French UFO Archive

This should be interesting. I wonder what the tin-foilers will be coming up with when this hits the internet. I'm sure we'll have a bunch more History Channel documentaries based on this.

The year 2007 has brought with it plans for a new surfing destination for Space fans. Reportedly, the French space agency has decided to publish its archive of UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) sightings and other phenomena online.

According to Jacques Arnould, an official at France's National Space Studies Centre (CNES), the agency had been collecting statements and documents on UFOs for almost 30 years. This database of around 1,600 incidents would go live in late January or mid-February.

A spokesperson for the French Space Agency said that the statements have been collected from people who claim to have sighted UFOs, or from airline pilots. However, names of people who've reported sightings will not be published so as to protect their privacy.

Arnould added that the tremendous advances in technology over the past three decades had prompted CNES' decision to put UFO sightings online.

Presently, the collection consists of around 6,000 reports, of which many are related to the same incident, filed by public and airline professionals.

These reports are always interesting for the things that can't be explained, but they also completely fail to be of interest for the vast majority of cases where the reports are simple to explain. But then again, I'm certain that my statement would be interpreted as being part of some vast conspiracy with the Venusians. (or some other flavor of little green men.)