In reality it depends who you ask. For some, he is someone who was in the right place at the right time to exploit information that was slowly being declassified. For some, he is the living embodiment of Fox Mulder and someone who knows “the truth”. For others, he is still a government shill messing with UFOlogy’s head.
The trouble with Nick Pope is that he has done a really good job of presenting himself in a certain image while the reality is somewhat different… Nick has portrayed himself, or rather hasn’t corrected anyone who has called him the MoD’s “UFO Expert”or running the MoD’s “UFO Project”. In reality, Nick’s role was rather more of an administrative role. As the MoDs own UFO files declared:
“Turning specifically to your comments concerning Mr Pope, I should point out that he was a junior desk officer in the Secretariat(Air Staff)2a section from 1991-1994 and was not in charge of, or the head of any part of Secretariat (Air Staff)2. Mr Pope was an executive officer and shared the support of one administrative officer. Although Sec(AS)2a was, and still is, the focal point for handling queries directed at the MOD in connection with “unexplained” aerial sightings, during Mr Pope’s time such work represented a small part of his overall duties. There were no staff working on this subject on a full-time basis and this remains the case.”
– Released File DEFE24/2000 page 43.
That hardly sounds like a UFO Expert. That doesn’t sound like heading the “UFO Project”. In fact, Pope’s sucessor in the role, Linda Unwin also stated, “The first point to make is that there is no ‘UFO Project’. Handling of UFO sightings is a very small element of our work.” And on the question whether the MoD is interested in UFOs, Linda claims “I’ll let you into a little secret… generally, we’re not! The policy is quite simple: we only look at these reports to establish whether there might be anything of defence significance, such as an unauthorised or hostile aircraft in UK airspace.”
Of course, Nick wasn’t the only person to be the MoDs “UFO Expert” heading the “UFO Project”. In fact others have held the same role, as detailed in a Parliamentary response to Norman Baker, MP:
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 18 April 2006 to Question 63392, on Mr Nick Pope, if he will list the persons employed since 1994 to investigate unidentified aerial phenomena. [65363]
26 Apr 2006 : Column 1108W
Mr. Touhig: Mr Pope was succeeded in post in July 1994 by Miss Kerry Philpott who filled the post until October 1998. This post was vacant for a period and the task of examining reports of unidentified aerial phenomena to establish whether they contained anything of defence significance was covered by a member of support staff, Miss Gaynor South, until the post was filled by Mr Adrian Nash in January 1999. Mr Nash left the post in October 1999 and these duties were again covered by Miss South until the present incumbent of the post, Mrs Linda Unwin, took up office in February 2000.
(The original webpage for this Parliamentary question can be found here)
Very few of the UFO reports contained in the files that were released by the MoD were actually investigated by the MoD. The Rendlesham Forest Incident was a very cold case by the time Nick was in-post at the MoD, but that doesn’t stop Nick pontificating on the subject. Whilst I have no-doubt Nick has read the files that have been released, does that make him any more of an expert than anyone else who has read those files? What Nick knows is in the public domain, and if Nick DID know anything else, his security oath will prevent him from discussing what he did know (if anything). Due to the compartmentalisation within UFO and Intelligence circles, I doubt Nick saw anything other than what has been released to the public.
Nick was not a UFO expert for the MoD. I believe Nick was a desk jockey who portrayed the Fox Molder fantasy for the benefit of the media and the gullible. He was part of the team that helped ridicule and block enquiries into UFOs. This was the man who tried to stop the Air Force and Navy from taking photos of crop circles (released file DEFE24/1955 p.24). This is the man who claims to encourage the release of information about UFOs yet wrote to the MoD to suppress any information regarding his involvement with UFOs as the following link documents http://drdavidclarke.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/open-skies-closed-files.html
[To Be Continued]
Nick Pope Watch 