First guest Chris Williams is the organizer of Weird a not for profit organization of volunteers who stage monthly talks, paranormal investigations and an annual conference in Warminster, Wiltshire. Chris also produces a weekly podcast show called Clear Air Turbulence.Our aim is to present a balanced view on all manner of fortean subject matters through our events. Our conference is at the heart of our activities and last year attracted a large crowd to the atmospheric Athenaeum Theatre in Warminster.

UK UFO FILES

Second guest former leader of the UK's UFO Project, Nick Pope joined host Kevin Moore to discuss recent disclosures from the British Ministry of Defense. This sweeping release of UFO information by the UK government allows for researchers to "go to the raw data," he said, encouraging people to investigate the dedicated website put together by the British National Archives for the files.

Pope explained some of the reasons why the UK government decided to release the files. One such motivating factor was to quell the FOIA requests about UFO files that the Ministry of Defense had become inundated with over the last few years. Additionally, last year's release of UFO documents in France created pressure on the British to do the same, he said. Demonstrating the MOD's commitment to open government and attempts to avoid the speculation of a UFO cover-up were also elements that led to the disclosure.

He indicated that the first batch of documents to be released covers the years 1979 to 1984. Pope said that this first group consists of only 8 files which "sounds small, but when you get into it, some of the files contain over 450 pages of documentation." He surmised that, in total, this first wave of files contained over 2,000 pages of material. While Pope cautioned that most of the material consisted of mundane sightings reports, he also said that "there are some fascinating cases in there."

Looking ahead to the future, Pope indicated that this is the beginning of an ongoing process and that there are more files to be released over the next four years. The reason behind this gradual release of the files is that the Ministry of Defense must redact some information for National Security purposes and to protect the privacy of people who reported witnessing UFOs. Despite these issues, he expects "a half a dozen or so files to be released each month."