My name's Nick Pope and I used to run the British Government's UFO project, Ask Me Anything

reply to post by Mogget


In relation to the 'missing' Calvine photo, the craft was battleship gray and there were no discernible features such as wings, fuselage, lights, windows, markings, etc. That's why we were so interested in trying to find out more about what we strongly suspected was an unconventional propulsion system. Incidentally, all the images of this on the internet are either photocopies of a line drawing, or artists' impressions based on my media interviews about this and on the declassified MoD documents.

I can't recall if I said so, but I suspect the reason the newspaper has no trace of this is that someone in MoD conned the journalist into handing over not just the photos but the negatives too, on the basis that this would enable us to conduct a better analysis of the images. True, in a sense, but I suspect it was a useful way to ensure that the paper was left with nothing. Again, many of the details of this story are available in this article:

www.nickpope.net...

reply to post by torsion


In relation to the investigative methodology, like most things about the MoD's UFO project, e.g. the terms of reference, it was closely modelled on Project Blue Book - although the USAF's program was better resourced than ours, as you'd probably expect. Firstly, you interview the witness to obtain as much information as possible about the sighting: date, time and location, description of the object, its speed, its height, etc. Then you attempt to correlate the sighting with known aerial activity such as civil flights, military exercises or weather balloon launches. We could check with the Royal Greenwich Observatory to see if astronomical phenomena such as meteors or fireballs might explain what was seen. We could check to see whether any UFOs seen visually had been tracked on radar. If we had a photograph or video, we could get various MoD specialists to enhance and analyze the imagery. We could also liaise with staff at the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System at RAF Fylingdales, where they have space-tracking radar. Finally, on various scientific and technical issues, we could liaise with the Defense Intelligence Staff, though this is an area that I can't discuss in any great detail.

Good day, Mr. Pope...

Along with many others, I've been following your erudite and intriguing commentary for years prior to your much-appreciated appearance here on ATS.

My only question:

Considering the potential corollary to what some consider a foregone conclusion regarding the origin of UFOs and the whole ET/EBE enigma, and in light of your own atheist, perhaps more accurately "agnostic" perspective, would you comment on the future direction of humanity should NO extraterrestrial source be positively identified for these myriad phenomenon? Id est, what if we are alone? What would YOUR hypothesis then be regarding the origin of the many cases you've spoken about, read about, and, indeed, investigated yourself?

Thank you very much for your time, Sir.

reply to post by StarBoy


I'm not sure that anyone is using alien technology, but your point about the private sector is an interesting one. I've already pointed out that moving a program into the private sector takes much of the information outside the scope of FOI, and makes Congressional scrutiny/oversight more tricky. But more generally, the business community has been slow to engage on this issue, when the potential opportunities are vast. Even if you set aside the idea of encountering other civilizations, the potential benefits of discovering microbial life on, say, Mars or Europa, are vast. Biotechnology (including bioweaponary) is the obvious example. This is not generally what people in the UFO community want to hear, but it's an inescapable reality. I touched on some of these issues in a presentation to various politicians and business leaders at the Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh in 2011:

www.youtube.com...

reply to post by TruthxIsxInxThexMist


I'm not a believer in the 'aliens among us' theory (then again, with some of my former work colleagues in mind, I'm not so sure), though if there were some sort of 'exchange program', I'd volunteer, as the separation allowance would doubtless be huge! :-)

reply to post by nerbot


I was never called in and ordered to keep silent about anything, though in a sense, for any MoD employee, it was drummed into us from day one that nothing was to be discussed outside the Department, and that even with colleagues, access to information was determined by your security clearance and your need to know.

On our walls we had a map of the world and - as many people know - a blown-up copy of the 'Calvine UFO' photo, which has subsequently disappeared. Pretty much everything else was locked away, but we had a stash of UFO photos, videos, books, magazines, documents, etc. In addition to the UFO files, of course.

Hello again, Mr. Pope! I know you're buried so I just wanted to try to squeeze this question in one more time. It was buried back on page 15. No pressure if you cannot get to it. I know you're swamped and the AMA only gives you so much time.



Can you give us some specific examples of 'unofficial chatter' in your professional circle concerning aliens/crafts? Personal hypotheses from your colleagues of what they believe is going on that may be off the record speculation? Preferably concerning any alleged aliens themselves who may be piloting the crafts. What was the water cooler gossip, in other words, of the intentions of the supposed 'visitors.'

It would be interesting to hear their educated guesses since they were privy to more information than we would be and our off-the-cuff theories. Or did they not think they were aliens at all?



I totally understand if you can't get to the above. Your time spent in this thread is greatly appreciated and this has been one fascinating ride.

Nice work man, I used to read your all books and follow you always.
So, How is your UFO project going?Whats your dream craft?

Cheers for Mr Pope ! !

Originally posted by reject
reply to post by NickPope

 

are you still under orders to protect any information about real extraterrestrials?

I take it the silence is sort of like taking the 5th.

Thanks.

I noticed you are just about caught up with the thread. I wondered back aways what the most haunting thing about the Rendlesham Forest Incident was, for you?

Nick, given he current state of methodology and notwithstanding an innate statistical bias towards the status quo that seems inherent in such organisations as the MOD. Plus, taking into account the vast distances involved in stellar travel and the, seemingly insurmountable problems of mass and nearing light speed. Also factoring in the seeming paradox that, we have as yet, not managed to definitely pick up and identify, anything that seems to have all the relevant data to be a coherent message from outer space....

Would you like a teacake?

Hello, Sir.

Do you have any insights into the sheep mutilations across Shropshire in 2010?

Many thanks.

I guess my biggest wonder is, have you read John E. Mack's two books on the subject of abductions? Hearing people like David Icke and Bob Lazar talk about it was one thing, but for me, hearing Mack (a professor of Psychiatry at Harvard, before his extremely suspicious and untimely death) write extensively about it after doing hundreds of hours of research directly with 'experiencers' and concluding that these people are patently 'not insane' was quite another.

Also, feel free to check out some music I have made on this subject:




Thank you!

Hi Nick,

I don't have a question for you that hasn't already been answered, but I just wanted to thank you for your valuable work. It's always interesting to hear what you have to say on this fascinating subject.

Hi Nick, I took the time to read through every page and the question i was going to post has been answered.Thank you for taking the time to come on here and answer questions. I appreciate your stance on the topic as neither a skeptic or believer and i most certainly will be picking up your book on Rendalsham forest as this is one of the cases that has most fascinated me. Thanks again

Nick,

Unless I missed it, I did not see a response on this subject (post below) yet the question has many stars and was posted on page 5 of this rather large thread... currently 27 pages and counting, so there must be more than myself that would like to hear your opinion on this subject.

I realize your time must be limited and Appreciate that fact, but I'm not sure what would have been best here... fewer questions with more insight or what must seem an endless avalanche of questions....

Springer... I wonder if a Q&A thread might have been better allowing people to post their questions before hand and then forwarded to the person whom then picks 10 say to really answer in detail..

I hope the quality of invitees to the future Q & A threads are as experienced as clearly Nick Pope is, but just feel a little deflated at the (forgive me for this Nick) almost superficial answers...

I think a little less quantity and a lot more substance is needed to make the thread really something....

I maybe in trouble for saying so but it's truly what I think having read the entire thread as it stands.

With Respect,

Korg.

Originally posted by Korg Trinity
Dear Nick.

I would like to ask you what your thoughts are on Gary McKinnon the British Hacker whom hacked in to Nasa...

For those that don't know here is an interview with him.

Within this interview what I think I find shocking was that the security was so lax... But my Question to Mr. Pope...

Do you think that Gary McKinnon really found something or is he just sensationalizing his story for public opinion?

Many thanks for your time with us here btw!

Korg.

edit on 26-8-2013 by Korg Trinity because: to fix you tube link and spelling

hello, sorry if i´m repeating my question.

i would like to know what you think about the "baltic anomaly" found by swedish wreck-hunters in 2011

it was recently confirmed that the Swedish navy is interested in the object.

reply to post by NickPope


Hello Mr. Pope.

I'm late to the party as usual. I would just like to say before I ask my question that I enjoyed you on ATS Live and I also am enjoying your replies to the question being posted here.

Nick, has the MoD ever had to scramble or muster any fighter jets or military craft over a "UFO" sighting? For example it was in a "no fly zone" or it seemed to be a threat of some kind?

(Like the Tehran incident back in the 1970s)

Thanks in advance!

-SAP-

reply to post by Joneselius



What you describe, to me, sounds like something that maybe isn't a physical ship, as protrayed in scify, but sounds more like some kind of living entity, or more specifically a plasma life form, possibly trying to imitate a physical ship.

In this link provided by The Gut

www.disclosureproject.org...

There seems to be some recognition of a fair amount of Plasma type phenomenon. For whatever reason, mainstream science seems to continue to dance around the importance of the plasma state, nor does there seem to be any serious effort to study what, to all observations, is the primary state of matter in our world.

It even makes more sense, that if interstellar travel is possible, it would be in plasma designed craft, rather than some exotic form of metal.

I had hoped to hear more about what is known in this area of UFO research.

I keep hoping Nick could give more insight into the issue.

reply to post by Outrageo


If we're not being visited, it means that all UFO sightings and abduction/contactee accounts are either misidentifications/misinterpretations, hoaxes or delusions. Of course, some of the misidentifications could involve some as yet unknown (but not extraterrestrial) phenomenon.

As to the wider implications/future direction of humanity if we are truly alone in the Universe, that's an extremely interesting question. I suspect it would be rather depressing in a sense, but would focus our attention on a profound question: how is Earth unique in the cosmos, if life arose only here?