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

Hi

I've always found the fact that there were only a few copies made of the Calvine UFO a little suspicious. As far as I know all originals and copies, including your enlarged poster went missing and/or were destroyed. All I know is that if i came across an image as astonishing as it was claimed to be i would have made countless hard and soft copies of it.

Can you give some insight into why all the images were lost?

reply to post by NickPope

YouTube (and the internet more generally) has both helped and hindered ufology. On the plus side, it's now much easier to share information, so we have more data, especially in terms of photos and videos. On the other hand, this has encouraged faking. While governments and other specialists generally have expertise and resources (e.g. in terms of imagery analysis) to spot fakes, the majority of the media and the public don't.

I thank you so graciously for your reply and look forward to seeing your answers to other questions.

I also want to say it is a pleasure having you on ATS.

Originally posted by NickPope
reply to post by tsurfer2000h

 

YouTube (and the internet more generally) has both helped and hindered ufology. On the plus side, it's now much easier to share information, so we have more data, especially in terms of photos and videos. On the other hand, this has encouraged faking. While governments and other specialists generally have expertise and resources (e.g. in terms of imagery analysis) to spot fakes, the majority of the media and the public don't.

This is a neat topic...

I do have a question for you Sir... Unfortunately I don't really know who you are (never looked into it.. im lazy) but with all the hype you are apparently a professional... SO im going to be blunt...

In your professional opinion.... DO "extraterrestrials" exist?

And have you seen proof of such? Meaning something, be it life or technology that could not have originated on this planet...

Thanks for your time... Hope it hasn't been asked already

reply to post by Guyfriday


An excellent question and one that gets to the heart of one of the great problems with ufology, namely the tendency to investigate on a case-by-case basis, with little trend analysis. Even where trend analysis is done, is it being done from large enough and representative enough datasets? Probably not. I've certainly noticed some interesting commonalities, e.g. in terms of sudden acceleration from hover/slow speed to high speed, lack of sonic boom, etc. And the rhesus negative blood issue in relation to abductees is potentially very interesting (and testable), but we simply don't have enough people doing proper, scientific research on this sort of thing.

reply to post by NickPope


Yes. It is a bit of a Catch-22.

It [the internet] allows for near instantaneous communication/transmission of data. However, without sufficient monitoring of and by the relevant Communities, it's just another means of hoaxing, to some. (?)

This place [ATS] can be truly amazing at times, with its [the Community's] ability to 'bloodhound' most anything that's been thrown her way.

with regards those who would choose to attempt a hoax, mind you, the ATS community is near ferret-like with regard peeling onions and such. It may take awhile, but I've seen some rather amazing-looking hoaxes 'ferreted-out' by these fine folks, nonetheless and without fail - The Beauty Of The Community

just another reason I love this place.

Nice to make your acquaintance Nick [Mr. Pope].

Jon

reply to post by NickPope


Did you ever end up investigating anything that turned out to be intentional hoax? Something like cgi, staged photos, crop circles etc.? How do you deal with people who try to hoax? Send them to area51 for brainwashing?

What do you feel about my hypothesis that extraterrestrial life is in fact extra-dimensional and accessible only from certain weak points, or "overlaps", in our universe? In actuality, we could be searching in all the wrong places for alien life, and it could be a lot closer to home than imagined. Has anyone found any unusual evidence yet that could lend credence to my hypothesis? And have our governments been investigating and experimenting with this possibility?

reply to post by PsykoOps


Has the SAS ever been identified as having been involved in any operations?
What is the special lift group for England? For the US its Task Force 160 "Night Stalkers"
Has this group been involved?

reply to post by 12m8keall2c

This place [ATS] can be truly amazing at times, with its [the Community's] ability to 'bloodhound' most anything that's been thrown her way.

Bloodhound....excellent description.

All we can do is help others Deny Ignorance...

reply to post by NickPope


Welcome Mr. Pope

You said about being neither skeptic nor believer:

I can sympathize but certain stories can almost make me a total believer and I creep a little closer to the total side

My question is are their some cases so compelling that can cause you to lean a little more to the believer side?

Please excuse if someone else has already asked this question.

Thank you for your time here.

Greetings from the UK Nick,

What do you consider the most interesting case you came across in your work?

In your opinion are there cases that are currently inexplicable (i.e We have no idea what happened here, not 'we're not quite sure what this is, therefore it was aliens' (I know from seeing your work in CH4 docs you don't do this, but felt the need to provide the disclaimer with it being a conspiracy site and all).

Having worked in the field withou your considerable expertise and having enjoyed access to more material than the average citizen, do you consider ET craft a plausible explanation or more a work of fantasy?

Also I'd like to add a major thank you to yourself and the staff of ATS for taking the time to do this and hope the discussion is worthy of the effort you have put into achieving this.

reply to post by Silk


In relation to my two science fiction novels, Operation Thunder Child and Operation Lightning Strike, I can certainly see these being made into a film or TV miniseries at some stage. The first novel was optioned a few years ago and a screenplay written, but the project stalled and rights are now back with me. I'll doubtless have another think about this when I have a little more time.

Any insight on who or what is creating crop circles?

reply to post by TDawgRex


I don't think I can comment much on future technological breakthroughs, but a few years ago I was involved (both as a consultant and a contributor) on a TV series called "That's Impossible", looking at subjects such as invisibility, robotics, weather weapons, nanotechnology, etc. I suspect these are the sorts of areas to watch.

During the Bentwaters incident, Jim Penniston took a sketch of strange symbols that he saw on the craft's hull, which he said looked like Egyptian
hieroglyphs.
I was curious at this and wondered why very little was reported on this particular important part of this incident.
Symbols, however strange is an instant red flag for intelligent control as they must mean somthing.
So, what has become of them? what are your personnal thoughts on them? Is it gibberish or perhaps a more profound meaning to them, perhaps
value and geometry we seem to have overlooked...
Thank you for your time and most important of all, to stand with us all in our small group of ufological denizens who are curious about intelligent forces beyond our planet (or within?).
Your position alone gives us hope that people in high places are just as curious as, "we the people" are in matters where others would simply dismiss and ridicule.

reply to post by NickPope


Scrap that.... on the version on disclose TV is says recreation..... it didn't when I saw it on the History channel.. sorry Nick...

If you had have ever actually obtained knowledge that some UFO's are extraterrestrial in origin, would you have been allowed to discuss that information?

reply to post by uk today


I visited Menwith Hill once (not in relation to my work on UFOs, but later in my MoD career, in a security-related post), but have never heard of anything quite like the craft you saw in this area. There have certainly been a few sightings in the area over the years, but then, there are hardly any parts of the UK where there haven't been sightings at some time or another!

what do you think of these sun ufo pics that seem to appear quite regular,do you think these pics should be just ignored as works of a faker or do u believe there may be something in them?

Originally posted by NickPope
reply to post by Crakeur

 

In my opinion some of the most interesting and compelling sightings in the last 10 years include the 2006 sightings from Chicago O'Hare Airport, pilot Ray Bowyer's 2007 sighting near the Channel Islands ,and the 2008 sightings from Stephenville, Texas.

For those not aware, there's a very detailed thread on AboveTopSecret.com about the O'Hare sighting, including the only photo that has not been debunked.

O'Hare Airport UFO Sighting Discussion: Pictures, Witnesses, and Analysis