-대중적 공황과 종교적 믿음 상실 우려해
UFO 관련 기밀해제 문서서 드러나

윈스턴 처칠 전 영국 총리가 미확인비행물체(UFO)를 포착했다는 자국 공군의 보고를 극비에 부치도록 명령했다는 사실이 드러났다고 영국 일간 텔레그래프 인터넷판이 5일 보도했다.

신문은 이날 국립문서보관소가 공개한 수천 페이지 분량의 UFO 관련 기밀해제 문서를 인용해 "처칠 총리가 2차 대전 기간에 자국 공군기가 영국 동부 해안에서 UFO와 조우했다는 보고를 받고도 사람들이 공황(恐慌)에 빠지거나 종교적 믿음을 잃을 것을 우려해 이 사실을 50년 이상 극비에 부치도록 명령했다"고 전했다.

처칠은 2차 대전 후반 미국의 비밀 장소에서 당시 연합군 총사령관이었던 미국의 드와이트 아이젠하워 장군과 비공개회담을 하면서 이 같은 명령을 내렸다고 신문은 전했다.

이 같은 내용이 포함된 문서는 1995~2003년 사이에 작성된 5천 페이지 분량의 18개 UFO 관련 파일이다. 파일은 각종 보고서와 편지, 목격자들과의 면담을 기초로 한 그림, 의회에서 제기된 질문 등을 담고 있다.

처칠 총리 관련 부분은 그의 경호원이었던 공군장교가 처칠과 아이젠하워의 비밀회담 내용을 우연히 엿듣고 이를 자기 가족들에게 발설하면서 알려지게 됐다.

이 경호원의 손자는 1999년 영국 국방부에 할아버지가 전한 '기이한 사건'에 대한 조사를 요구하는 여러 통의 편지를 보냈다.

현재 물리학자로 일하고 있는 손자가 쓴 편지에 따르면 영국 정찰기가 나치에 장악된 유럽 지역을 정찰하고 돌아오는 중 컴버리아 인근의 영국 해안에서 금속성의 UFO를 포착했다.

조종사 등 승무원들은 정찰기 주위를 "소리없이 맴도는" 이 비행물체의 사진을 여러 장 찍었다.

이후 처칠은 아이젠하워와 이 사건을 논의한 뒤 최소 50년 동안 관련 사실을 비밀에 부치도록 명령했다.

당시 논의에 참가한 한 무기 전문가는 해당 물체가 포탄일 수 있다는 주장을 반박하면서 "이 사건은 우리 시대의 상상력을 완전히 뛰어넘는 것"이라고 말했다.

뒤이어 다른 전문가가 UFO 가능성을 제기하자 처칠은 곧바로 이 사건 보고서를 기밀로 분류하라고 지시했다.

처칠은 "이 사건은 대중적 공황을 야기하고 교회에 대한 믿음을 파괴할 수 있기 때문에 즉각 기밀로 분류돼야 한다"고 말했다.

비밀 회담의 내용을 엿듣고 큰 충격을 받은 처칠의 경호원은 이를 당시 아홉 살의 딸에게 얘기했고 1973년 임종을 앞두고서는 자신의 아내에게도 말했다.

우주열역학 관련 소프트웨어까지 개발한 과학자이기도 한 이 경호원의 손자는 나중에 어머니(경호원의 딸)로부터 이 얘기를 전해들었다고 주장했다.

그는 자신은 '괴짜'가 아니라고 강조하면서 할아버지가 전한 사건을 과학적으로 조사하길 원한다고 말했다.

이와 관련 영국 국방부 관계자는 "1967년 이전의 UFO 파일은 5년이 경과한 뒤 모두 파기됐기 때문에 손자의 주장을 뒷받침할 만한 어떤 증거도 남아있지 않다고 밝혔다. 영국 국무조정실도 이 같은 사실을 확인했다.

원전 : 서울=연합뉴스
재전: 동아일보 http://news.donga.com/Inter/3/02/20100805/30329589/1

He is said to have made the orders during a secret war meeting with US General Dwight Eisenhower, the then commander of the Allied Forces, at an undisclosed location in America during the latter part of the conflict.

The claims are contained in thousands of pages of declassified files on UFOs, released on Thursday online by the National Archives.

The 18 files, which cover from 1995 to 2003, are made up of more than 5,000 pages of reports, letters, and drawings drawn from correspondence with the public and questions raised in parliament.

The allegations involving Churchill were made by the grandson of one his personal bodyguards, an RAF officer who overheard the discussion, who wrote to the Ministry of Defence in 1999 inquiring about the incident after his grandfather disclosed details to his family.

According to the series of letters, written by the guard's grandson who is now a physicist from Leicester, a reconnaissance plane and its crew were returning from a mission over occupied Europe when they were involved in the war incident.

During their flight, on the English coast, possibly near Cumbria, their aircraft was approached by a metallic UFO which shadowed them.

사진#02

Photographs of the object, which the crew claimed had “hovered noiselessly” near the plane, were taken by the crew.

Later, during discussions about the unexplained incident, the two men were claimed to have become so concerned by the incident that Churchill ordered it remain secret for 50 years or more.

During the meeting, a weapons expert dismissed suggestions the object was a missile as the event was "totally beyond any imagined capabilities of the time".

Another person at the meeting raised the possibility of a UFO, at which point Churchill ordered the report to be classified for at least half a century and reviewed by the prime minister to stop “panic” spreading.

“There was a general inability for either side to match a plausible account to these observations, and this caused a high degree of concern,” wrote the scientist, whose details are redacted.

"Mr Churchill is reported to have made a declaration to the effect of the following: 'This event should be immediately classified since it would create mass panic among the general population and destroy one's belief in the Church'."

Apart from telling his daughter – the scientist’s mother – about the incident when she was nine, the bodyguard, who was “greatly affected by his experience”, only disclosed the details to his wife on his deathbed in 1973.

The scientist, also an expert in astronomy who said he developed software for use in "spacecraft thermal engineering", was told years later by his mother.

Stressing he was not a “crackpot”, he said he wanted to investigate the science behind the incident after his grandfather, who was bound by the Official Secrets Act, remained convinced that the object was secret technology being tested by a foreign power.

After investigating the claims, an MoD official said there was no evidence to support the claims as all “UFO files before 1967 were destroyed after five years” due to insufficient public interest. This was supported by a Cabinet Office official.

While there was documents supporting the events, historians last night believed it more than likely occurred.

They said that Churchill had a known interest with UFOs, even asking for a report in 1952 on “flying saucers” and what it “amounted to”.

Dr David Clarke, author of The UFO files and Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Sheffield Hallam University, said the “fascinating” files showed the level of concern about such “bizarre incidents” during the war.

“It does tie in with what we already know as you have to remember that this was also long before the phrase UFO was created,” he said.

“I suspect there is an element of truth to the statement.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/ufo/7926037/UFO-files-Winston-Churchill-feared-panic-over-Second-World-War-RAF-incident.html

Churchill 'Covered Up RAF UFO Encounter'

1:54pm UK, Thursday August 05, 2010

Lulu Sinclair, Sky News Online

Winston Churchill ordered a cover up of a reported close encounter between an RAF aircraft and a UFO during the Second World War because it would create "mass panic", accordingly to newly-released files.

The claim that the then Prime Minister ordered details of the unexplained incident over the East Coast be kept secret was made by a scientist who said his grandfather was one of Churchill's bodyguards.

The tale is told in newly declassified Ministry of Defence UFO files put online by the National Archives.

Allegations of the cover-up emerged when the man, from Leicester, wrote to the Government in 1999 trying to find out more about the incident.

He described how his grandfather, who served with the RAF in the war, was present when Churchill and US General Dwight Eisenhower discussed how to deal with the UFO encounter.

Churchill was curious about UFOs as far back as 1912

The man, who is not named in the files, said Churchill exclaimed: "This event should be immediately classified since it would create mass panic amongst the general population and destroy one's belief in the church."

The incident allegedly involved an RAF reconnaissance plane returning from a mission in France or Germany towards the end of the war.

"Although this story was told by the man to his wife who told the man's grandson, there may be a grain of truth in it," Dr David Clarke, author of the UFO files told Sky News Online, "because we know Churchill had an interest in UFOs."

The wartime leader was in fact the first person to answer a question on the subject in Parliament when, as First Lord of the Admiralty, he was quizzed about an unusual sighting off Sheerness.

"It was in 1912 and everyone was getting nervous about the Germans," said Dr Clarke.

"The question was about an unusual sighting off the coast and MPs wanted to know if it was a German zeppelin. The answer was 'Apparently not'. The mystery remains."

The traditional view of a UFO

Dr Clarke added that many people want to believe in UFOs and, even when the Government discloses what it knows about them, the chances are someone will be crying "conspiracy theory".

"We want to believe in them and that's why people remain fascinated," he continued.

"And, while undoubtedly, most strange sightings can be explained, there are still strange events that cannot be accounted for."

In the Second World War, for instance, pilots from all sides reported unusual sightings, telling of unaccountable flashes of light and being followed by strange airborne objects.

"The Americans used to refer to them as 'foo fighters'," he says, "I think after a famous cartoon character and from where, I imagine, the rock band took their name.

"The US pilots used to talk about objects that circled them around during their flights, with flashing lights and changes of direction that did not fit in with possible enemy patterns. The British and the Germans also reported such sightings.

"It's hard not to wonder if something's out there."

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Winston-Churchill-Ordered-Cover-Up-Of-UFO-Info-To-Avoid-Mass-Panic-Says-National-Archives/Article/201008115676989?f=rss