David Clarke and Nick Pope - For heaven's sake make up!

I see that there's been an exchange of fire between two of Britain's 'UFO experts' recently, especially coming on the heels of the final release of the MOD's UFO Files.

The Huffington Post article by Lee Speigel gives a good summary so far of these two having come to blows.

Whilst, I tend to favour Pope's view - and those of others such as Timothy Good - that these are not all the files that the relevant UK authorities possess concerning UFOs (note I'm not specifically concerned with just MOD's files here), I do wish these two would try and settle their differences.

One of the most recent salvos in this exchange was by Pope seemingly and indirectly referring to Clarke as a 'useful idiot' (which was in both the Reuters and UFOs and Nukes articles I referred to in my last post), which I thought was unkind given Clarke's work to have the MOD files released. Pope now appears to have offered an apology for his remark. It also doesn't help matters that - if certain claims being made about him are true - Pope might not have been the UFO sceptic he maintained he was before working for the MOD (the HuffPost article by Lee Speigel gives details).

As Lee says in his article:-

"If there are any losers here, it must be the public, for the confusion this has brought up. After tens of thousands of pages of UFO files have been released by the U.K., who are we supposed to believe about how significant (or not) those documents really are?"

The two protagonists - like many others in the UFO community - seem more concerned with attacking each other (and perhaps protecting their own reputations) than making a collective effort to continue to search for answers.

Despite the arguments put forward by both supporters and sceptics generally, the phenomenon of UFOs and UAP persists. Of those cases that come to light, there are still a significant number that cannot be put down to chinese lanterns, balloons, experimental aircraft, drones, meteorological or astronomical phenomena, the mental state of observers etc.

The observable universe apparently stubbonly refuses to fit into the neat world-view of either hardened sceptics or avid supporters. In addition, whilst I favour 'cock-up' or 'WYSIWYG' (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) rather than 'conspiracy' to explain much Government activity, it would be foolish to think that any Government is entirely 'open' or 'transparent' on a topic such as this.

Still both Clarke and Pope - whatever flaws they might be considered by some to have (including each other) - are well-known and dare I say, respected names in the field and are bolder than I (and many like me), by publicly having just such an association with the UFO phenomenon, whilst I - through necessity - must remain anonymous.

That is why I think it is important that they acknowledge their differences in a mature, gentlemanly fashion and just try to get along.

Recommended Reading

For anyone really wanting to get to grips with the thorny topic of UFOs, the internet will have much information but will not always be reliable - and yes I am conscious of the irony of stating this in a blog! This is where good old-fashioned books can come to the rescue. There are still earnest individuals out there who are prepared to put in hundreds or thousands of hours into volumes of work which contain a rich mine of solid information on the subject.

Hence here is one of my more 'organic' posts which I will be developing as I go along simply because of the many books on UFOs that are out there. I certainly can't claim to have read all the available worthy material on the subject but here are my top choices, in no particular order, of (relatively) recent publications.


Open Skies, Closed Minds by Nick Pope

An excellent book on the phenomenon from a writer with a unique perspective on the subject - as a former M.O.D. official. It includes intriguing cases from the post-war period to the late nineties, many of which are based on eyewitness accounts by military personnel. In my view, it's a must for any reader interested in the subject of UFOs.







UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record by Leslie Kean

Written by Leslie Kean who is a U.S. journalist with impressive credentials, this book is the result of ten years research and engagement with credible professional and military witnesses. To me this gives a thorough American take on the subject and also includes fascinating cases from other countries such as Belgium, Brazil, England and France.






The UFO Files: The Inside Story of Real Life Sightings by David Clarke 

David Clarke is a senior lecturer in journalism at Sheffield Hallam University with former experience as a press reporter for local newspapers and press officer for local government. The book is an objective,  comprehensive and detailed study of the subject which includes many key UFO cases and others less well known.






UFO: The Complete Sightings Catalogue by Peter Brookesmith

From an author experienced in writing about 'paranormal' subjects, another objective and detailed repository of UFO sightings up to the mid-nineties which nobody interested in the subject should be without.  It methodically lists hundreds of cases complete with the author's own assessment of each incident.

Disclaimer

None of the above authors are personally known to me and consequently none of them have asked me to endorse their books. I am promoting these of my own volition and purely out of wish to signpost interested parties to well-written material by (in my view) serious and credible authors.