UFO videos just like the infamous US "Tic-Tac" clip are likely being held by the British military, an ex-MoD investigator has said.
Nick Pope, one of the world's leading experts on UFOs, has called on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to release information about its own unexplained encounters.
Mr Pope, who worked to investigate UFOs for the MoD in the 90s and worked in Whitehall until 2004, told The Sun Online now it is time for Britain to come clean about its role in investigating UFOs.
Britain was due to release a bombshell UFO dossier in January but this has now been blocked until 2072.
He called for the release of any footage and photos being held by the MoD, with him being in no doubt Royal Navy and Royal Air Force have likely filmed clips similar to what are now being officially released by the US.
The investigator told The Sun Online he knows for a fact the MoD had footage of UFOs filmed from RAF fighter jet gun cameras on 8mm film from the 50s and 60s.
However, the official line is that the videos have been lost and destroyed.
But he said he would be "staggered" if there is not more recent footage in the hands of military brass given the stunning videos released by the US have occurred in the last two decades.
"We have exactly the same kit as the US government, so I am sure there is a treasure trove of official photos and videos of UFOs or UAPs – whatever they are – sitting there in MoD headquarters," Mr Pope told The Sun Online.
During his own time working with the MoD, military pilots would tell him about "stunning" up close and personal encounters with UFOs.
But many of them would not file a report due to fears of ridicule or even "psychological evaluation".
MoD officials insisted to The Sun Online its UFO programme was terminated in 2009.
However, it is suspected highly classified investigations continue behind closed doors – and Mr Pope says "everything suggests" the UK continues to liaise with the US on UFOs.
It comes as the US is preparing for a potentially bombshell report on UFOs which is currently being prepared by Washington DC's most high ranking spy body, the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
Next month the report is due to be released after investigations by a task force into a string of unexplained encounters with US warships and fighter planes.
It can't have escaped the MoD's notice that over the last three years the US government position on UFOs has fundamentally changed
Pentagon officials have taken the unprecedented step of confirming videos and pictures of UFOs are real and admitting they don't know what they really are.
UFOs are now more commonly known amongst the intelligence community as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) – a move seen by some as an attempt to shake of the "little green men" stigma associated with the term.
The US Department of Defence has called its UFO unit the UAP Task Force.
Mr Pope told The Sun Online what is happening in the US right now is a "big deal" – and questioned whether people in the UK might be underestimating how significant the upcoming report could be for the UFO issue.
The UK Government was due to release a potentially bombshell UFO dossier in January due to the 30-year rule of declassification – but this has now been blocked until 2072.
"Brits probably look it at and think 'oh, those crazy Americans'," Mr Pope told The Sun Online.
"What it needs is something like the House of Commons Defence Committee saying 'we are aware this is going on in the state, 'its obviously a national security issue, we want a proper investigation here'."
He said a rally of support for the UFO disclosure in the UK could help the government publicly treat it as the "national security issue that it is" – but added the MoD will likely have to be dragged into it "kicking and screaming".
Mr Pope said the difference in policy between the US and UK is striking as the two are normally "joined at the hip" on intelligence matters through the so-called Special Relationship and the Five Eyes alliance.
It appears there has been some information sharing, as the expert said US officials involved in UFO research are aware of infamous UK incidents such as Rendlesham Forest and mysterious "Calvine Photograph" from 1990.
He also notes that the US's new favourite term – "UAP"-was originally popularised by British investigators within the MoD – saying they used it tactically to help break down the stigma around discussing UFOs.
What is going on with UFOs in the US?
UFOS have stepped from fringe conspiracy theories to a genuine national security debate in the US.
Pentagon officials last year took the unprecedented step to release of trio of remarkable videos which showed US encounters with UFOs.
The debate is still open as to what the phenomena caught on film were – but it made clear to everyone, something is in the skies.
Perhaps the most striking was a video known as the "Tic Tac" – which showed an unidentified object being pursued by fighter planes.
The US also confirmed the existence of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) – a Pentagon programme set up to study UFOs before being disbanded in 2017.
However, it was replaced by the UAP Task Force in June 2020 after a vote by the US Senate Intelligence Committee.
Defence chiefs have since confirmed a number of leaked UFO videos and photos which were submitted to the Task Force for investigation.
Why this sudden rush for transparency?
No outside the secretive wings of the US government currently knows for sure.
And as a tacked on addendum to a 5,500 page Covid relief bill passed in December, the the Director of National Intelligence's office was ordered to compile a report on UFOs within 180 days.
Former intelligence director John Ratcliffe has hinted the report will be a big deal – and we now just over a month away from its release.
The five month deadline elapses in June, with some UFO lobbyists claiming it could be the "most profound moment in human history".
"Nowadays if people see something strange, they'll report to a variety of different places, including military bases, airports, police stations, the media, and civilian UFO groups and researchers," Mr Pope explained.
"But with nobody pulling all these different strands together, everyone's got a few pieces of the puzzle, but nobody's seeing the whole picture.
"I call on the MoD to reopen the real-life X-Files and treat the issue in the way that it should be treated – as a serious defence and national security issue."
Mr Pope however did say "well placed sources" have told him that behind closed doors efforts are continuing, but he urged the UK to be more transparent – just as officials are currently being in the US.
It is understood UFO incidents in the UK are looked at in the same category as flight safety incidents and near misses, he claims.
MoD staff allegedly will refer to sightings using terms in coded language such as "'unusual aircraft", "unconventional helicopter" and "unidentified drone" – sometimes in an apparent effort to dodge any threat from requests under the Freedom of Information Act.
Mr Pope told The Sun Online: "It can't have escaped the MoD's notice that over the last three years the US government position on UFOs has fundamentally changed.
"They went from denying any interest and involvement, to a situation where they released videos of UFOs taken from US Navy jets, issued instructions to military pilots telling them what to do if they encounter a UFO, and had classified briefings in Congress."
Mr Pope went on: "The issue is whether MoD is aware of all this US activity, whether they're engaging with the Americans on these matters, and if not, why not?
"If the US thinks this is a serious defence and national security issue – and their actions clearly show they do – the UK should too.
'SCANDALOUS'
"So either the MoD is engaged, and the truth hasn't come out, or they're not. Either scenario is scandalous."
US lawmakers on the Intelligence Committee last year voted to set up the UAP Task Force – and in December gave them a 180-day deadline to produce a report on the strange phenomena caught on camera by servicemen.
Documentary filmmaker Jeremy Corbell released the latest round of footage which was filmed by US Navy pilots and personnel, with perhaps the most startling showing a "pyramid shaped" object flying over USS Russell.
Pentagon officials confirmed the footage was genuine, and it comes after the DoD took the historic step last year to declassify a trio of videos showing UFO incidents involving the USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt.
It is a remarkable change in policy after the US officially dismissed reports of UFOs at the conclusion of Project Blue Book in 1969.
Competing theories on the strange videos continue to rage – with some grounded on Earth claiming the videos capture never-before-seen military aircraft or drones, while others claim it shows otherworldly craft possibly piloted by aliens.
Others however are more skeptical and sometimes even dismissive, claiming the bizarre videos may just be camera tricks, natural phenomena or even outright hoaxes.
In 2019, the Pentagon admitted it has launched investigations into UFO sightings and it still analyses reports of unexplained objects.
The Department of Defence went as far as to reveal they will "continue" to probe such reports in a bid to keep the nation safe.
A spokesperson for the Department of Defence was forced to admit that reports, claiming their investigations were stopped in 2012, were not true.
The Sun Online previously spoke to Luis Elizondo, who headed up the secretive Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, and he said that UFOs are here – and we cannot stop them.
And we previously revealed a clip which a group of scientists and engineers believe to be the "most compelling" footage ever taken of a UFO.
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