Nick Pope: The Man Who Left the Mod (REGION 1) (NTSC)
directed by Philip Gardiner
Reality Films, £27.99, EAN 883629172309
If you really expect anything to be unveiled, be prepared for disappointment. There are descriptions of a number of cases that will be no revelation to anyone who has a passing familiarity with ufology, plus a little of Nick Pope’s biography as a desk jockey at the MOD, some superficial musings on psychology, and opinions on the extra-terrestrial hypothesis (“can’t be ruled out”, it’s a “possible explanation” for UFOs) at odds with his firm acceptance of it when discussing specific instances. If he has any real beans, Pope is not spilling them.There is a lot of “I can’t go into that” on defence issues, implying weighty secret knowledge, but no revelations to illuminate the UFO phenomenon. A definite mystery, though, is why an hour-long interview shot on camcorder in what is presumably a hotel room required four producers.
The makers must have been aware of the inherent dullness of the project, so Pope’s musings are subjected to tricksy camera angles and image treatment, the lot overlaid with annoying background music that sounds as though they left the radio on. As for the repeated references to being “Britain’s Fox Mulder”, that schtik is rather dated but eagerly promoted by Pope to make him seem interesting. Alas, the impression unintentionally conveyed is that Pope was given the UFO desk not as some kind of reward but because it was seen as unimportant in MOD terms, and it is a tribute to his chutzpah that he has drummed it up by portraying it as a “special position”, as it says on the cover, with himself as “chief UFO investigator”. He comes across as self-satisfied, and the film as a vanity project. The enterprise is saved, however, by the amusing UFO-themed music video tacked on the end. And a name-check for The Skeptic’s esteemed co-editor, Professor Chris French.
Tom Ruffles
