Britain's Ministry of Defence has had a close encounter of the credit crunch kind.
After more than 50 years of service, the ministry has shut down its Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) investigation unit, saying it could no longer justify the cost of running the service.
The ministry said it had found no evidence of a threat to Britain or proof of the existence of extra-terrestrials, despite the public sending thousands of reportings of UFOs to a ministry hotline and e-mail address.
It said it held no opinion on the existence or otherwise of alien life, but added it had "no specific capability for identifying the nature of such sightings".
"There is no defence benefit in such investigation and it would be an inappropriate use of defence resources," it said.
Any threat to the country's air space would be spotted by radar checks and dealt with by Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft, a ministry spokesman said.
Resources would be focused on more important priorities, including the war in Afghanistan, where Britain has 9,000 troops fighting Taliban insurgents, as part of Nato forces, he added.
The dedicated UFO officer who dealt with the reports has been re-assigned to another post, saving £44,000 a year.
Reuters