stated earlier the withdrawal of the USAF from several of its UK bases and the reduction in flying activity from many RAF stations has probably had an impact and the more recent bias towards developing UAVs has probably also changed the number and type of unknown objects seen in the sky.

“With that in mind I suspect the answer lies with changes in defence technology and the focus of defence activity moving away from Europe to locations in the Middle East.

“It would be interesting to know if, because of these changes, there has been a corresponding increase in UFO sightings elsewhere.

“If there has, then it would almost certainly prove that most sightings were related to military activity and the reduction in military activity in the UK has had a direct impact on the number of reported sightings of UFOs.”

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