LONDON — The European Court of Human Rights has cleared the way for the extradition to the United States of a British man who hacked into secret U.S. military computers.

The court refused Thursday to delay Gary McKinnon's extradition, which he says would violate his human rights.

U.S. prosecutors want to put McKinnon on trial for allegedly hacking into 97 computers belonging to NASA and several branches of the U.S. military from a bedroom in a north London home. He claims he was searching for UFOs.

The United States says he's caused nearly $1 million in damage.

His attacks shut down the U.S. army district responsible for protecting Washington, D.C., and cleared logs from computers at a base that tracks the location and battle-readiness of U.S. navy ships.