Monday, May 10th,The MoD X-Files
By Nick Pope

The Ministry of Defence is in the process of declassifying and releasing its entire archive of UFO files.  The files go back decades and are packed with thousands of fascinating cases, including UFOs seen by police officers and pilots, and UFOs that were tracked on radar.  There are also files from the Defence Intelligence Staff, some of which contain documents that were classified Secret UK Eyes Only.  Nick Pope explained why and how the MoD investigated UFOs and what conclusions were drawn.  He updated us on the file release programme and discussed some of the most extraordinary cases from the MoD files.  He explained why MoD recently terminated the UFO project and discussed the controversy that blew up when it was announced that the department was destroying newly-received UFO reports after 30 days, to avoid any liability under the Freedom of Information Act.  Finally, Nick briefed us on the Royal Society discussion meeting "The detection of extraterrestrial life and the consequences for science and society". 

Note:
This is a controversial topic. While the majority of observations can easily be explained away, there remain a small number that make most scientists feel very uncomfortable
(I include myself). Many choose to avoid the subject completely. Thankfully our audience did not!

Biography:
Nick Pope used to run the British Government's UFO project at the Ministry of Defence.  Initially sceptical, his research and investigation into the UFO phenomenon and access to classified government files on the subject soon convinced him that the phenomenon raised important defence and national security issues, especially when the witnesses were military pilots or where UFOs were tracked on radar.  Nick Pope is recognised as a leading authority on UFOs, the unexplained and conspiracy theories.  He does extensive media work, lectures all around the world and has acted as presenter, consultant and contributor on numerous television shows.