As the UK gets to browse yet another MoD file release from the National Archives, the issue of that worn-out phrase "Defence Significance" is raised again as former MoD UFO desk employee Nick Pope highlights the fact that there is indeed a turf war [or let's say cloud war!] going on above our heads in mainland Britain.
Ever since the Ministry of Defence first got asked to look into these objects by significant figures including Winston Churchill - the conclusion has always been that the issue is of little concern as no tangible threat is posed and defence significance is minimal.
There are numerous cases that demonstrate this approach is at minimum misinformed or more likely blatent disinformation however. These include Ray Bowyer's recent sighting over the Channel Islands and the case of Mustang pilot Milton Torres.
Nick Pope: Under top secret Government directive RAF pilots have tried to BLAST UFOs - 6th January, 2009
Nick Pope who came under criticism this week, when Colin Andrews criticized him for prepared distorted reports about UFOs & Crop circle when he was working as Ministry of Defence’s UFO desk for three years. Later this week Nick Pope even confess about same and told media that:
Some of the issues Colin highlights have arisen because the line between official and private interest - even within government, the military and the intelligence agencies - can be blurred. There are particular sensitivities and political difficulties when members of the Royal Family are involved.
I agree that the MoD has downplayed its interest and involvement in the crop circle issue, as it has with the UFO phenomenon. This has been the policy for many years and it's no secret that I had to play my part in this when I worked for the government.
But now he revealed the rules of engagement for the first time.He claimed RAF pilots had fired at UFOs on several occasions but failed to bring them down.
Mr Pope, said shoot down orders had been issued under the highly- classified directive since the beginning of the 1980s.He believes a pattern has emerged in incidents already publicised in this country and abroad.When a UFO is thought to be threatening a country’s airspace, the drastic action has been taken.
He said: There was a faction in the MoD who said ‘We want to shoot down a UFO and that will resolve the issue one way or another.He claimed credible UFO witness statements had come from dozens of near-misses with planes, police helicopters and RAF jets in recent years.
He said We know of cases where the order has been given to shoot down with little effect to the UFO?Mr Pope said the rules of engagement were drawn up after dozens of close encounters with suspect craft in British airspace.
RAF attacks on UFOs were not automatic but happen when something in our airspace is deemed to be a threat.In the case of UFOs, whether the object is causing a threat is very much a (pilot’s) judgment call.
Earlier this month UFO Blogger told how a UFO was believed to have torn off a 65ft blade as it hit a wind turbine in Conisholme, Lincs.
Back in December,2008 a donuts-shaped UFO was caught on camera near Conisholme wind farm a few weeks also before the wind turbine was damaged.
Where in Wind turbine ufo case Locals saw strange lights streaking towards the 290ft-tall power generator.Even Dale Vince, founder of Ecotrcity has a quite a bit to say about what his company thinks happened to its wind turbine.He indicates that what happened was a 'unique and isolated event".
But any alien battles with the RAF will be kept secret, according to Mr Pope, who worked as a civil servant at the MoD for 21 years.
He said: The public won’t know unless it comes down in a heavily- populated area.
He added: I do believe we will bring one down. We’re developing increasingly sophisticated weapons.Mr Pope also rubbished the MoD’s stance that UFOs pose no danger to the public, saying: I think that’s a line I wrote myself in the 1990s.But if they haven’t investigated, how do they know it poses no threat?
They will try to play it down by talking about flying saucers and little green men. But there are MPs and ministers and a faction of the MoD who do believe in UFOs. Now he is supporting Colin Andrews claim.
================ The Sun
January 27, 2009.
RAF pilots have tried to blast UFOs out of the sky under a top-secret
British government directive, it was claimed Sunday night.
Nick Pope -- who worked on the Ministry of Defense's UFO desk for
three years -- revealed the rules of engagement for the first time.
He claimed RAF pilots had fired at UFOs on several occasions -- but
failed to bring them down.
He added: "We know of cases where the order has been given to shoot
down -- with little effect to the UFO."
Pope said the rules of engagement were drawn up after dozens of
close encounters with suspect craft in British airspace.
RAF attacks on UFOs were "not automatic but happen when something
in our airspace is deemed to be a threat."
======================
A former Top Gun said Sunday he was ordered to shoot down a
massive UFO over Norwich, England, 50 years ago.
RAF controllers told U.S. pilot Milton Torres to "lock on" and launch all
24 of his rockets over the city.
But as he came within seconds of firing at the alien intruder — "the size
of an aircraft carrier" on his radar — it vanished at 10,000 mph.
The amazing close encounter is revealed in secret Ministry of Defense
X-Files which are being declassified Monday.
Milton said, "It was some kind of alien snooping over England. I guess
we'll never know what it was."
The incident happened in 1957 when Milton was a 26-year-old U.S. Air
Force lieutenant based at RAF Manston in Kent, England.
---
Nick Pope emailed this response to the comment made below by "Tracey":
"I don't normally
respond to posts like this, as to do so simply gives them the oxygen of
publicity. However, given that in this instance there seems to be
either a complete misunderstanding of MoD's UFO research, or a
deliberate attempt to misrepresent the MoD's position, I'll do so.
My
terms of reference were to investigate the 200 - 300 or so UFO
sightings reported to the MoD each year, to see whether any of them
might involve events that might be of "defence significance". I worked
alongside the Defence Intelligence Staff on this and our work could
involve interviewing witnesses, checking radar data and analysing
photos and videos.
All of this can be borne out from studying the MoD's case files on the subject, now being released to the National Archives."
Best wishes,
Nick Pope
From email - 16 Aug 2009
-
» 6 Comments
6"Corporate new machine" at Sunday, 13 June 2010 23:50by infiniteplayer
Nick did well standing up and facing the ridicule and word play from the fox news presenters. The fox news broadcasters have been trained in NLP and the use of body language in order to win over their point of view. Search fox news presenters + NLP. The quality and quantity of disclosure is dubious, however its a great start. I stood with many others out on the road watching a cigar shape object fly slowly over the south downs back in the late 60's. Many of the neighbors confirmed it was not a weather balloon.
5"WebAdmin" at Wednesday, 26 August 2009 23:31by davID
I think Nick did well in this interview - he didn't hold back when using terms like "dog fights" - hardly conservative language is it??
What's more important than discussing Nick Pope's role or previous role is the laughable use of the term "defence significance" by the MoD and in fact defence organisations worldwide... how can these objects be of no defence significance [and thus this allows them to continue to claim they are of no importance AND/OR do not exist] when "dog fights" are taking place and pilots being told to go shoot 'em down ?!?
Call them out on the real issues. ==
4"ufo shootdown" at Monday, 24 August 2009 16:08by philthefish
Whether Nick Pope just answered the phone or had some more in-depth job at the MoD I don’t think really matters. What does matter is that he, plus the every one else is helping to bring the overall subject to our nation plus the rest of the world’s consciousness. Bickering about how important someone is, is non productive in the overall scheme of things.
Our intergalactic brethren cannot make themselves fully known to our little planet until a lot more ordinary humans around the world are aware of their presence. Just because we know of them won’t stop the globe going into meltdown with panic if they suddenly appear. This is thanks to the mass paranoia that films like ‘Independence Day’ have done in trying to demonise them.
We are now into the 5 year countdown to 2012 and disclosure is approaching. We in the know must be ready to help the less fortunate people who are not willing to accept this at the moment or are just ignorant of their existence and prepare them for when it is fully disclosed to the human race.
3"WebAdmin" at Sunday, 16 August 2009 21:09by davID
I have pasted a response from Nick above.
2"WebAdmin" at Sunday, 16 August 2009 20:10by davID
Where did you get the idea he's being promoted as anything? I've never pushed articles one way or the other.
However as formal [as in government] 'experts' go Nick Pope I think most would agree is close to that description as relatively speaking there are few others we can point to to compare.
I don't agree with everything he says and even his overall position but he's a useful source of info as far as the UK goes.
You may be interested in the article and video on this site between Colin Andrews and Nick Pope.
davID, Exo UK
1"Klein" at Sunday, 16 August 2009 00:11by Tracy
Stop selling Nick Pope as some kind of expert! he answered the telephones at the ministry. Nick Pope worked with others and dealt with general enquiries, selling him as having worked on some kind of UFO helpdesk is misleading...
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