A government bureaucrat has boldly gone where no civil servant has gone before by replying to an official question in Klingon.
A Conservative politician submitted a request to the Labour-run Welsh Government asking about UFO sightings over Cardiff Airport, only to receive a written response in the made-up language.
Darren Millar, who represents Clwyd in the Welsh Assembly, asked about the number of alien spacecraft seen over the airport and demanded to know of any discussions that have taken place regarding UFOs with Britain’s Ministry of Defence.
He was told: “jang vIDa je due luq. ‘ach ghotvam’e’ QI’yaH-devolved qaS.”
Baffled by the response, Millar had to track down a translator. He eventually worked out that the reply said: “The minister will reply in due course. However this is a non-devolved matter [i.e. the matter is handled by the British government, not the Welsh Assembly].”
This is thought to be the first time Klingon has been used in any official government correspondence. Although the number of fluent Klingon speakers is said be somewhere well below 100, the Assembly does issue regular correspondence in Welsh – a language spoken by just 20 per cent of people in Wales.
Mr Millar was asking about UFOs on behalf of a constituent, and will receive a full response later this month – although what language it will be written in remains to be seen.
An Assembly source told Wales Online: “The only extra-terrestrial life seen near Cardiff recently seems to be Darren Millar.
“Perhaps instead of spending time and wasting Government resources asking questions about UFOs he should be fighting for the very real concerns of his constituents.”
But Mr Millar joked: “I’ve always suspected that Labour ministers came from another planet. This response confirms it.”