March 18, 2006: UFO Sightings - Nick Pope
Podcast: The Art Bell ArchivePublished On: Mon Dec 29 2025
Description: Art Bell speaks with Nick Pope, who ran the British government's UFO project at the Ministry of Defence. Pope describes how his initial skepticism faded after years of investigating military and civilian reports, with roughly five percent of cases defying explanation. He recounts a 1993 wave of UK sightings when a massive triangular craft flew over two RAF bases, observed by Air Force police and a meteorological officer.Art shares his own close encounter with a silent triangular craft over the Nevada desert, comparing notes with Pope. Pope reveals that Britain formally asked the American government whether it operated such a craft. The Americans denied it, then asked the same question in return. The two discuss the Rendlesham Forest incident of 1980, where US Air Force personnel encountered a landed UFO, took radiation readings from the site, and recorded the investigation on tape.Art plays the full 17-minute Rendlesham audio recording for his audience, featuring Lt. Colonel Charles Halt and his team documenting elevated radiation, tree damage, and ultimately observing pulsating lights in the sky. Pope addresses the flight safety implications of UFOs and the reluctance of military pilots to report sightings for fear of career consequences.
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