Calvine Photo Incident — Nick Pope and the MoD UFO Desk
| Incident Name: | The Calvine Photo |
|---|---|
| Incident Date: | August 4, 1990 |
| Location: | Scottish Highlands |
| City/Town : | Calvine |
| Country : | Scottland |
| Shape : | Diamond-shaped |
| Case Files : | Calvine Photo Incident Case Files |
Calvine Photo Incident — Nick Pope and the MoD UFO Desk
[edit | edit source]Profile
[edit | edit source]| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Nick Pope |
| MoD role | Ran the Ministry of Defence UFO desk (Secretariat Air Staff 2a) from 1991 to 1994 |
| Security clearance | Top Secret / SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information) during MoD tenure |
| First book | Open Skies, Closed Minds (1996) — first public mention of the Calvine incident |
| Role in Calvine case | Had access to the Calvine files including original photographs during his MoD tenure; had an enlarged poster of the best photograph on his office wall until it was removed by superiors |
| 2015 reconstruction | Worked with a graphic artist to recreate the best Calvine image for a TV documentary; the reconstruction based on his personal recollection and the MoD file photocopies |
| Relationship with Clarke | Consulted by Clarke throughout the investigation; acknowledges awareness of the name Kevin Russell but declines to comment |
| Position on photograph | States the photographs are genuine; confirmed by JARIC analysis; no signs of forgery |
| Position on identity | Aware of the name Kevin Russell in relation to the case; refused to comment on any specific names in the February 2025 Guardian interview |
Pope's Access to the Calvine Materials
[edit | edit source]When Nick Pope joined the MoD UFO desk in 1991, the Calvine case had already been in official custody for approximately a year. Pope had access to:
- The case file including the Sec(AS) briefing and DI55 materials
- Original colour prints from the photographs — which he describes as clear and of high quality
- An enlarged, poster-sized colour print of the best image, which was displayed on the wall of the UFO desk's briefing room
Pope has stated that two other former MoD colleagues who also saw the original photographs have confirmed that the 2015 graphic reconstruction he produced is "a very close match" to the originals.
The Poster and Its Removal
[edit | edit source]The poster-sized print of the best Calvine image that Pope had on display in his briefing room was removed at some point during his 1991–1994 tenure. His superiors told him the case was closed and no further action was to be taken. This instruction — delivered without an official conclusion on the case's subject matter — is the most direct personal testimony of deliberate institutional suppression.
Pope later observed that even at Top Secret / SCI clearance level, the compartmentalised nature of black project programs means that an MoD official would not necessarily be cleared to know about a classified US aircraft even at that classification level. This is his primary explanation for how the investigation could have reached no official conclusion even within the security establishment.
The 1996 Book and Parliamentary Question
[edit | edit source]Pope's 1996 book "Open Skies, Closed Minds"*** provided the first public account of the Calvine incident. The book's manuscript underwent MoD security vetting prior to publication — a standard requirement for serving and former MoD officials writing about their work. The book's publication was followed by a Parliamentary question about the Calvine incident in 1996.
The 2015 Reconstruction
[edit | edit source]In 2015, working on a TV documentary (the episode "Alien Cover-Up" for an unspecified documentary series), Pope worked with a graphic artist to recreate the best Calvine image based on his personal recollection and the photocopies available in the National Archives. This reconstructed image was subsequently republished in various media outlets including HuffPost, where it was mistaken by some for a genuine photograph. Pope has clarified that it is a reconstruction.
The 2025 Guardian Interview
[edit | edit source]In a February 2025 Guardian story, Pope acknowledged being aware of the name Kevin Russell in relation to the Calvine case but refused to comment on this or any other specific names. This statement — made years after the photographs became public — suggests Pope retains knowledge of the case's witness identity that he has chosen not to disclose publicly.
