A story that most would probably call silly has more serious implications, the Strategic Events Editor for a UK paper writes.

"The story that senior US military personnel claim aliens have landed on British nuclear bases and tampered with the weapons is genuinely scary," Tom Chivers -- a self-confessed "science nerd" -- who writes for the Telegraph in a "bit-of-fun blog" about the "scary news of the day."

Not, I hasten to add, because there is even the smallest likelihood that they are correct. But because it means that serious people with access to even more serious weaponry have been seeing ET.

An article in the Telegraph by Andy Bloxham claims, "Aliens have landed, infiltrated British nuclear missile sites and deactivated the weapons, according to US military pilots."

The beings have repeated their efforts in the US and have been active since 1948, the men said, and accused the respective governments of trying to keep the information secret.

The unlikely claims were compiled by six former US airmen and another member of the military who interviewed or researched the evidence of 120 ex-military personnel. The information they have collected suggests that aliens could have landed on Earth as recently as seven years ago.

The men's aim is to press the two governments to recognise the long-standing extra-terrestrial visits as fact. They are to be presented on Monday 27 September at a meeting in Washington.

Capt. Robert Salas told the paper: "The US Air Force is lying about the national security implications of unidentified aerial objects at nuclear bases and we can prove it."

AOL News notes, "Salas, co-author of "Faded Giant" (BookSurge Publishing), was a first lieutenant in 1967, serving as a missile-launch officer while stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana."

So, why, after so many years of keeping quiet, are former military personnel coming forward to talk about their experiences, as Salas and his Air Force colleagues are doing on Monday? He says the people who will talk in Washington are "just the tip of the iceberg."

"I believe in the extraterrestrial hypothesis, and I think, in this instance, these objects were not constructed on planet Earth."

Telegraph editor Chivers writes, "Even if our nearest neighbour, Proxima Centauri, happened to have a thriving population of bug-eyed monsters who had developed technology that allowed them to travel at close to the speed of light, it would take them nearly five years to get here."

If, as seems more likely, the nearest civilisation is rather further away, we would be talking about a journey time of hundreds or thousands of years. Having reached Earth after such an odyssey, the idea that they would surreptitiously break into a nuclear base and defuse a few bombs – I’d like to think they scrawled a CND symbol on the silo walls while they did so – seems a little unambitious. It’s a step up, I suppose, from the usual claims by troubled rural Americans of alien abduction and sexual assault (or Mr Janus’s social climbing), but still, it’s hardly Ming the Merciless galactic-conquerer stuff.

To quote Sagan again, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the “evidence” here is profoundly ordinary. It is much more likely that seven ex-military men and one former Royal equerry are deluded than that hyper-advanced aliens have been visiting the planet for five decades without anyone noticing. It’s a shame; I, for one, would be far less alarmed by a sort of Greenham Common Alien Peace Movement than I currently am by the knowledge that men in command of the biggest nuclear arsenal in the history of the world believe we are being invaded from outer space.

At his Twitter account, Chivers tweets, "Amazingly, most of the comments on my blog come from people who *believe in UFOs*. http://bit.ly/bCV8MP I don't know why I'm still surprised."

A press release for Witness Testimony UFOs and Nuclear Weapons Bases states,

Former U.S. Air Force Captain Robert Salas and UFO researcher Robert Hastings are currently organizing a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. to address the vital issue of UFO incursions at U.S. nuclear weapons sites within the United States over the past six decades.

The purpose of the event is to focus worldwide media attention on the reality and importance of the situation.

To date, more than 100 former or retired U.S. Air Force personnel - once trusted to operate or guard weapons of mass destruction - have come forward and revealed ongoing UFO surveillance of, and occasional interference with, our nuclear weapons. This information alters the historical perspective on the nuclear arms race and much more.

The fact that the Pentagon and the CIA have kept the truth from the public for so long is in itself mind-boggling. At the press conference, scheduled for September 27th, 2010, seven ex-USAF personnel, including Mr. Salas, author of "Faded Giant", will discuss their nuke related UFO experiences. Mr. Hastings will briefly summarize his 37 years of research into the UFO-Nuke phenomenon, then introduce the witnesses. Mr. Salas will then offer concluding remarks. To finance this important event, Mr. Salas and Hastings are requesting donations to cover the participants travel expenses, hotel accommodations, and meals. This is a non-profit event. Your generous donation, no matter how large or small, will be considered an honor and a blessing, and is greatly appreciated. Donations can be made through www.ufohastings.com website.

The UFO Hastings Press Conference Page notes that "frequent flyer miles may be donated to the cause."

As noted above, the event's organizers need to fly a dozen former or retired US Air Forces personnel from their homes to Washington DC. If one can contribute 12,500 miles to this undertaking, we can secure a one-way ticket for one participant; 25,000 miles will yield a round-trip ticket for that person. Those wishing to contributer their miles should contact Mr. Salas at the email that was previously mentioned.