Nick Pope Dies

 

I'm sorry to report that Nick Pope has died; and I am genuinely sorry. As regulars know, Nick and I didn't see eye-to-eye on much, to put it mildly; but I am still dismayed at the news of his passing. Nick joined the Ministry of Defence in 1985 and did several jobs, but he is best known for running "Secretariat (Air Staff) 2a", known as the UFO desk. This led to a prolific media career where he became known as "Britain's (or "the real") Fox Mulder", "the man from the Ministry" and many other nicknames. He took part in too many TV programmes and movies to mention, and he wrote a number of books. He was as absolute staple on the conference circuit. He's even had a song written about him by Mark Christopher Lee's band, The Pocket Gods, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab-v2xZHQdw. Despite this, he was always very cautious and used catchphrases like "I can neither confirm nor deny that" and "we can't rule it out" over and over again. His death was not unexpected, in fact he posted a few weeks ago that he was very ill and effectively in palliative care. He passed away peacefully at his home yesterday with his wife Elizabeth by his side. He was sixty years old. I used to get on well with Nick. We even had dinner together once in London with Tabitha, his partner at the time. We fell out because I resented what I believe was false information and disinformation he was spreading, especially about the Rendlesham Forest incident. I met up with him again briefly last year at Contact in the Desert and exchanged greetings. As I said at the time, we had both been invited to an exclusive private party at the conference venue and I felt obliged to behave well. Despite my antipathy towards Nick Pope, I will miss him. He has been part of the UFOlogical furniture for so long now; a figurehead of the movement, however flawed. Aliens will never be the same without him. His family have my deepest condolences. The Sun, one of the many journals he wrote for as a UFO correspondent, has published a touching obituary. Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/38742171/ufo-expert-dies-after-cancer-battle-wife-tribute/.