Nick Pope, U.F.O. Sleuth Who Chased the Truth, Dies at 60

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Nick Pope, U.F.O. Sleuth Who Chased the Truth, Dies at 60

Often likened to Agent Mulder from “The X-Files,” he worked for Britain’s defense ministry and became a leading commentator on extraterrestrial matters.

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Nick Pope in an undated photo. He was a well-grounded voice of restraint on a subject that is prone to spiraling into conspiracy and spectacle.

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Chris Loomis

By

Michael S. Rosenwald

April 28, 2026

Updated

10:53 a.m. ET

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Nick Pope, who investigated U.F.O. sightings for Britain’s Ministry of Defense, a position that turned him from skeptic to believer and later made him one of the world’s most respected ufologists, often likened to F.B.I. agent Fox Mulder on “The X-Files,” died on April 6 at his home in Tucson, Ariz. He was 60.

The cause was esophageal cancer, said his wife, Elizabeth Weiss, an anthropologist whom Mr. Pope referred to as the real Dana Scully, Agent Mulder’s skeptical partner on the long-running Fox television drama about paranormal mysteries.

After leaving his U.F.O. post at the ministry in 1994, Mr. Pope appeared frequently on the History Channel documentary series “Ancient Aliens”; commented on extraterrestrial matters for TV news programs; and consulted on Hollywood projects like Steven Spielberg’s film “War of the Worlds” (2005), based on the H.G. Wells novel about a Martian invasion of Earth, and a reboot of “The X-Files.”

Mild-mannered, with a dry British wit and the genial disposition of a curious academic, Mr. Pope was a well-grounded voice of restraint on a subject often prone to spiraling into conspiracy and spectacle.

“He was smart enough to avoid the pitfalls in this field where people, if they have even a little bit of knowledge, can get really fringy and weird,” Ralph Blumenthal, a former New York Times reporter and the

author

of “The Believer” (2021), about alien encounters, said in an interview. “He kept his bearings. He had humility.”

Because of his government pedigree, Mr. Pope was a much-feted speaker on the ufology lecture circuit. Believers lined up to take selfies with him.

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