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Among many other shocking disclosures, a series of 8,500 documents released by the British National Archives have revealed that many Brits feared a devastating alien invasion back in 1967.

As Reuters is reporting, the 35 previously classified files -- available online -- mainly cover the period from 1997 to 2005. Included are photographs, sketches and detailed accounts of flying saucer sightings, along with correspondence between the U.K. Ministry of Defense and witnesses.

"It was a large cigar-shaped vehicle with big projectiles on each side like wings," one man details in a 1998 account. "It seemed to have two very bright lights at the front and a white light flashing round and round underneath. ... As you can imagine, I felt quite shaken."

As the Independent reports, the extra-terrestrial files are a testament to how the massive global phenomenon was discussed at the highest level of government and security services worldwide. Also among the more prominent revelations are messages from the British Government to the Prime Minister of Grenada to response to that nation's attempts to sponsor a debate on UFOs at the United Nations in 1977-78, CBS reports.

The documents also reportedly detail how the government began making official inquiries into UFOs starting in 1950, following a series of reported sightings. The Ministry of Defense even set up a secret working group called the "Flying Saucer Working Party" to monitor the sightings, though the organization remained secret until 1988 when correspondence between Winston Churchill and the Air Ministry was revealed.

Other materials, however, suggest that the UFO craze has receded as of late, with sightings having dropped from a peak of 609 in 1996-97 to a measly 130 per year between 2001 and 2006. British defense officials are also reported to have discredited claims made by author Philip Corso in the popular 1997 book The Day After Roswell, noting that the retired U.S. colonel was not a reliable source of information.

SOURCE HPAmong many other shocking disclosures, a series of 8,500 documents released by the... more

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The Forced Marriage Unit Q and A

We invited press and affiliates along to the screening of 'Forced Marriage... more

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Congressman asked: 'Who is going to shoot Obama?' mug.cnnpolitics By: CNN Political Unit

(CNN) - Rep. Paul Broun, the Georgia Republican who is among President Obama's... more

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Senate Dems Ding Boehner For Golfing Amid Shutdown Negotiations

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats took some shots at House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) Thursday for leaving town and playing a round of golf while congressional negotiators work to avoid a government shutdown.

Boehner was on a fund-raising trip to Florida during this week's congressional recess, and on Wednesday reportedly hit the links at "an undisclosed course in Sarasota." This prompted a bit of snark from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) Twitter handlers, who asked the Speaker for his score.

The Republican National Committee quickly noted that President Barack Obama was set to go to Florida in early March for a fundraiser with Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. That's a valid point, but as a Senate Democratic Leadership aide pointed out, in the run up to the last government shutdown in 1995, Boehner criticized then-President Bill Clinton for playing a round while Congress continued its work.

"Now is the time, not to play golf as the president did yesterday, now is the time to act. The president has talked about balancing the budget," Boehner said at the time. "But so far, the president has offered no leadership and the president has offered no plan."

Of course, as Boehner's office noted, the next move is Reid's, as "the House had done its job and passed legislation to fund the government for the remainder of the year." That response casts Boehner's trip more as a negotiating tactic than as a quick jaunt to sunny Florida. Then again, Obama's own golfing habits have served as frequent fodder for his conservative critics.

Lest someone question whether Boehner was even golfing in the first place, Jeremy Wallace, the Herald-Tribune's political writer who broke the piece, told The Huffington Post exactly how he got the story.

"I had three very good sources who backed it up," Wallace said, adding that the night before he had gone to the fundraiser Boehner attended looking for a comment. "He ignored me and walked past me and the some donor said, 'Don't worry, you can catch him on the golf course tomorrow.'"WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats took some shots at House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)... more

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Roger Ailes Allegedly Pressured Judith Regan To Lie To Federal Investigators, Lawsuit Said: NYT

A lawsuit alleged that Fox News CEO Roger Ailes pressured former publisher Judith... more

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Providence Officials Give Precautionary Layoff Notices To ALL The City's Teachers

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Indigenous Ecuadoran woman humbles US oil giant

RUMIPAMBA, Ecuador (AFP) – She has no legal training, and doesn't speak the... more

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Newt Gingrich Affair Questioned By College Student

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was confronted Tuesday night by a college... more

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Iowans Support Wisconsin Union Fight

"Our pockets are not your piggy bank," said one sign. "Union busting... more

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Wisconsin Voters On Union Side

WASHINGTON - New polling conducted for the AFL-CIO and shared with The Huffington Post shows Wisconsin voters siding with the state workers, unions and protestors by large majorities and expressing net disapproval of Republican Governor Scott Walker

The Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research conducted two surveys among likely voters in Wisconsin this past week, one fielded between Wednesday and Sunday last week (604 live interviews, margin of error +/- 4%) and the second fielded Saturday and Sunday (402 live interviews, margin of error +/- 5%).

Both surveys began with questions about Walker's performance as governor and more general popularity ratings of Walker, Senate Democrats and other players on both sides of the controversy. The results of the two surveys on these questions were within sampling error of each other: Walker's approval rating is now net negative, with the disapproval rating reaching or slightly exceeding 50%. Meanwhile, the favorable ratings of "Democrats in the State Legislature" are slightly better and net positive (47% favorable, 38% unfavorable on the Saturday-Sunday sample).

2011-02-22-Blumenthal-20110222afltable.png

The second survey proceeded next to questions focused more directly on the ongoing controversy. Respondents heard a list of people and groups involved in the controversy and were asked, for each one, if they agreed "with the positions they are taking in the current situation in the state capitol." The results presented in the following chart prepared by the pollsters show large majorities agreeing with "public employees" (67%), "protestors at the state capitol" (62%) and "unions" (59%) but far fewer agreeing with "Republicans in the Legislature" (48%) or Scott Walker (43% agree and 53% disagree).

2011-02-22-Blumenthal-20110222aflchartsmall.png

The first survey also included a "message testing" question that asked respondents to react to the following description of Walker's proposal:

As you may know, Governor Scott Walker recently announced a plan to limit most public employees' ability to negotiate their wages and benefits. The plan cuts pension and health care benefits for current public workers, and restricts new wage increases unless approved by a voter referendum. Contracts would be limited to one year, with wages frozen until a new contract is settled. In addition, Walker's plan also changes rules to require collective bargaining units to take annual votes to maintain certification as a union, stops employers from collecting union dues, and allows members of collective bargaining units to avoid paying dues. Law enforcement, fire employees and state troopers and inspectors would be exempt from the changes.

After hearing that description, 42% said they favor Walker's plan and 52% oppose it (24% say the favor it strongly, and 41% say they oppose it strongly).

Again, both surveys were sponsored by the AFL-CIO. As with any survey with partisan sponsorship, skepticism is in order. Data may have been released selectively, with less favorable results withheld. In the context of pre-election polling, partisan polls tend to skew in favor their sponsor by an average 3 percentage points and against their opponent by roughly the same amount.
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In this case, however, the ratings of Walker and his budget and collective bargaining proposal are roughly comparable to an automated survey conducted in Wisconsin last week by WeAskAmerica, a for-profit subsidiary of Illinois Manufacturer's Association (an organization that has endorsed Republican candidates for state office in Illinois).

Documents shared with The Huffington Post also show that the AFL-CIO surveys report a party identification breakdown of 47-46% Democrat or lean Democrat, 40% Republican or lean Republican. This week, Gallup reported party identification results for all 50 states based on all interviews conducted during 2010 and found a leaned party ID breakdown for adults in Wisconsin of 43.1% Democrat, 40.5% Republican.WASHINGTON - New polling conducted for the AFL-CIO and shared with The Huffington Post... more

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Tea Party Patriots Investigated: "They Use You and Abuse You"

Two years ago, Tea Party Patriots got its start as a scrappy, ground-up conservative... more

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Republican vs Republican

A conservative budget proposal that would have cut an additional $22 billion across... more

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Fox Called Out

Fox News anchor Chris Cotter and reporter Jeff Flock found the scene in Madison,... more

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