Flying Toblerones, mysterious illnesses and silky-white substances left on trees in Birmingham are among hundreds of close encounters described in previously top-secret files released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

More than 6,000 pages of material spanning from 1994 to 2000 holds hundreds of other-worldly experiences with unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and apparent aliens across Britain.

Aircraft of all shapes and sizes have been witnessed flying over a wide range of locations - including Chelsea Football Club and the former Home Secretary Michael Howard’s home in Kent.

But one of the most bizarre was reported in Kingstanding at 4am on March 18, 1997 when a man claimed to have discovered an illuminated blue triangle hovering over his garden.

The craft, which he said was 200ft long, shot off leaving behind a “silky-white” substance on the tree-tops, which he collected in a jam-jar.

The man, who has not been named, claimed the object hovered, causing dogs to bark before disappearing.

Other strange West Midland sightings include a triangular object over Oldbury in 1980, a cigar-shaped UFO over Smethwick in the 1960s and two suspected UFOs over Cape Hill, Smethwick, back in 1904.

In another incident a man told police he was physically sick and developed a “skin condition” after an eerie “tube of light” enveloped his car in Ebbw Vale, in Wales, at 10.40pm on January 27, 1997.

The man, who worked at a funeral directors’, was sent to the doctor after his alleged brush with the unknown.

They are just two of hundreds of bizarre reports received by the police, military and Government, suggesting that the truth might be out there after all.

This fifth instalment released under a three-year project between the MoD and The National Archives consists of 24 files of sightings, letters and Parliamentary Questions.