UK must hold public UFO hearing ‘as matter of URGENT national security’ after 400 US sightings, says ex-MoD chief
THE UK government must hold a UFO hearing as a matter of "urgent national security" after the Pentagon revealed they had recorded 400 unexplained sightings, an ex Ministry of Defence (MoD) investigator has warned.
The US held a historic public hearing on Tuesday where politicians in Washington D.C. grilled defence officials on the number of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP, sightings, their origins and how they plan to tackle the problem.
Now former MoD employee Nick Pope said that the hearing questioned Britain's denials on the subject of UFOs - as US defence chiefs admitted to sharing and receiving intelligence on the topic with its allies.
Pope, who used to investigate UFO sightings for a now defunct part of the MoD, told The Sun: "This puts the focus back on the UK as the United States closest ally, there was a clear indication from the US that data on this topic is being shared with allies and received from allies.
"Now, the MoD has denied being involved in this subject, after the program I worked on was axed at the end of 2009.
"But I think what was said today must call that into question.
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"It would be inconceivable to me that the UK, as such a close partner of the US would not be involved, probably through the mechanism of the Five Eyes nations, in this data sharing.
"There was a debate in the house of Lords last June where Baroness Goldie for the MoD denied that there was any kind of UFO program and declined to re-engage on the subject.
If the United States judges this to be a defence and national security issue ... then we should wake up and take notice too.
Nick Pope
"Firstly, I think those denials are under the spotlight again, or they should be.
"Secondly and far more importantly, I hope that what happened at the US hearing will inspire MPs and peers in the UK to push for a similar hearing with the defence committee.
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"Because if the United States judges this to be a defence and national security issue - on the basis of the fact that they've been paying close attention for the last few years - then we should wake up and take notice too.
"Surely it is a matter of urgent national security for us - the geopolitical situation in the world at present makes it imperative that we quickly get to the bottom of what these objects are."
According to the British UFO Research Association, there were 259 reported UFO sightings in 2021.
The UK is also home to one of the world's most fascinating unsolved sightings - the Rendlesham Forest incident - often referred to as the British Roswell.
The case involved military witnesses from the twin NATO bases RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk who saw strange lights in late December 1980.
DEFENCE DENIALS
The Ministry of Defence currently insists it has no UFO programme and claims its unit to probe the strange encounters was disbanded in 2009.
Following a question on UFOs in the House of Lords last year, Baroness Goldie said the MoD holds "no reports on unidentified aerial phenomena".
She said: "We have no opinion on the existence of extra-terrestrial life and we no longer investigate reports of sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena.
"We have no plans to conduct our own report into UAP, because in over 50 years no such reporting has indicated the existence of any military threat to the UK."
Pope believes this is naive viewpoint from defence chiefs and said he would be willing to give evidence at any hearing.
"I think the MoD has probably forgot its history on this.
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"I could certainly come back and be involved in the briefing process to give an insight that would tie that historical knowledge back into my having followed what's happening now, in the States.
"I think the UK could bring something to the table. We have some of the finest intelligence gathering capabilities, whether it's people or equipment in the world. Is that being properly leveraged onto this UAP problem? I'm not sure it is."
