U.S. pilot ordered to shoot down UFO (Reuters)

Created by : Francis Goodwin View profile

He was told to never talk about Cold War incident; files now are public

Oct. 20, 2008 LONDON (Reuters) -- Two U.S. fighter planes were scrambled and ordered to shoot down an unidentified flying object over the English countryside during the Cold War, according to secret files made public Monday.

One pilot said he was seconds away from firing 24 rockets at the object, which moved erratically and gave a radar reading like "a flying aircraft carrier."

The pilot, Milton Torres, now 77 and living in Miami, said it spent periods motionless in the sky before reaching estimated speeds of more than 7,600 mph.

After the alert, a shadowy figure told Torres he must never talk about the incident and he duly kept silent for more than 30 years.