Nick Pope, who used to run the British government's UFO project (similar to the USAF's Project Blue Book), discussed disclosure in the U.K. as well as seldom reported craft sightings by pilots and the military. Pope said out of the 200-300 UFO reports he received each year about 80% could be easily explained, 15% had insufficient data to render any conclusions, and the rest comprised what he called extremely interesting cases.
One such case occurred on November 5, 1990, Pope recalled. According to a pilot's report, Royal Air Force jets were overtaken by a large metallic object in the sky and had to take evasive action to avoid it. Pope said pilots often won't report spotting UFOs because they either don't know how to describe the objects or are frightened it could end their career. Another interesting UFO incident occurred in March 1993, Pope explained, when a massive triangular craft was seen flying over two British military bases. The object was described by air force police officers as roughly between the size of a C-130 Hercules and Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet, flying 200 feet above ground level, and traveling at 20-30 mph. Witnesses reported seeing a light beam come out of the craft, Pope added.
He also shared Britain's famous Rendlesham Forest UFO incident, which took place around Christmas 1980. According to reports, a patrol of U.S. Air Force security officers from the Bentwaters and Woodbridge bases saw lights in the forest, and upon investigating discovered a small triangular UFO maneuvering through the trees. Witnesses claim the object touched down in a clearing and patrol sergeant Jim Penniston actually touched the craft. (Penniston's sketches appear in the article below.) Pope also talked about crop circle formations.
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