Governments suppressing technology? Former MoD boss dismisses conspiracy

The Covid-19 outbreak has inadvertently reduced emissions - albeit temporarily - by causing international lockdowns.

In the past few weeks, nature has made remarkable recoveries in some corners of the planet.

In one incredible example, smog has cleared from the skies over one Indian city, allowing residents to see the Himalayas for the first time in a generation.

Meanwhile, Italians were taken back when fishes returned to the canals of Venice last month.

It ponders the question: why can't we start using more greener technology?

Well, rest assured, at least we know governments and energy companies are not hiding any away from us. That's the view of Nick Pope, a former high-ranking civil servant at the Ministry of Defence.

Profitable

On the back of this lapse in pollution, the Express & Star asked Mr Pope for his thoughts about a conspiracy theory, which claims greener technology - which could help to tackle climate change - is being hidden away.

The conspiracy theory, called Free Energy Suppression, claims that world leaders are actively concealing advanced technology for monetary purposes. This theory stretches back to the 20th century.

Alleged examples of suppressed technology include: anti-gravity propulsion [such as reversed-engineered extra-terrestrial space craft], water-powered cars, and perpetual motion machines [which can run forever without an energy source].

It claims fossil fuels - like petrol, diesel and coal - have been favoured because they are highly profitable.

If one was to study this theory, an assumption could be made that world leaders have chosen greed over the planet's health for many decades.

But, having researched this controversial subject while at the MoD, Mr Pope has poured cold water on these suggestions.

He investigated the claims while head of the MoD's UFO desk, between 1991 and 1994, which closed down for good in 2009.

Mr Pope was in charge of the desk when the 'Cosford Incident' occurred in 1993, where UFO sightings were reported at RAF Cosford near Wolverhampton.

In a revealing insight into the theory, he told the Express & Star: "When investigating UFOs for the MoD, we found ourselves the focal point for anything slightly odd for which no other home could be found.

"This included correspondence from people who claimed to have invented various weird and wonderful things that might have military applications.

"We looked at everything carefully, and, while I'm not a scientist myself, I was able to obtain expert advice from specialist scientific and technical staffs at the MoD.

"Most of the people pitching ideas and inventions were well-meaning - but wide of the mark.

"And some were probably a little crazy. But I always treated this seriously, regarding it as a classic low probability and high impact situation.

"In other words, it was probably nonsense, but if just one of these claims turned out to be true, the consequences could be immense.

"We were aware that the private sector was in the business of looking at exotic claims too.

"BAE [British Aerospace] Systems had a program called Project Greenglow that looked at ideas such as anti-gravity.

Sensitive

"In the US, Boeing had something similar, as did NASA - though they were so sensitive about accusations of wasting money on pseudo-science that they banned the term 'anti-gravity' and replaced it with 'gravity modification'."

He continued: "Through my involvement with the MoD's UFO project and my exposure to the alternative belief community, I discovered in particular that claims concerning perpetual motion machines were still popular.

"This had been a holy grail for maverick inventors for years. But these claims had resurfaced in the modern era, in a way that linked the idea with a conspiracy theory.

"Essentially, it is claimed that various free energy devices exist, but that they're being suppressed, either by the government, or by a cartel of oil and gas companies who fear being put out of business, were such technologies to become available."

In conclusion, he said: "I'm sceptical of all these claims, for two reasons.

"Firstly, the science is just plain wrong.

"Perpetual motion machines and free energy devices - which can be regarded as essentially the same thing - appear to violate some of the most fundamental scientific laws, such as the first and second laws of thermodynamics and the mass-energy equivalence principle.

"Additionally, the conspiracy theory doesn't work, because it would be in the interests of government to obtain and use such technology, if it existed.

"As for the energy companies, they'd be no more able to stop it than the horse and buggy industry was able to stop the development of the motor car: history shows us time and time again that old technologies are inevitably displaced by new ones. There's no stopping it."

To tackle climate change, mankind will surely need to find new technologies.

Whether myth or real, such technologies would be greatly welcomed in the battle against global warming.