Nick Pope (journalist)

Nick Pope
Pope in 2008
Born
Nicholas George Pope

(1965-09-19)19 September 1965[1]
London, England
Died6 April 2026(2026-04-06) (aged 60)
Tucson, Arizona, US
Occupations
  • TV personality
  • author
  • civil servant
SpouseElizabeth Weiss

Nicholas George Pope (19 September 1965 – 6 April 2026), was an English UFO investigator,[2] author, media commentator and civil servant. He was a regular guest on the History Channel series Ancient Aliens,[3] and while employed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was responsible for investigating UFO phenomena. He has been called the real-life Fox Mulder of The X-Files.[4][1][5]

Family and education

Pope was born in London on 19 September 1965.[6] He was the son of George Pope, who was an aeronautical engineer and director of the Ministry of Defense’s Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, and Rosemary Pope (née Harden). Pope's grandfather was newspaper manager Sir George Reginald Pope.[7][5] Pope was educated at Lord Wandsworth College, a private school in Hampshire, England, and joined the civil service in 1985 at the age of 19.[8]

Career

Ministry of Defence

Pope worked as a civil servant for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) from 1985 to 2006. From 1991 to 1994, he worked in the Secretariat (Air Staff) Sec (AS) 2a, more commonly known as the "UFO desk", where his duties included investigating reports of UFO sightings, to see if they had any defence significance.[9][10] His final posting in the MoD was to the Directorate of Defence Security. In 2009, the MoD announced that UFO sightings would no longer be investigated.[11][12][13]

Media work

In November 2006, Pope stated that the government's "X-Files have been closed down".[14] He came to appear in the media as a commentator, covering subjects that include the unexplained, conspiracy theories, space, science fiction, and fringe science.[1][15] He worked for a number of film companies and public relations agencies, promoting the release of science fiction films.[1][16] On 24 June 2013, he appeared on IGN's comedy show Up at Noon, promoting the game The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.[17] In 2015, he appeared in multiple episodes of UFOs Declassified, airing on Canada's History Television, the UK's Yesterday, and Smithsonian Channel in the United States.[18] He often appeared on the New York Post UFO YouTube series The Basement Office alongside journalist Steven Greenstreet.[19]

Tours

In 2024, Pope joined his Ancient Aliens co-hosts Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, William Henry, and Jason Martell on the Ancient Aliens LIVE US Tour, where he continued to advocate the hypothesis that extraterrestrials have visited Earth for thousands of years.[20]

Personal life and death

Pope was born in England on 19 September 1965.[8] He moved to the United States in 2012 and married American anthropologist Elizabeth Weiss after meeting her in San Jose, California.[21][22][23]

On 12 February 2026, Pope published a statement on his X account that he had been diagnosed with stage IV oesophageal cancer, which had metastasised to his liver.[24] Pope died at his residence in Tucson, Arizona, two months later, on 6 April, aged 60.[25][8]

Books

Open Skies, Closed Minds is Pope's autobiographical account of his interest in ufology. It provides an overview of the UFO phenomenon, with the emphasis on Pope's three-year employment as the Ministry of Defence desk officer where his responsibilities included investigating UFO sightings and any impact they might have on UK national defence.[26] Pope concluded that an alien race is waging a secret war on humanity, a position he came to distance himself from since the publication of the book.[1] In 1997, he released a second book on similar themes, titled The Uninvited. His book Encounter in Rendlesham Forest: The Inside Story of the World's Best-Documented UFO Incident, written with John Burroughs, USAF, Ret., and Jim Penniston, USAF, Ret., was published by Thomas Dunne Books in April 2014. Pope also wrote two science fiction novels, Operation Thunder Child and its sequel Operation Lightning Strike.[27] In 2018, Pope published the political thriller Blood Brothers.[28]

  • Pope, Nick (1996). Open Skies, Closed Minds: For the First Time a Government UFO Expert Speaks Out. London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-81664-7.
  • Pope, Nick (1997). The Uninvited: An Exposé of the Alien Abduction Phenomenon. London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-81927-3.
  • Pope, Nick; Burroughs, John; Penniston, Jim (2014). Encounter in Rendlesham Forest: The Inside Story of the World's Best-Documented UFO Incident. New York: Dunne. ISBN 978-1-250-03810-4.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Garcia, Francisco (15 September 2023). "It's boom times for the 'Real Fox Mulder'". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Nick Pope, UFO investigator at the Ministry of Defence known for his book Open Skies, Closed Minds". The Telegraph. 10 April 2026.
  3. ^ "Meet the real-life Fox Mulder: Nick Pope talks UFOs, cliches and busts myths". Freesat. 2 July 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  4. ^ Roberson, Evan (8 April 2026). "UFO Expert Nick Pope Dies at 60". VICE.
  5. ^ a b "Nick Pope obituary: UFO expert". The Times. 14 April 2026. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
  6. ^ Rosenwald, Michael S. (28 April 2026). "Nick Pope, U.F.O. Sleuth Who Chased the Truth, Dies at 60". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  7. ^ "Pope; Sir; George Reginald (1902–1982); Advertising manager and newspaper executive". mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk.
  8. ^ a b c "Nick Pope, UFO investigator at the Ministry of Defence known for his book Open Skies, Closed Minds". The Daily Telegraph. 10 April 2026. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  9. ^ "BBC Sky at Night Magazine - Nick Pope". www.skyatnightmagazine.com. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  10. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 18 Apr 2006 (pt 154)". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  11. ^ "Ministry of Defence - Freedom of Information - Publication Scheme - Search Publication Scheme - How to report a UFO sighting". nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 4 December 2009.
  12. ^ "MoD department that investigated UFO sightings 'closed'". The Daily Telegraph. 4 December 2009.
  13. ^ Nick Pope (4 December 2009). "How not to report a UFO". The Guardian.
  14. ^ "'Aliens could attack at any time' warns former MoD chief", Evening Standard (published 9 November 2006), 13 April 2012
  15. ^ Pope, Nick (29 July 2008). "Unidentified flying threats". Opinion. The New York Times.
  16. ^ Battle: Los Angeles - Nick Pope answers Facebook fan questions. YouTube. 11 March 2011. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021.
  17. ^ "Aliens Probably Exist - The Bureau: XCOM Declassified on Up at Noon - IGN Video". IGN. 24 June 2013.
  18. ^ "UFOs Declassified looks at hard evidence behind infamous sightings". thestar.com. 7 January 2015.
  19. ^ "The Basement Office - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  20. ^ Hoey, Peggy Spellman (1 October 2024). "'Ancient Aliens LIVE' Tour Coming To Long Island". Patchogue, NY Patch. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  21. ^ "Latest News". nickpope.net. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  22. ^ "Biography". nickpope.net. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  23. ^ "Ex-Ministry of Defence UFO hunter weds during UFO conference". Openminds.tv. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  24. ^ @nickpopemod (12 February 2026). "A Message from Nick Pope" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
  25. ^ Reiher, Andrea (7 April 2026). "Beloved History Channel Star Dies After Cancer Battle". Parade. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  26. ^ "The truth is out there... UFO expert Nick Pope talks about aliens". The Independent. 11 October 2011. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015.
  27. ^ "Andrew Lownie Literary Agency :: Authors :: Nick Pope". Andrew Lownie Literary Agency. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  28. ^ Pope, Nick (15 November 2018). Blood Brothers. Thistle Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78608-075-2.
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