Digital Trends

The British National Archives has had record traffic since making the Ministry of Defence files on UFOs available online.

The truth may or may not be out there, but the files on it certainly are, at least in the UK. Since the Ministry of Defence opened its files on UFO sightings through the National Archives, that site has enjoyed record traffic as people download the history of sightings and investigations.

With its own special site, the information – contained in eight .PDF files, an introductory videocast and a podcast guide to the files – was downloaded 1.3 million times in the first four days it was available. On the first day alone it brought 264,285 visitors to the National Archives site, roughly five times the normal daily amount. And, in the ripples spreading from that, Hitwise has reported that web searches for “UFO” have increased by a staggering 267%.