NICK POPE INVESTIGATES SCOTTISH ISLES BLAST
Mon, 04 Nov 1996
Source: The Scotsman
UFO specialist investigates isles blast mystery
MIKE MERRITT
BRITAIN'S top UFO hunter, Nick Pope, is investigating the cause of the
mysterious mid-air explosion off Lewis that led to a £200,000 search nine
days ago.
Mr Pope is a former official government investigator of unidentified flying
objects.
No explanation has yet been found for the object, which was seen and heard to
explode off the north of Lewis. A dozen witnesses saw the object light up the
sky and explode into a ball of black smoke, sending two fragments trailing
dark vapour into the sea.
Over two days the RAF and the Coastguards searched 400 square miles, but no
trace of wreckage was found.
The Labour MP for the Western Isles, Calum Macdonald, has asked the Defence
Secretary, Michael Portillo, if the military was responsible for the
explosion. He is still awaiting a reply. But inquiries last week at the
Ministry of Defence, Coastguards and the RAF all led to denials that the
explosion had been linked to the armed services.
In fact RAF Kinloss, which co-ordinated the search, even checked through the
military channels whether a United States radar-avoiding Stealth bomber was
in the area. But the answer was a firm "no".
A NATO training exercise, involving 32 ships, seven submarines and 80
military planes began off Lewis last Monday, but a navy spokeswoman denied
that any of the vessels had been even near the area of the explosion two days
earlier.
A spokesman at Kinloss confirmed that there had been reports of three UFOs
flying in formation over the Scottish Borders and heading north on the same
day as the explosion off Lewis. Three weeks previously a passenger on a
transatlantic flight to Vancouver saw another exploding light off Lewis.
Now Mr Pope, who spent three years investigating UFO sightings for the MoD
secretariat (air staff), is looking at the case.
"There are reports of UFOs crashing, most notably at Roswell, New Mexico, in
1947," said Mr Pope, 31, who wrote the bestseller, Open Skies, Closed Minds.
"This could be another case. I firmly believe it has happened before. Many
UFOs are sighted around military installations or activity, the theory being
that they are keeping an eye on our technology.
"When I worked for the MoD I had to evaluate UFOs for any military threat to
the UK. Some people in the ministry believe in them more than you realise.
Many RAF pilots told me of their sightings, some not officially reported for
fear of ridicule or marring their careers.
"This sighting off Lewis could be a UFO. I would not rule it out until I look
at reports I have asked for. But it is not a classic sighting."
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