Brits Shoot at UFOs, Ex-official Says

LONDON -- A former official with the British Ministry of Defense said military pilots in the country have been shooting at UFOs since the 1980s.

Nick Pope, former head of the Ministry of Defense's UFO project, said UFOs have been fired upon but none have been brought down or captured by the Royal Air Force, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

"There was a faction in the MoD who said 'We want to shoot down a UFO and that will resolve the issue one way or another,'" Pope said. "We know of cases where the order has been given to shoot down -- with little effect to the UFO."

Pope said pilots only fired upon UFOs in cases where the objects appeared threatening.

"In the case of UFOs, whether the object is causing a threat is very much a pilot's judgment call. The public won't know unless it comes down in a heavily populated area," he said.