Nick Pope on the Paranormal

Nick Pope has gone from running the British Government’s UFO Project at the Ministry of Defence, to becoming an author, TV personality and international expert of the unexplained.

Although ghosts, spirits and haunted locations are not specifically Nick’s area of expertise, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask him a few questions. As ever I will share the answers to these questions with you, my blog readers.

Nick is now recognized as a leading authority on UFO's and matters of the unexplained, not just in Britain, but now world wide. It's well documented how this position came about through working for the MoD, being headhunted for the position in the UFO Unit and thus taking up the position as his next post.

Investigating UFO sightings for the MoD has had an obvious impact on Nick’s life and career, but did he ever imagine he would be taking this direction when he took up the post?

‘At the time, I regarded this posting as just another tour of duty in what would probably be a 40 year career in the Ministry of Defence. I had no idea of the impact it would have on my world view and my career. As a direct result of that posting I've written 4 books and left the MoD after 21 years. I now earn my living as a freelance journalist and TV commentator, covering subjects including the unexplained, fringe science, conspiracy theories, science fiction, space and defence. It's very different from life in the civil service.’

Many articles, reports and such have been written on Nick’s experiences in the UFO Unit opening our eyes to many things, but I think something I can relate to is how he mentions that many UFO sightings are misidentifications rather than actual UFO's. Nick mentioned that 80% of reports fit this category, then 15% are cases where there is insufficient information to draw conclusions, with the final 5% being actually unexplained. These figures make sense. However, of those 5% that are unexplained can we conclude we are truly not alone? If you base space on stats then surely a rational person should be able to conclude that there are enough star systems and other galaxies that one at least must hold intelligent life with the distinct possibility that the life there is far more advanced than us. I asked Nick what he thought about all this.

‘The percentages you quote are indeed the ones I use, based on my own official research and investigation. However, in strictly logical terms, "unexplained" doesn't imply extraterrestrial and simply means that no conventional explanation was found, despite an exhaustive investigation. Most scientists agree that there should be life elsewhere in the Universe, but there's less consensus on intelligence and considerable resistance to the idea of extraterrestrial visitation.'

Nick soon became coined as the 'real Fox Mulder' and investigator of the 'real X-Files', but how does he feel about his title? More importantly are there any similarities between Nick and the Fox Mulder character? And, has this link done him any favours or has it hindered his work?


‘At first I was irritated by the comparison because I felt it trivialised my government work. But in time I came to regard it as fun. It's probably helped my career as it contributed to my high media profile. One of the ways in which I currently earn my living is doing tie-in media interviews to promote films and TV series dealing with the unexplained (e.g. The Day The Earth Stood Still, Torchwood and Fringe) and working on PR/advertising campaigns using themes from sci-fi or the unexplained. I worked with 20th Century Fox promoting The X-Files: I Want to Believe and met David Duchovny and Chris Carter at the premiere!’

However, although Nick’s main field was UFO's I believe that some cases of paranormal which didn't involve flying saucers were looked into by him also.

After reading that MoD and Military have co-operated with the Ghost Club of Great Britain, allowing them access to restricted sites such as Coalhouse Fort and the Master Ropemasters House in Plymouth to investigate the paranormal. I wondered if Nick had any dealings or knowledge of such investigations and their results.

‘Although technically outside my terms of reference, reports of ghosts and other strange phenomena were sent to me simply because - within government - there was nowhere else to send them. Details of this work can be found in an article I wrote called Military Ghosts, in the Selected Articles section of www.nickpope.net - as to my own view about these sightings, I'm convinced there is a real phenomenon (or phenomena) at work here, though I'm not sure exactly what it is.’

As a race we are still in our infancy, developing all the time and constantly looking for more knowledge. I think we are just beginning to allow ourselves to accept some things which previously we may have considered to be impossible. If we look back through history we see as we develop and change through time that more things previously thought to be impossible or not approachable, are slowly becoming more readily accepted. A prime example being the original belief that the world was flat and not a sphere, as it is. People were so sure it was flat they would argue against it being round and fear travelling too far, after all they would drop over the edge if they did. However, through time, science and evidence minds have been changed, but what was Nick’s take on all this.

‘Historically, theories and phenomena dismissed at the time have often been validated by later research and discoveries. This may turn out to be the case with ghosts, UFOs and all manner of other strange phenomena.’

Whilst working with the MoD Nick expressed an interest in psychic research. However, I believe this was passed over as unnecessary at the time. Recently it has come to light that not unlike the US and its research into what has become known as Remote Viewing, the MoD also conducted some investigations. Remote Viewers or Psychic Spies were used to target various things such as hostages, drugs, arms dumps, terrorists and more. How valuable is this kind of research though?

After all if it had good results or was developed correctly and to the right level, could it not be used against crime, which beckons the question, so why hasn't it been developed for us all? Personally I first heard of Remote Viewing many years back when I was doing some research of my own. I discovered the US Military researched it under the Blue Book Operations of Grill Flame, Sun Streak and Star Gate. These Operations have since ended, I believe in the early 90's. However, it’s possible that the research has continued under a new name. What are Nick’s thoughts on the continued research of Remote Viewing by government’s worldwide. Does he think this subject is under active research today? And, what are his feelings on the pro's and cons of Remote Viewing?

‘There's a whole section of my website devoted to remote viewing and the MoD's study into this. It's a subject I've written about in the press and discussed on TV. I'm a strong believer that remote viewing is worth trying, in view of the potential benefits to the intelligence community. However, any operational remote viewing projects currently underway are likely to be run by private companies, to take them outside the scope of Freedom of Information legislation.’

Something I have noticed which hasn't been mentioned in any reports on Nick is the subject of demonology. I understand that this may not have crossed his path before, but as this subject continues to become more and more prominent I feel information and knowledge on the subject are required. As I would like to become a good paranormal investigator I feel knowledge and contacts of all aspects of the paranormal should be covered. However, what’s Nick’s take on demonology?

‘I'm aware of various theories linking UFOs/alien abductions with demonology, often taking as the start point the Biblical quotation describing Satan as the "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). Although I don't support such theories, demonology is interesting in its own right and worthy of study.’

I decided to ask if Nick had ever encountered any cases involving demons, perhaps violent haunting and poltergeist

‘I'm aware of such cases, but for a number of reasons this isn't an area I'm currently able to discuss.’

This was one of Nick’s more vague answers, which adds a little mystery to the subject. The subject is already in abundance of mystery, the fact that Nick is not currently able to discuss the matter posses numerous questions. I personally would love to know more about why he cannot discuss this. Perhaps he has been involved in or has knowledge of a case involving demons, poltergeist or a violent haunting. However, this is purely speculation on my part, perhaps even slight hope of that evidence we all seek.

All in all Nick Pope is a very interesting man with a vast knowledge of the unexplained, especially on the subject of UFO’s. I enjoyed having the opportunity to ask him a few questions. Also, if you were or are a fan of the X-Files and Fox Molder, then Nick Pope is pretty much the UK’s answer to this, but Nick’s investigations were far from fictional.

If you are interested in Nick’s work then please check out his website at http://nickpope.net/, it has loads of information on UFO’s and the unexplained.

As ever if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them by clicking on the word ‘comments’ at the bottom of this post. I will be happy to answer questions, if I can.