Nick Pope

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Contents 5
Nick Pope
Illustration of an open book about flying saucers
Illustration: an open book about flying saucers. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.
TypePerson
Also known asNicholas Pope

Nick Pope (19 September 1965 – 6 April 2026) was a British civil servant, author and commentator who worked at the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) from 1985 to 2006 and, in the early 1990s, investigated reports of UFOs on its behalf. After leaving government he became one of the best-known media commentators on UFOs.[1]

Ministry of Defence

Nick Pope. UFO journalist.
Nick Pope. UFO journalist. Photo: David Howard · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Pope was born in London and joined the MoD in 1985. From 1991 to 1994 he worked in the secretariat known as Sec(AS)2a, nicknamed the "UFO desk", where his job included examining UFO sightings reported by the public for possible defence significance. He held other MoD posts until leaving in 2006.[1]

Books

Rendlesham Forest incident: The East Gate at RAF Woodbridge, where the Rendlesham Forest UFO incident began
Rendlesham Forest incident: The East Gate at RAF Woodbridge, where the Rendlesham Forest UFO incident began Photo: Taras Young · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Pope's 1996 book Open Skies, Closed Minds described his time on the UFO desk. In early writing he argued that an alien race might be waging a secret war on humanity, a position he later distanced himself from. He wrote two science-fiction novels, Operation Thunder Child and Operation Lightning Strike, and a 2018 political thriller, Blood Brothers. In 2014 he co-wrote a book on the Rendlesham Forest incident with two former U.S. Air Force personnel who had been involved in it.[1]

Media career

Illustration of a humanoid figure under a hovering craft
Illustration: a humanoid figure under a hovering craft. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

Pope became a regular guest on the History Channel series Ancient Aliens and a frequent commentator on UFO stories in British and American media; in 2024 he joined the series' hosts on a live tour of the United States. He moved to the United States in 2012 and married the anthropologist Elizabeth Weiss.[1]

Death

Illustration of an observer watching the sky
Illustration: an observer watching the sky. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

Pope died at his home in Tucson, Arizona, on 6 April 2026, aged 60.[1]

References

This page was last edited on 31 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.

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