Sightings of UFOs are being hushed up by the government using EU laws, a leading expert has claimed.

The public has previously been granted access to records held by the state, detailing reports of strange sights seen in the sky by civilian aircrews.

They are now finding that this access has been revoked, with the agency responsible for maintaining the files citing European legislation to block requests.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) receives numerous reports of unexplained sightings above Britain each year, according to The Sun.

It was previously the responsibility of the MOD's UFO desk to collect this information, but since its closure in 2009 it has fallen to the CAA.

As a government agency, the files collected by the CAA should be subject to Freedom of Information requests.

These transparency laws can be used by any member of the public who wishes to view files held by public institutions. 

But the CAA has reportedly refused to release any information about UFO sightings, known as 'occurrences' in bureaucratic language, citing European legislation from 2014.

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