Nick Pope (journalist)

Personal life

Originally from England, he moved to the United States in 2012 and married American anthropologist Elizabeth Weiss.

Ministry of Defence

Pope worked as a civil servant for the Ministry of Defence from 1985 to 2006. From 1991 to 1994, he worked in Secretariat (Air Staff) Sec (AS) 2a more commonly known as the "UFO desk", where his duties included investigating reports of UFO sightings, to see if they had any defense significance.

At the time, while the Ministry of Defence stated that it "remains totally open-minded about the existence or otherwise of extraterrestrial lifeforms", it also stated that there was no evidence to suggest that any UFO sightings posed any threat to the UK or that they were extraterrestrial in origin. It is clear from material that Pope wrote whilst still at the MoD that he did not share the MoD's view that conventional explanations could be found for all UFO sightings.

Pope's final posting in the MoD was to the Directorate of Defence Security. In 2009, MoD announced that UFO sightings would no longer be investigated.

Media work

In November 2006, Pope stated that the government's "X-Files have been closed down".{{Citation | publication-date =9 November 2006

He has worked for a number of film companies and public relations agencies, promoting the release of science fiction films.

On 24 June 2013, he appeared on IGN's comedy show Up at Noon promoting the game The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.

In 2015, he appeared in multiple episodes of UFOs Declassified, airing on Canada's History Television, the UK's Yesterday, and Smithsonian Channel in the US. Since 2019, he has often appeared on the New York Post UFO YouTube series The Basement Office alongside journalist Steven Greenstreet.

Books

Open Skies, Closed Minds is Pope's autobiographical account of his interest in ufology. It provides an overview of the UFO phenomenon, with the emphasis on Pope's three-year employment as the Ministry of Defence desk officer where his responsibilities included investigating UFO sightings and any impact they might have on UK national defense. Pope concludes that an alien race is waging a secret war on humanity, a position he has come to distance himself from since the publication of the book.

In 1997, he released a second book on similar themes entitled The Uninvited. His book Encounter in Rendlesham Forest: The Inside Story of the World's Best-Documented UFO Incident, written with John Burroughs, USAF, Ret., and Jim Penniston, USAF, Ret., was published by Thomas Dunne Books in April 2014.

Pope has also written two science fiction novels, Operation Thunder Child and its sequel Operation Lightning Strike. In 2018, Pope published the political thriller Blood Brothers.

Tours

Starting in 2024, Pope joined his Ancient Aliens co-hosts Ancient Astronaut theorist Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, investigative mythologist William Henry, and Ancient Alien Artifacts author Jason Martell, in the Ancient Aliens LIVE US Tour, where he continues to advocate that extraterrestrials have visited Earth for thousands of years.

References

References

1. "Scholars denounce attempt to ban their archaeology book after being accused of racism against Native Americans (from Twitter)".
2. (2 July 2024). "Meet the real-life Fox Mulder: Nick Pope talks UFOs, cliches and busts myths". Freesat.
3. "Latest News". nickpope.net.
4. "Biography". nickpope.net.
5. (2011-03-22). "Ex-Ministry of Defence UFO hunter weds during UFO conference".
6. "BBC Sky At Night Magazine - Nick Pope".
7. "House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 18 Apr 2006 (pt 154)".
8. "Ministry of Defence policy statement on UFOs".
9. "Defence". nationalarchives.gov.uk.
10. "Ministry of Defence - Freedom of Information - Publication Scheme - Search Publication Scheme - How to report a UFO sighting". nationalarchives.gov.uk.
11. (4 December 2009). "MoD department that investigated UFO sightings 'closed'". The Telegraph.
12. Nick Pope. (4 December 2009). "How not to report a UFO". The Guardian.
13. Pope, Nick. (29 July 2008). "Unidentified flying threats". The New York Times.
14. (11 March 2011). "Battle: Los Angeles - Nick Pope answers Facebook fan questions". YouTube.
15. (24 June 2013). "Aliens Probably Exist - The Bureau: XCOM Declassified on Up at Noon - IGN Video". IGN.
16. (7 January 2015). "UFOs Declassified looks at hard evidence behind infamous sightings". thestar.com.
17. "The Basement Office - YouTube".
18. (11 October 2011). "The truth is out there... UFO expert Nick Pope talks about aliens". The Independent.
19. Garcia, Francisco. (15 September 2023). "It's boom times for the 'Real Fox Mulder'". Financial Times.
20. "Andrew Lownie Literary Agency :: Authors :: Nick Pope".
21. Pope, Nick. (2018-11-15). "Blood Brothers". Thistle Publishing.
22. Hoey, Peggy Spellman. (2024-10-01). "'Ancient Aliens LIVE' Tour Coming To Long Island".