Thank You Nick Pope
Use The Farce By Ron James
February 2026
I usually try to make this column funny. At least a little bit. Occasionally I succeed. But today, I’m not really feeling very humorous. I’m feeling grateful.
There was a time when I was an armchair UFO aficionado. Even before I got into video production, I was a fan of the topic, but I wasn’t exactly involved.
I remember I used to grab copies of UFO Magazine from the bookstore. There was a column I particularly liked written by this British guy. Up in the left-hand corner was a pencil sketch drawing of him. His name was Nick Pope and he worked for the British Ministry of Defense at the so-called “UFO desk”.
(Editor’s Note: Nick Pope announced to the world on his social media accounts on Feb 12 that he had terminal cancer.)
He spoke candidly about the UFO topic, as much as he could. I found it fascinating that someone so high up in government could have frank discussions with the UFO community as a friendly voice.
I remember this column was the first thing I read when I cracked open the magazine, looking for a beacon of reason in what was and still is a treacherous sea of disinformation and far-fetched claims.
Another person who was a major influence on me at the time was Stanton Friedman. Here, we had a bonafide scientist, willing to talk about UFOs from a rational, fact-based standpoint.
To a younger Ron James, these two men were vital in nurturing and maintaining my interest in a field. I had no idea how involved in it I would one day become.
I was living in Sedona. It was sometime around 2007. My production company did a lot of live events all over the country.
Some guy named Steve Bassett was coming through town. I heard he was in the UFO field so I thought it might be fun to interview him. In the same weekend I met Pamela Ike and interviewed Carrie Cassidy.
When Bassett found out that I owned a production company, he invited me to do the live streaming and videotaping for his X-conferences. It was there, in 2008, that I met the people I had grown familiar with on my TV screen and in the books I read. They were suddenly standing beside me and in front of my cameras.
There was Stanton Friedman. There was Nick Pope. There was Richard Dolan. There was Roger Leir. There was Edgar Mitchell. There was George Knapp and George Noory. I met a very mysterious character named Colonel John Alexander, whom I have come to consider a friend as well. And I interviewed every one of them.
But I digress. Over the years, I’ve made three major UFO documentaries, including the one coming out later this year. Nick Pope has been in every major production I’ve ever made. He has never said “no” to an interview. Six times, at various locations throughout time, and the country, he sat in front of my cameras.
Over and over again I have tried to make him slip up and reveal something that he didn’t want me to know. And looking back on these interviews, I realize he was doing that all along.
That young man (me) who had no idea what direction his life was going to take was deeply influenced by Nick Pope. And now I find myself deeply engaged in trying to help answer humanity's most important question.
What an honor to be doing something like that in this life. And all I can say is “thank you” to all of the people who have helped me to become the person I am today.
I’ve spent a disproportionate amount of time sitting in front of Nick Pope, wishing he would tell me something definitive. One day I’ll release those archives.
What I didn’t realize until now is that he’s been telling us all along. It’s real. Just look at who he chose to become and the life he chose to live. I’m sure he had plenty of other things he could’ve been doing.
Congratulations, Nick. You walked the finest of lines with the epitome of class. And you will leave an indelible mark on people like me, a seeker who just wants to help.
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Ron James is an Award-Winning Documentary Filmmaker and Founder of MUFON TV. He is also a Member of the Board of Directors of The Hollywood Disclosure Alliance.
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