The idea of a government department dealing with UFOs has long gripped people's imaginations, most famously inspiring the film series 'Men in Black', about a shadowy secret organisation that deals with extra-terrestrial life.

But it turns out the UK's own version of Men in Black, was in fact simply a man in black, and his job was not as adventurous as many would think.

Released under the Freedom of Information Act, the government has revealed details of the Ministry of Defence's UFO Desk Officer post.

The role was discontinued in 2009, and the officer explained that the job was often a lot simper than one might think.

"The closest we have to the post of 'UFO Expert' is probably my own," he wrote, "but this has always been a generalist, non-technical post with the emphasis on correspondence with the public….whilst I have naturally built up some degree of knowledge of various UFO cases as part of my tenure in this post, I often find the best source of information is simply to Google the internet!”

Perhaps the truth is out there, but simply online.