A UFO was reported to have landed in a Derby garden in 1996, according to newly released Ministry of Defence files.

And in 1997, a mysterious "sonic boom" was heard over Hope Valley in the Peak District.

Today, the National Archives has released 18 x-files, charting all UFOs reported in the UK from 1995 to 2003, including strange phenomena in Derbyshire.

One of the reports from a Derby resident says they saw a "craft with a red light on top of it" in their back garden in Brook Street.

The person reported standing 6ft away from the craft, which was hovering 3m off the ground.

The report, from January 1996, says the 8ft by 8ft craft "appeared black, its wings were swept back and it had three lights on the underside of the jet".

In July 1995, a driver travelling through Derbyshire from Burton-on-Trent saw a "a strange formation of lights in the sky".

The row of bright lights had a second row of smaller lights underneath and a red light between the two rows.

The person reporting the incident said: "The whole formation appeared to be about four or five times as large as an average passenger airliner.

"It hovered for around four minutes before disappearing at high speed."

The MoD never investigated either incident.

David Clarke, consultant for the archives, said the ministry had paid most attention to UFO reports during the Cold War when it was worried about Russian aircraft entering British airspace.

But since the late 1950s and early 1960s, it has investigated a rapidly decreasing number of reported incidents.

In November last year, it stopped dealing with reports entirely in a bid to save cash.

It has never had to keep records but did so in the interest of national defence.

Mr Clarke said: "Ninety-nine per cent of reports over the years were just filed away and not looked at again."

Among other reports was one from a Matlock resident in August 1996 who reported "two bright lights travelling at great speed" over the south east of the town.

The lights reportedly performed unusual manoeuvring patterns before disappearing.

In March 1997, several people reported hearing a "sonic boom" over the High Peak, but the MoD said neither a military or a civilian aircraft had caused the noise.