THE Ministry of Defence does not deny that there are strange things to see in the sky. But it certainly has no evidence that alien spacecraft have landed on this planet.' So the government doesn't believe in little green men and who are we to disbelieve an organisation with such an unblemished record in telling the truth?

Files detailing hundreds of sightings of unexplained objects in the skies above Britain have now been opened and while there is no evidence of alien existence, the information was considered sufficiently important for a form to be produced which is kept by police stations and airbases ready to record details of such reports.

But the Ministry of Defence was not investigating the possibility of visitors from outer space making a stop at Earth, but were more interested in checking that UFOs were not signs of earthly covert spying missions by other countries.

I grew up in a generation fascinated by space - whether it was the Cold War black and white films of the 50s and 60s or men landing on the moon - and I'm a great believer in the existence of alien life across the vast swathes of space.

In fact, that belief is probably fuelled by the sheer arrogance of our race believing we are the only intelligent life forms in the galaxies. (You only have to watch footage of last Wednes-day's Manchester rioting and a few episodes of Big Brother to understand my point).

Of course, the likelihood of them looking like us or any incarnation Hollywood has dreamed up is highly unlikely. Our basic evolution is likely to have been far surpassed by civilisations hundreds of thousands of years ahead of us.

But what if - and it's an if the same enormous size of the if that accompanies discussions on God and the afterlife - we are contacted by aliens in our lifetime?

And, more importantly, what if the first voice they hear says: "Thank you for calling. Now please listen to the following eight options..."