French Space Agency To Publish Ufo Archive Online

Given the success of films about visitations from outer space like "E.T.", "Close Encounters of The Third Kind" and "Independence Day", the CNES archive is likely to prove a hit.

It consists of around 6,000 reports, many relating to the same incident, filed by the public and airline professionals. Their names would not be published to protect their privacy, Anould said.

Advances in technology over the past three decades had prompted the decision to put the archive online, he said, adding it would likely be available via the CNES website www.cnes.fr.