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Hale-Bopp comet caused record UFO sightings

The appearance of the Hale-Bopp comet is credited with causing record UFO sightings in 1996 and 1997.

Hale-Bopp comet caused record UFO sightings
Hale-Bopp streaks over Mount Fuji, Japan Credit: Photo: AP

From 1996 to 2000 the MoD received 1666 eye-witness accounts of extraterrestrial activity, with 609 recorded in 1996 and 425 the following year.

Experts credit the comet with reviving interest in the night sky while the prevalence of science-fiction television shows made people more inclined to look for evidence of aliens.

David Clarke, consultant on the UFO files for the National Archives, said: "People see what they want to see. The Hale-Bopp comet which was visible in 1997 encouraged people to look up into the sky."

Hale-Bopp was discovered in July 1995 and became visible to the naked eye in May 1996. It was dubbed the Great Comet of 1997 reaching peak brightness in March that year.

The comet's prominence also coincided with the popular science fiction television programme The X Files and the film Independence Day, about aliens that attack the earth, which was released in 1996.