Having meticulously gone through the MoD archives, profoundly significant new evidence has come to light, as regards the true facts behind Nick Pope's claims:
NICK POPE – THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE
It has been conspicuous for many years, that elemental evidence existed, which challenged Nick Pope's following claims:
“I’ve worked for the MOD for over fourteen years now, and three of those were spent researching and investigating UFO sightings, alien abductions, crop circles, animal mutilations and any other weird and wonderful reports that came my way”.
Source: ‘Nick Pope’s Weird World’, July 1999 newsletter.
It is an assertion which is still maintained, in the biography on his website:
“Nick Pope ran the British Government’s UFO project. From 1991 to 1994 he researched and investigated UFOs, alien abductions, crop circles and other strange phenomena, leading the media to call him the real Fox Mulder".
www.nickpope.net/wpte19/biography/
In truth, there was no “UFO project’ and the Ministry of Defence has never investigated a report of ‘alien abductions', ‘crop circles’ or ‘animal mutilations’, the very notion being ludicrous.
Additionally, a somewhat fundamental omission from Nick Pope, is that his tenure at the ‘UFO desk’ was a minor, part-time role, which essentially involved dealing with correspondence from the public.
On 29 September, 1999, the Ministry of Defence responded to my related enquiries:
“You asked various questions about the role of Mr Pope when he worked in Sec(AS)2.
Mr Pope was employed as an Executive Officer in Secretariat (Air Staff) 2. His post was designated Sec(AS)2a. The main duties of the post concern non-operational RAF activities overseas and diplomatic clearance policy for military flights abroad.
A small percentage of time is spent dealing with reports from the public about alleged "UFO sightings and associated public correspondence.
The Ministry of Defence has not investigated a case of alien abduction, crop circle formations or animal mutilation”.
www.jceaston.com/MoD_Pope.jpg
Validating that his ‘UFO’ related assignment was a secondary task, is correspondence from Nick Pope himself, in a letter dated 10 May, 1994 to UFO researcher and author, Nick Redfern:
“There is no specific "UFO budget", excepting the staff costs, i.e. around 20% of my salary, together with a tiny percentage of some other salaries, reflecting my line management's supervisory role”.
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So how much time was actually spent at the ‘UFO desk’?
Over to Nick Pope, who can give us the factual answer. Amongst the UFO related files released by the Ministry of Defence and held in the National Archives, is a two page internal memo, in which he confirms:
"Between 5-10% of my time is spent dealing with enquiries about UFOs".
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That would average out at 7.5%, or in other words, over 90% of Nick Pope’s assignment to Secretariat (Air Force) 2a, had zero connection whatsoever, precisely as the Ministry of Defence had set out, in their letter to myself and have repeated elsewhere, when the same enquiry has been made to them.
In an associated letter of response, sent by the Ministry on 10 December, 1997, they also reiterated:
"Turning specifically to your comments concerning Mr Pope, I should point out that he was a junior desk officer... and not in charge of, or the head of any part of Secretariat (Air Staff) 2".
www.jceaston.com/MoD_Pope_02.jpg
Furthermore and categorically cementing these facts, is one of the earliest interviews given by Nick Pope, to 'UFO Magazine' (UK) on 5 May, 1996:
UFO Magazine: One gets the impression that the MoD consider the UFO phenomenon totally irrelevant?
Nick Pope: That's correct.
There is not some great mysterious organisation which is actually getting on with the bread and butter of investigation, whilst I sent out standard letters".
Nick Pope has self-elevated himself to running the British Government’s “UFO project”, even drawing comparisons of his importance, to the substantive United States ‘Project Blue Book’ undertaking, from March 1952 until its termination on 17 December, 1969:
“Between 1991 and 1994, I was posted to a division called Secretariat (Air Staff) and was given the job of researching and investigating the UFO phenomenon, mirroring the work done in the US by the now defunct Project Blue Book”
It’s all a far cry from the true perspective and context.
When he has responded to the challenging evidence published, Nick Pope deflects from the central question of his rather more mundane, part-time desk duties, by implying it is being questioned that he did have a position dealing with UFO related matters, often pointing to an extract from Hansard, an edited verbatim record of what was said in Parliament:
18 Apr, 2006:
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what capacity Mr. Nick Pope was employed by his Department between 1991 and 1994. [63392]
Mr. Touhig: From 1991 to 1994 Mr. Pope worked as a civil servant within Secretariat (air staff). He undertook a wide range of secretariat tasks relating to central policy, political and parliamentary aspects of non-operational RAF activity.
Part of his duties related to the investigation of unidentified aerial phenomena reported to the Department to see if they had any defence significance.
The key word here is part, which, in his own words was “between 5-10%” and that is the critical aspect which Pope does not disclose, instead maintaining the public persona of someone who engaged on overseeing a high-level, UFO, alien abductions and crop circle investigative project, on behalf of the British government.
Likewise, we can observe from the copious, available material, that his references to having briefed ministers, turns out to be a rare instance and generally, little more than suggesting how best to answer questions on the subject in Parliament or from the media, or whatever invitations to participate in public discussions, should be accepted.
Although the Ministry of Defence archives show a few occasions where Nick Pope was required to look further into a new UFO report, these were few and far between. The National Archives files evidence that his investigative remit, primarily consisted of replying to correspondence from the public.
Indeed, Nick Pope explained this, himself.
In a standard letter of response, dated 4 November, 1992 and midway through his tenure, Nick Pope wrote:
"Although the Ministry of Defence does receive and co-ordinate reports of UFO sightings, our only concern is to establish whether or not they pose a threat to the security of the United Kingdom. Unless we judge that they do - and this has not been the case so far - we do not attempt to investigate further, or to identify whatever might have been seen.
Given this limited Involvement with the subject, the Ministry of Defence has no department which is appointed solely for the purpose of studying UPO reports, nor are there any staff employed on the subject full time. The reports we receive, which are usually limited to very brief details of what was seen, are passed to staff in departments concerned with the air defence of the United Kingdom, who examine then as part of their normal duties.
Since our interest In UFOs is limited to possible defence implications, we do not carry out studies into the UFO phenomenon, nor do we have the resources to undertake any in-depth investigations. Defence funds are fully committed to maintaining the security of the UK and meeting our responsibilities to allies and dependents. This being so, we could not justify the use of defence funds on scientific investigations, unless a threat to the security of the UK had been identified.
(...)
Despite some of the stories that are sometimes told, there is no question of our attempting to cover up any Incidents or keep any information about UFOs from the public.
(...)
I would also suggest that you get in touch with some of the civilian organisations currently engaged in study of the UPO phenomenon, who will doubtless be keen to help, and put forward their own opinions. I also suspect that the more exotic close encounter UFU reports are generally made to such groups, rather than to us; we get very fav such reports. I suggest the following societies:
British UFO Research Association Section
(....)
The MOD is not involved in any research or investigation into the crop circle phenomenon...".
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Fast forward a year and towards the end of his tenure, a letter dated 6 December, 1993, is essentially a carbon copy of his 1992 correspondence, illustrating that nothing has changed in between.
www.jceaston.com/MoD_Pope_06.jpg
If the Ministry did not investigate crop circles, then what about alien abductions?
Once more, in a letter dated 27 July, 1992, Nick Pope provides us with the answer:
"My view is that any reports of alien entities or abductions are, for whatever reasons, made almost exclusively to UFO organisations father than to us.
Needless to say, if I receive any such reports, I would encourage people to get in touch with BUFORA, Quest International and Contact International".
www.jceaston.com/MoD_Pope_07.jpg
Nick Pope will also cite features in mainstream media, such as the New York Times and the BBC, as supportive verification, which acknowledges he was responsible for overseeing the British Government's mythical "UFO project".
In reality, not one is anything other than an acceptance of his narrative.
Therein lies the foundation; a paucity of basic fact checking.
In an article published by the ‘Independent’ newspaper on 2 June, 1996, we read:
“Pope was assigned in 1991 to the UFO desk - a post neither he nor most of his colleagues even knew existed.
Superficially, Pope's life remained unchanged. As before, each morning he filed with thousands of other government bureaucrats into the vast, expressionless MoD building. Hurrying down its labyrinthine corridors Pope would be seated at his desk by 9am. But from one minute past nine through to 5pm, he found himself in what amounted to a parallel universe.
"People came straight through to me on my direct line, so my phone could ring and it could be a member of the public on the other end saying 'I saw a UFO last night.' Indeed that happened on a daily basis," Pope explains. "There was a regular stable of 'interesting' characters who would phone up often, I got to know them all," he says with a reserved smile”.
Prima facie, this promotes the impression of a full-time job.
The article continues:
“But Pope found that the more diligently he investigated unexplained sightings, the more uncomfortable his bosses within the MoD became. "I was never actively blocked by my superiors," he writes in his book "but there were times when things were made difficult for me; times when I was quite deliberately given one-off tasks to divert me from a UFO case”.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/now-i-m-a-believer-1335264.html
What tasks might those have been?
Would not perchance have anything to do with the tasks, which statedly accounted for over 90% of his time?
Perhaps, back in 1996, one simple question, “were there any other duties and how much of your time did they take up’, might have uncovered the true scenario.
Then again, Nick Pope does not exactly have a history of addressing this intrinsic question.
Moreso, when cornered, Nick Pope resorts to venomous diatribe, such as this example from his Twitter account:
"There are various forged, doctored and out-of-context (it's been MoD policy to play down our UFO work for decades) letters about me being circulated in the blogosphere - mainly by 2 of the most dishonest nutjobs in the UFO community! - but my investigative role in relation to UFOs is confirmed on the official website of UK Parliament....".
Together with Nick Pope’s claims to having investigated crop circles and alien abductions on behalf of his employers, allegations of bogus documents is also demonstrably untrue - there are copies in the National Archives and he knows it.
Again, Nick Pope hides the pivotal challenge, this time behind a masquerade of subterfuge.
To falsely accuse researchers who are exposing the truth as being dishonest is reprehensible and under the circumstances, hypocrisy personified.
Behind the façade of a smooth talking, ostensibly trustworthy individual, lies something infinitely less charming.
The world of 'UFOs' often comprises 'smoke and mirrors'. It also, regrettably, has a long history of fraudsters and charlatans galore.
If a pursuit of a truthful 'disclosure' is championed, then perhaps expectations should begin closer to home.
Good people who earnestly wish to understand the true facts behind UFOs, are being deceived and lamentably, sometimes the sound of a chequebook rustling, is all that takes.
As of 6 June, 2023 ‘The Guardian’ newspaper have printed an article which incorporates, “Nick Pope, who spent the early 1990s investigating UFOs for the British Ministry of Defence (Mod)...”.
Many ufologists within the U.K. have taken issue with both Nick Pope’s exaggerations and downright blatant untruths and many resultantly castigated as “dishonest”.
This endeavour is solely with the intention of evidencing the true, elemental facts, more often than not, in Nick Pope’s own words.
Supporting material, constantly being added to, can be found on the bew Facebook group ‘Nick Pope MoD – The Facts’:
https://m.facebook.com/groups/1263302827654306/?ref=share