It was said to be one of the best photos of a UFO, and a poster-size image of it hung on a wall of Britain's Ministry of Defence. But then, at some point between 1991 to 1994, it vanished, gone, never to be seen again.
On the day in 1991 that Nick Pope interviewed for the position of chief of the Ministry of Defence's UFO office, he could not help but notice the UFO image on the wall. "I went in for an informal interview, and anyone sitting in that office found their eyes drawn to that image," Pope told The Huffington Post.
Other original pictures, negatives and the wall poster somehow vanished in the 1990s. Only a Ministry of Defence line drawing remains.
The photo was one of six taken by a pair of hikers who spotted a strange diamond-shaped object in the sky over Pitlochry, Scotland, on Aug. 4, 1990. It appeared to hover in the air near an Royal Air Force Harrier jet. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the unusual object above the ground for nearly 10 minutes before it zoomed away at high speed.
The 1990 incident was described in a batch of previously classified UFO files released by the Ministry of Defence in 2009.
Pope told The Huffington Post that it was the ministry's official policy to obtain as much information as possible in the case of a UFO sighting, such as photo negatives. The pair with the photos contacted the staff of a newspaper that planned an article; the newspaper, in turn, reached out to the Ministry of Defence for additional information, Pope said. That's when the ministry requested and obtained the original photographs and negatives from the newspaper, he said. "From everything I know about the defense intelligence staff, they would have done that."
The incident took place just before Pope took over the ministry's UFO division in 1991 to 1994. When he started his job, Pope couldn't help staring at the enlarged image of the UFO on his office wall.
"It looked like a diamond on its side; it was three-dimensional, meaning it had some depth to it," Pope recalled. "It was a dull, metallic gray color. But the most disconcerting thing about this was [that] despite its large size -- over 80 feet in diameter -- there was an apparent lack of any real aircraft-like structure to it.
Watch this National Geographic report about the disappearance of the UFO photos in Scotland:
"Moreover, there was no apparent propulsion system and no markings," Pope added. "This made us think that whatever it was, it clearly was a technology significantly ahead of anything we had in our inventory or even on the drawing board."
Pope described another reason for interest in the object: "There was no apparent sound from the craft, especially with it being within a couple hundred feet of the eyewitnesses."
"Naturally, we wanted the propulsion system," he added. "And if we couldn't get it, we wanted to at least try and understand the principles on which it might work because that might play into research and development."
"This wasn't the archetypal distant, blurred UFO photo," Pope added. "This was up close and personal, reach-out and you-can-touch-it stuff. 'I don't know what it is, but it's not one of ours' was the stock answer to the inevitable question. Word got around and people would swing by to take a look, even when they had no obvious business in our section."
According to Pope, his superior officer was convinced that the object in the UFO photo was a secret, prototype aircraft from America. But after assurances from U.S. authorities that they weren't testing anything like that over the United Kingdom, Pope's boss took the poster down and locked it away somewhere.
"The original photos were sent to the defense intelligence staff, who then sent them on to imagery analysts at the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Center," said Pope, at right. "At the time, [the Ministry of Defence] hadn't even publicly acknowledged that there was any intelligence interest in UFOs. Though we'd never say so publicly, the bottom line was that we wanted the technology. It was better than anything we had and we wanted it for our own military aircraft and drones."
"I would not put myself in the [UFO] believer camp," Pope said. "But if I was going to end up there, this case, in terms of evidence, would give me a big push in that direction."
Why does this UFO story continue to surface every few years? Because like the legendary tales of the Roswell, N.M., UFO crash of 1947 or the infamous top-secret world of Area 51 in the Nevada desert, some mysteries are not easily put to rest.
With eyewitness accounts, high-level government interest and the sudden disappearance of the visual forms of evidence (the photos and negatives), the 1990 incident has all the ingredients that UFO legends are made of.
Most UFOs can be easily explained. Check out these scenarios:
Loading Slideshow
Lanterns
These candle-lit Chinese lanterns can rise high into the sky and are often mistaken for UFOs.
Melbourne, Australia, Feb. 2013
This is a composite image of how three alleged UFOs maneuvered about in the sky over Melbourne, Australia, in early February, 2013. The final verdict isn't in yet on whether they're birds, aircraft, balloons, bugs or something truly unidentified.
Exploding Weather Balloons, Not UFOs
On Dec. 20, 2012, a bright, circular object (pictured at the top of this composite image) was videotaped exploding in the skies above Sacramento, Calif. It wasn't immediately identified, resulting in speculation that it was either an alien spacecraft, military top secret weapon, runaway planet, North Korean satellite, among others. Within a short period of time, it became apparent that this was a weather balloon. The bottom part of this image shows such a balloon as it ascended over Tampa Bay, Fla., on July 2, 2012, and exploded in an identical manner as the Sacramento object, probably much to the dismay of all true ET believers out there.
Boomerang UFO composite images -- 10-5-12
This is a composite of images shot by two eyewitnesses of a boomerang-shaped UFO they reported seeing over their Burbank, Calif., home on Oct. 5, 2012. Mutual UFO Network photo/video analyst Marc Dantonio concluded the object was likely "a balloon, floating on the wind that has collapsed in half."
Changing UFO Pattern -- Warren, Mich. 1-10-13
This four-image series of lights in the sky was recorded over Warren, Mich., on Jan. 10, 2013. The lights were seen changing into several patterns. The most logical explanation for these types of UFOs is a series of balloons or lanterns.
UFOs Over Earth
This composite image shows four different times that alleged UFO were photographed above Earth by either space shuttles or the International Space Station. The big question is whether or not they are truly unidentified objects or if they are more likely reflections from spacecraft windows, meteors or fast-moving spacecraft-generated debris.
Pink UFOs Or Lens Flares?
What appear to be pink-red UFOs are actually lens flares from the Google Earth street view camera as it snapped images in Texas (left) and New Mexico (right).
Lens flares Arizona
These two flying saucer-shaped, pink-colored lens flares were created by the Google Maps camera as it drove through locations in Sedona, Ariz. (left) and Flagstaff, Ariz. (right). The images were snapped in April 2009. Submitted to HuffPost by trenna.
Lens flare Whiteriver, Ariz.
This skybound lens flare was created by a Google Maps camera in June 2008 over Whiteriver, Ariz. Submitted to Huffington Post by Cheryl Weeks.
Lens flare Gulfport, Miss.
This very Earthbound lens flare was created by a Google Maps camera in November 2007 at Gulfport, Miss. Submitted to Huffington Post by Jenni Parker.
Lens flare Eureka Springs, Ark.
This seemingly grounded lens flare was created by a Google Maps camera in January 2008 at Eureka Springs, Ark. Submitted to Huffington Post by SE.
Lens flare Escanaba, Mich.
This lens flare appears to be following a car. The Google Maps image was created in October 2008 at Escanaba, Mich. Submitted to Huffington Post by Mary Robinson.
Cincinnati Skydivers NOT UFOs Sept. 28, 2012
On the night of Sept. 28, 2012, a group of strange-looking lights appeared in the sky near Cincinnati, Ohio. First there was one, then, two, then three lights, slowly descending. It turns out, however, that these lights were originating from a group of skydivers performing a pyrotechnics jump at the La Salle High School homecoming event.
Weather Phenomenon
Some UFO sightings may be due to a natural phenomenon known as sprites, like this one shown from 2006. "Lightning from [a] thunderstorm excites the electric field above, producing a flash of light called a sprite," said geophysicist Colin Price.
Clouds
Clouds: Saucer-shaped or "lenticular" clouds that form at high altitudes have been confused with UFOs.
Blimps or Advertising Balloons
Blimps or advertising balloons: These can look like flying saucers from some angles, especially at night.
Sunken Ship in the Baltic Sea
On June 19th the Swedish-based diving company Ocean Explorer discovered something they've never quite seen before. They were exploring in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland looking for sunken treasures when a very unusual image suddenly appeared on the sonar. A 197 feet diameter cylinder shaped object was discovered at the depth of approximately 275 feet which resembles the Millennium Falcon from the movie Star Wars.
Baltic Sea UFO 1
An image released on June 15, 2012, shows a close-up view of the unidentified object sitting on the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
Baltic Sea UFO 2
Close-up of rock bed that forms the Baltic Sea UFO, which still mystifies researchers.
Baltic Sea UFO 3
One of several odd stone circle formations, sitting on top of the unidentified object at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
Antarctic UFO -- Aug. 10, 2012
A circular UFO hovers above the Neumayer-Station III research facility in Antarctica on Aug. 10, 2012. Theories ranging from a simple weather balloon to a more elaborate ship from another planet have run the Internet gamut. The next slide shows a closeup of the object.
Antarctic UFO Closeup -- Aug. 10, 2012
This is a closeup of the UFO from the previous slide. No official explanation has been offered about the object.
Manufactured UFO -- 2011
Pictured is a quad copter -- a deliberately manufactured UFO created by special effects wizard Marc Dantonio for a National Geographic special, "The Truth Behind: UFOs," which aired in December 2011. On the left is what the small device looks like resting on the ground, measuring 4 feet in circumference. At right, is how it appeared behind a tree in the night sky.
Police Dashboard Camera In Texas
In February of 2012, this fireball was captured by a Texas police chief's A dashboard camera. F.A.A. say this was probably a meteor, falling to Earth. .
Meteors
Meteors: Space debris can create a spectacular light show when it burns through the Earth's atmosphere, and sometimes reported as UFOs.
Civilian or Military Aircraft
Civilian or military aircraft: Planes can look mysterious at night or in certain light conditions, thus confusing an observer.
CORRECTION: In a previous version of this story, we had the word "infantry" instead of the correct "inventory," which now appears.
It was said to be one of the best photos of a UFO, and a poster-size image of it hung on a wall of Britain's Ministry of Defence. But then, at some point between 1991 to 1994, it vanished, gone, never...
It was said to be one of the best photos of a UFO, and a poster-size image of it hung on a wall of Britain's Ministry of Defence. But then, at some point between 1991 to 1994, it vanished, gone, never...
By Alessandro Speciale Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) Two weeks before Pope Benedict XVI was scheduled to touch down in Cuba, a small group...
Unusual things in the California skies -- daytime and nighttime -- have people asking whether UFOs are responsible for what seems like extra air traffic....
Source: SWNS Former American President Dwight D Eisenhower had three secret meetings with aliens from another planet, a former US government consultant has claimed....
During the first week of 2012, UFO reports streamed in from around the world as numerous eyewitnesses described and videotaped strange things in the sky....
"Record numbers" of aliens and UFO sightings have been reported in the mystical county of Somerset, after a Freedom of Information request by the Somerset...
In a sense, then, Pope Shenouda came to personify the collective struggles of the Copts -- and so his death has likewise been felt especially deeply by the community as a whole.
I say to skeptics, just do your own research. And if you can't find the answers, maybe you are only looking for answers that suit your understanding, which will not work. None of the answers you find will fit into your existing world view. You'll have to suspend your beliefs, your upbringing, your education, your knowledge of physics while you find out.
If volumes of videos, photos, hundreds and thousands of worldwide personal accounts and those of eye witnesses, including former govt agents and military members, do nothing for you, then that's a lot of people who are liars and hallucinating about the same thing.
Remember, truth is not based on a popularity vote. Neither is it going to come in a handy neat textbook distributed by your schoolteacher. It definitely is not going to be announced on CNN or the White House.
The biggest obstacle to all of this is actually not lack of evidence as much as fear. Fear of losing one's long-held beliefs, knowledge, and understanding if one were to accept aliens and UFOs as real. Because upon accepting they are real, one finds out their agenda, and upon finding out, one is entering the arena of total dissolution of anything and everything that you have been brought up to believe and accept as true.
If this is something you are not ready for, it is much easier to just deny and be a skeptic.
aqua0: I say to skeptics, just do your own research. And
it only makes sense if you go by the numbers that there are other planets with intelligent life. our space programs are only about 60 yrs old and look how far weve advanced. if one of those other planets say had a thousand yr jump on us with their space programs pure logic would tell us yes they have been here. to take it one step further if they are that advanced what would they want or learn from us..?? my take on it is were so backwards that their just gathering science and buzzing on by.
Ralph_Preta: it only makes sense if you go by the numbers
I Handpainted some murals once at a Mexican Restaurant and while there for a few weeks........ I happened to share with the owner there my experience with having seen 6 UFO's and found that he too had seen some in WA.........he had been afraid to even talk about it although his entire family had seen the UFO's as well.......he said he was afraid that as a business owner, people would think he was crazy........
Denisehh3: I Handpainted some murals once at a Mexican Restaurant and
I saw SOMETHING. Not terribly long ago. I had just turned into my neighborhood at about dusk and there was a huge craft of some kind so close over my car that I flinched. The lights caught my eye and caused me to look up. There was no noise. I thought 'life as we've known it is over'. I just wanted to get home to get my dogs, ran in the house, out onto the deck to watch the thing from my house and there was nothing there. I didn't tell anyone because who would you tell when it isn't there any more? I had not been drinking, wasn't sleepy, and still recall what it looked like. I don't think it was my imagination.
irishcreme: I saw SOMETHING. Not terribly long ago. I had just
I want one. I would love to tease and mess with the different militaries around the world that couldn't touch me in my amazing flying machine.
What a hoot. Beep Beep see you later losers schooom
Bartolo27: I want one. I would love to tease and mess
I have had two close encounters with this type of elongated diamond UFO. One of those close encounters included abduction.
The craft/UFO..if the same..belongs to the species that we know as the greys.
I have never heard of the image taken..and would love to see it. The "drawing" that represents it that we are shown..is the same craft in shape.
I know that the world is being lied to..and the truth of UFO and ET was never meant to be unknown to us..
If people only knew....this world would have been far different than what we face today.
If you Google taken by the the greys you can learn more of what I know from experience and close sightings.
Todd_R: I have had two close encounters with this type of
Just wondering if you care to answer, do you recall the abduction and what they did? Most greys are interested in biological samples and they target people with certain DNA or biological makeup (I don't know the details). You know about the hybrid program, engineering new "species" of people who are more intelligent, less emotional, with more mental capabilities.
aqua0: Just wondering if you care to answer, do you recall
Hi..if you google or whatever "taken by the greys" you will get much of what I know from my blog..If you need..just email me with one of the addys on the blog.
Peace.
Todd_R: Hi..if you google or whatever "taken by the greys" you
I'm inclined to think we are definitely implementing advanced technology from those of other extraterrestrial civilizations.......we just haven't admitted to that just yet.......
Denisehh3: I'm inclined to think we are definitely implementing advanced technology
My Mother and I also saw one in the mid- 60's, hovering over a church right across the street from us. It sat there for over an hour, sometime after midnight.
Its was the typical round, domed ship with multicolored flashing lights, like LEDS, around the wider edge.
It too was totally silent. We could still keep our windows open at night then, so any noise it made we would have heard, and I remember it was the silence that made it so eerie to me.
It would zip from side to side very quickly, and when it left, it zoomed straight up and was gone in less than a second.
Why such a thing would hover over a building in a totally Beaver Cleaver neighborhood like that still mystifies me, and is actually scarier than the fact that we witnessed a UFO.
We've had our share of scoffers, too, but we know what we saw, and theres no taking it back. There was a radio show here in the 80's that asked for people to call in and describe any incidents they witnessed, and there were quite a few. They all described the same thing.
I think its fear that makes people reject our stories.
We are used to being the big dogs in our Universe, the idea that we may just be yapping puppies in the Universal scheme of thngs is just too much to handle.
ttigerlilyx2: My Mother and I also saw one in the mid-
Lol! Thank you, thats great!
All the negative nastiness from others and you ask about my windows!
Fanned with pleasure!
Well, God Bless you, I dont know where you live if you can still keep yours open at night without being barred, but here, sadly, its an invitation to burglary or assault or worse.
Also I have terrible allergies now, and my city has moved up to the #6 spot for being the worst place to live if you have allergies.
ttigerlilyx2: Lol! Thank you, thats great! All the negative nastiness from
Science will take UFOs seriously when some actual evidence appears. Nick Pope claiming to have seen a poster that no-one has a copy of isn't going to get researchers booking telescope time in a hurry. Poor old Nick is something of a true believer about these things.
Hugo808: Science will take UFOs seriously when some actual evidence appears.
Scientific theory is systematic observation, measurement, and experimentation, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.
Every new discovery re-writes what Science knows. Pluto's not a planet anymore... We now know earth isn't unique; they are backlogged for years just going through the planets we've discovered ... we've found water on the moon, several of Jupiter's moons and possibly on Mars (we know it had water).
When we find a single confirmed alien microbe on a meteorite, life in the Universe will suddenly go (according to Science) from just us to countless numbers.
There are around a trillion stars in our galaxy (a few less), and the current Galaxy count is over 200 Billion ... a single microbe finding it's way to the 3rd planet around a random star is so improbable, that Science must conclude that life exists in great numbers.
If only 1% of Galaxies have a solar system that supports life. And 1% of those solar systems had even basic life, and 1% of those had complex life forms, and 1% of those had intelligent life, and 1% of those had advanced into space with warp drive ... there'd be thousands of space faring civilizations in the universe...though distances are so vast, i still think it improbable they'd make it here... but what do i know?
yellowbusdriver: Scientific theory is systematic observation, measurement, and experimentation, and the
"Most UFOs can be easily explained." This is a canard for the easily led, meant to distract them from the uncomfortable fact that a certain percentage of UFO sightings cannot be explained away at all, and that the higher the quality of the sighting, the more likely it is that a UFO is the only thing that fits the description. It's incredibly easy to dismiss the whole idea of UFOs -- right up until the moment you see one.
salamanca1: "Most UFOs can be easily explained." This is a canard
It's really wishful thinking. The few sitings that aren't explained aren't that fascinating--they aren't explained because there isn't even enough evidence of the siting to make a good evaluation of what really happened. I can't explain a lot of things I hear--simply because there is nothing to go on.
SkyCap: It's really wishful thinking. The few sitings that aren't explained
No, trust me, what we saw wasnt wishful thinking.
I woke up late one night and couldnt go back to sleep. I was just bored, looking out of the window, wishing I could go back to sleep when I saw a UFO hovering over the church across the street.
I went and woke my Mother up to show her, and ask what it was.
We watched it for about an hour. Thats not wishful thinking, it was cold reality.
I couldnt imagine LED type lights back then,(1960's) and helicopters couldnt hover so steadily in one place for so long, in total silence, plus it was clearly round.
As far as evidence goes, what? Do you expect them to write 'Spock was here" somewhere? I never saw a dodo bird, but eyewitness accounts and drawings of them at the time is proof enough they existed.
There is plenty of evidence, if you just keep an open mind.
The enormous leap in technology in the last 100 years, as opposed to the crawling thousands of years it took to develop even a steam engine, tells me we've had help (willing or not).
To go from Henry Ford's automobile to todays Stealth fighters in the same century? Americans are the distillation of the worlds best and brightest races, but I'm just not buying that all this came about as an outgrowth from WW1 and WW2 technology.
Being an American, I'd like to, really, but its just not logical or probable.
ttigerlilyx2: No, trust me, what we saw wasnt wishful thinking. I
Loading comments… 
Posted: 03/19/2012 2:08 pm Updated: 03/22/2012 5:33 pm