Person
Nick Pope
Also known as Pope
- UK Ministry of Defence civil servant; ran the MoD's UFO desk (1991–1994)
Nick Pope is a former UK Ministry of Defence civil servant who ran the ministry's UFO desk in the Secretariat (Air Staff) from 1991 to 1994, investigating public and military reports for the British government. He has since become the best-known British official voice on the subject, through books, broadcasts, the 2007 National Press Club panel and the Rendlesham Forest panel of the 2013 Citizen Hearing.
Rendlesham is his central case. He says the MoD's Defence Intelligence Staff judged the radiation readings at the landing site "significantly higher than the average background", that the U.S. commander in Europe took material from the investigation to Ramstein without telling the British, and that his cold-case review found misidentification, hoax and delusion did not fit the facts. He quotes Lord Hill-Norton's challenge that the witnesses were either telling the truth or "hallucinating or lying". He is also measured. Some intelligence files from the period were destroyed, but he says he has seen no evidence of a deliberate cover-up.
He also championed the 1990 Calvine photograph, a print of which hung in his office until a superior removed it. The MoD's UFO project, which he says was modelled on Project Blue Book, closed in the 2009 defence cuts. Sceptics attribute Rendlesham to a fireball and the Orford Ness lighthouse, and Calvine possibly to a small model close to the camera.
Sources: Citizen Hearing on Disclosure (2013) · National Press Club (2007) · Calvine photograph record
Facts and claims
- claimed Pope, who handled UFO reports at the UK Ministry of Defence from 1991 to 1994, says his cold-case review of Rendlesham found that “none of these theories fitted the facts.” — Nick Pope Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 1 at 12:30
- claimed He says the MoD file shows USAFE commander Gen. Charles Gabriel took items from the Rendlesham investigation back to Ramstein without informing the British. — Nick Pope Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 1 at 8:15
- claimed He says the MoD's UFO project, modelled on Project Blue Book, was closed in the 2009 defence cuts. — Nick Pope Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 1 at 36:05
- claimed He says the MoD's Defence Intelligence Staff assessed the radiation readings at the Rendlesham landing site as “significantly higher than the average background”, about seven times the expected level. — Nick Pope Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 1 at 6:40
- claimed He says some Defence Intelligence Staff UFO files covering the period were destroyed, but that he knows of no evidence this was a deliberate cover-up. — Nick Pope Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 1 at 10:20
- claimed He quotes Lord Hill-Norton, former Chief of the Defence Staff, that either a landing took place as described, or the deputy commander of a nuclear-armed base and many of his men “were either hallucinating or lying.” — Nick Pope Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 1 at 11:35
- claimed He says that when a UFO was also tracked on radar, the MoD would “decouple” the two, calling radar “not an exact science” and treating it separately from the eyewitness testimony. — Nick Pope Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 1 at 33:55
- documented The MoD files released in 2011 hold papers on his decision, as a serving official, to publish Open Skies, Closed Minds; an MoD briefing suggests the book may have contributed to an increase in letters and sighting reports “from 373 in 1995 to 609 in 1996” (DEFE 24/2033, p. 35). Source: highlights-guide-09-08-11.pdf
Connected files
Books
- Encounter in Rendlesham Forest: The Inside Story of the World's Best-Documented UFO Incident (authored)
- Open Skies, Closed Minds: For the First Time a Government UFO Expert Speaks Out (authored)
- The Uninvited: An Exposé of the Alien Abduction Phenomenon (authored)
Claims
- The Calvine photographs of August 1990 show a large craft of unknown origin (asserts)
- The U.S. government has deliberately spread false or misleading information about UFOs (asserts)
- A craft of unknown origin landed in Rendlesham Forest, beside RAF Woodbridge, in December 1980 (asserts)
Documents
- Ministry of Defence UFO files: release of 11 August 2011 (34 files) (subject of) — DEFE 24/1958 and 2033: papers on his book
Events
- National Press Club panel on UFOs and aviation safety (testified in)
Incidents
- Calvine photograph (reported)
- Rendlesham Forest incident (reviewed) — His cold-case review at the MoD found that “none of these theories fitted the facts”
People
- Charles Halt (cited) — Pope says the 1983 FOIA release of Halt's memo forced the authorities to acknowledge an incident
Hearings & briefings
- Citizen Hearing on Disclosure (testified at)
Videos
- Citizen Hearing 2013: A Global Phenomenon, Part 1 (appears in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: A Global Phenomenon, Part 2 (appears in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 1 (appears in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 2 (appears in)
- Ross Coulthart investigates the UK's UFO files: Nick Pope on the Cosford incident (7NEWS Australia) (appears in)
- National Press Club - November 12th, 2007. UFO Close Encounters (appears in)
- Sightings: the 1993 UK triangle wave that changed Nick Pope's mind, with the Devon police witnesses (appears in)
Mentioned in videos
- Col. Philip J. Corso: The Day After Roswell lecture “at the Ranch” (22 February 1998)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: A Global Phenomenon, Part 2
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Rendlesham Forest Encounter, Part 1
- Ross Coulthart investigates the UK's UFO files: Nick Pope on the Cosford incident (7NEWS Australia)
- Sightings: the 1993 UK triangle wave that changed Nick Pope's mind, with the Devon police witnesses
Mentioned in documents and records
- Cosford incident: police and RAF sightings across western England and Wales
- Magenta crash (alleged, 1933)