Nasa Scientist Backs The Sun Study Of Britain X Files

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2828317/NASA-backs-The-Suns-X-Files.html#mySunComments#ixzz0dwtm6hUZA top scientist from the US labelled our bold bid to record alien activity in the UK as 'important'.Cash-strapped Ministry of Defence chiefs secretly axed the department that investigated UFOs last month.But now The Sun has picked up the baton as strange space sightings are close to an all time high.American Dr Christopher McKay - a NASA extra-terrestrial investigator - said: "It is important to keep a record of UFOs. I think it is only natural as a human to wander whether there is life outside of Earth."Unexplained"The public are really interested in the unexplained sightings so it is worthwhile to log them."Dr McKay - part of NASA's Space Science Division since 1982 - has spent his career looking for extra-terrestrial life.The planetary scientist was the co-leader of the Mars Phoenix Lander mission in 2008.The probe dug up chunks of ice on the Martian surface again fuelling hope that living organisms existed on the Red Planet.And he is busy planning a new mission to Mars in search of life.He said The Sun's bid to record the UFOs over the UK shared the same the goal he was striving for - to discover alien life forms.He added: "Tracking UFOs is the same as the interest that I have. My interest is from a scientific viewpoint but I am asking the same question."We are both asking the question - are there other life forms out there?"British Mars expert Professor Colin Pillinger CBE echoed NASA's Dr McKay.He applauded The Sun for reviving the MoD's UFO project after they shut it down on December 1 2009.Any sightings in Britain will now NOT be officially recorded because MoD chiefs branded the lb50,000-a-year department an "inappropriate use of defence resources".It came despite the near TRIPLING of alleged UFOs between 2008 and 2009 to 643.Prof Pillinger headed the Beagle 2 mission to Mars - which eventually ended in failure when the unmanned probe crashed on Christmas Day 2003.He said: "The Sun is right to keep the UFO files going."You have an army of readers who could flag up something extraordinary."Even if it is not alien life, it could be a meteorite which are of great value to the scientific community."The Sun is right to persist in reporting UFOs."Just because we do not understand something does not mean it is not true."Leading US professor Albert A Harrison, from the University of California, also backed our UFO files.Prof Harrison - who served with NASA - said: "The reason it is important to report UFOs is because it fascinates people who are interested in possible life in the universe and whether or not we are alone."Such surveys can be mined for helpful information and properly conducted research is valuable."The space watchers were in London for two days of talks at the Royal Society entitled "The Detection of Extra-terrestrial Life and the Consequences for Science and Society".The Sun re-launched the nation's X-Files last week.We [The Sun] will now release a rundown of your sightings, like the MoD used to.[Source: www.thesun.co.uk]