Australia limits UFO investigations to national security

Summary

In 1986, the Australian government decided that the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) would only investigate unusual aerial sightings (UAS) if they had defense or national security implications. This policy emerged after years of considering such investigations costly and unproductive. The defense minister, Mr. Scholes, explained that cases without security relevance would be recorded and referred to civilian organizations. In a decade, between 110 and 150 sightings were reported annually, but 97% had explanations. An example is a 1983 report from a farmer describing a luminous object that did not appear to be a military jet, which was notified to authorities but not thoroughly investigated.

The files also show that cases containing personal information were partially exempt from public access to protect the privacy of individuals involved. This reflects concern over the emotional impact of disclosing such details. Despite the restrictions, citizens had the right to appeal exemption decisions under Australian archival laws. The final decision showed that the government prioritized national security over general investigations of unidentified aerial phenomena.