Case file · Disclosure & CE-5
Nick Pope
British civil servant (1965–2026) who ran the Ministry of Defence's 'UFO desk' from 1991 to 1994 and became a prominent commentator.
1991 CE · 51.50, -0.12 · status: account
The account
Pope worked at the MoD from 1985 to 2006, spending 1991–94 in Secretariat (Air Staff) 2a assessing sightings for defence significance. His 'Open Skies, Closed Minds' (1996) concluded that aliens might pose a threat, a view he later distanced himself from. He co-wrote a book on Rendlesham with John Burroughs and Jim Penniston and became a regular on 'Ancient Aliens'. He died in Tucson in April 2026.
The sceptical view
His later television work promoted ancient-astronaut ideas that mainstream archaeology rejects, and he himself backed away from his earlier alien-threat conclusion.
Connections in the atlas
- Haim Eshed's 'Galactic Federation' claims
- UK Ministry of Defence UFO files released
- Project Condign (UK)
- UK MoD 'UFO desk' & DI55 (closed 2009)
- Rendlesham Forest