Nick Pope joined the Ministry of Defence in 1985 and took charge of UFO investigations from 1991 to 1994. His office, SEC(AS)2a, was popularly called the 'UFO desk' and supported the Royal Air Force while offering a phone hotline for strange sightings. During his tenure, Pope received about 1,200 calls about UFO sightings and investigated reports by calling forecasters, the RAF, observatories, and entertainment venues.
The exact circumstances and timeline of his cancer diagnosis and treatment have not been publicly detailed. Most UFO sightings reported to Nick Pope were Chinese paper lanterns. Nick Pope found that about 80% of UFO sightings were misidentifications, 15% had insufficient data, and 5% were unknown.
I was so lucky to have met and to have married Nick. He was a wonderful husband. I loved him dearly.
Nick Pope said the 5% unknown cases did not mean extraterrestrial, but that possibility was not ruled out. The specific cases that made up this 5% and any official Ministry of Defence records or conclusions about them from Pope's tenure remain undisclosed. Nick Pope believed that if a single UFO case was of something not of this Earth, it would impact politics, religion, science, the economy, and everything.
Those who knew Nick Pope described him as being at the forefront of UFOlogy. John Greenewald, creator of The Black Vault, said Nick Pope was a 'truth seeker'. John Greenewald said Nick Pope was one of the very few he could call upon for trusted advice.
He was so knowledgeable. One of the very few I could call upon for trusted advice.
Filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee first met Nick Pope in 2006. Mark Christopher Lee said Nick Pope always had time for those interested in UFOs, no matter at what level. Pope's wife, Professor Elizabeth Weiss, said she was lucky to have met and married him, describing him as a wonderful husband she loved dearly.
It is not known whether Nick Pope left behind any unpublished research or findings on UFO phenomena, and the current status or future of the Ministry of Defence's UFO investigation program after his death has not been announced.
Almost all of them came from people who were utterly sincere in their belief. People are less likely to hoax the MoD, probably because they were worried about the men in black.
In the end, we found about 80% or so of these sightings were misidentifications, 15% had insufficient data and 5% were unknown. That 5% doesn’t mean extraterrestrial, but as I always remind people, neither did we rule that out. It means unknown, no more, no less.
If just a single one of those cases was of something not of this Earth, it would impact everything – politics, religion, science, the economy and just about everything.