The previously secret documents also reveal that flying saucers were spotted over Glasgow on Christmas Day 2008 and in the run-up to that year's Hogmanay celebrations.
Sightings across Scotland are contained in the latest files to be declassified, including one with an image
attached from Duns in the Scottish Borders
There were also reports of a spaceship that resembled a "giant Frisbee" in Annan, Dumfriesshire, the following July, and of "fiery red flame-like objects" which "hovered about then disappeared" in Hamilton that October.
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown was even drawn into the debate about the existence of UFOs, having been urged in writing to take a more active role on the issue.
The letter, written in 2008, and from a "Ufologist" warned that "inspiring the electorate & winning the hearts and minds of the public" on alien spacecraft would have to be done "in a professional manner & also handled subtly and it also shows that the ministry rejected an offer of a weapon that could "shoot down UFOs."
In a twist that will delight conspiracy theorists, the number of sightings trebled in the year the MoD closed its UFO hotline.
While in the years between 2000 and 2007 just 150 reports a year were received, by November 2009 that number had jumped to 520, alongside another 97 freedom of information requests about UFOs.
Despite the jump in numbers the MoD decided to close its UFO desk, warning it was draining vital manpower from more important "defence-related" work.
Notes accompanying the released documents point to a rational explanation for the rise in reports. It notes that around the same time there was a surge in popularity in the use of Chinese lanterns, which when spotted from far away can share many of the characteristics of so-called UFOs.
In fact one sighting, in Leith in 2009, contains the note that the person who reported the sighting states it could have been Chinese lanterns. - HERALD SCOTLAND.
Source: we-are-believe.blogspot.com