Getting involved - BUFORA, MUFON?

[Bits Missing]

I was wondering if anyone had experience of being a member of, or having worked with a UFO organisation?

I find this topic so damned frustrating at times - I listen, I read, I theorise and speculate to myself, but I'd like to get a bit more involved, to help lift this topic of the page and give me something a little bit more tangible to cogitate on.

I guess you could call me an open minded sceptic, or a critical believer - though I hate the terminology "believer" as it has too many conoctations of faith. If I had a poster of a UFO in my office it would read "I don't want to believe - I want to understand..."

I'm based in the South East UK so I immediately thought of the British UFO Research Organisation (BUFORA) but when I do see them mentioned it is not always 100% positive and I'm aware that they have had their ups and downs, reorganisations etc (as have any longstanding UFO organisation) but I'd be grateful for any of your experiences/views.

I understand MUFON has international chapters, including in the UK, but the website didn't seem to list any contact points. Any ideas?

I just think that getting involved at grass roots level and speaking to people who have experienced something, may help me go someway to resolving this enigma. Though I have a feeling it could lead me further along the yellow brick road.

Grateful for your thoughts.

 

[wicro]

Hello Bits Missing,

I have no experience of either group, but if you want to join a UK specific forum that reflects the best in 'British UFOlogy' (if there is such a thing) I suggest signing up to the UK-UFrg mail listing which you can find here . You will find many noteworthy members posting, such as Jenny Randles, Dr David Clarke and Andy Roberts along side more 'traditional E.T.H ufologist', and no Nick Pope (Although his comments in the Sun are always good for a few pages of ridicule each week!). May I also suggest the Weird Paranormal Conference as good place to meet others with similar interests. The C.A.T podcast is worth listening too for a more UK centric view point, although they are off air at the moment. Sorry its no help to original query but hopefully some of the suggestions will be useful.

Ewen

 

[Ron Collins]

MUFON is OK as long as you aren't expecting too much. Each MUFON chapter is its own entity and only shares the barest minimum with the national group. By that I mean they share information and have a standardized field investigator program that is "supposed" to facilitate a uniform data collection model. For the most part, it is a good system. It is far from perfect but at least most of the investigators try to be dispassionate fact seekers. My major problem is that there is no real data analysis methodology apart from the sad query engine provided by their site. As an investigator you get access to some other tools but they are geared toward sharing information during the data collection task and not for true correlative analysis. All this is to say that if you are looking for a way to look behind the curtain or catch a glimpse of the big picture then joining MUFON will not help you.

But, if you are looking for a conversational outlet, anecdotal hearsay, or just want to contribute to the information gathering (become a field investigator) then it is a fine organization to join. The National conventions are pretty good and usually don't attract too much of the tin foil hat crowd. A word of caution though, there absolutely will be whack-jobs at the local meetings. You will hear things that will make you shake your head in frustration. At one meeting a few years ago I had a guy telling me about psychic channeling with a Sasquatch that lived in Northern California. Recently I heard a story from a woman that claimed to be engaged in conversation with a "human appearing" thin man in a suit at a copy shop in the mid 80's. Apparently, he told her that the U.S. should stop nuclear proliferation and take care of the environment. Then he walked outside and "disappeared". It was a pointless story but she managed to use it to segue into her being psychic and therefore able to communicate with the aliens. Also, these groups tend not to hear a theory or a theorist they don't like. Greer, Lear, Hoagland, and other con artists will be mentioned lockstep with Friedman, Hynek, and Vallée. As long as you are able to ignore or accept this aspect of it you will be fine.

I like going to the national conventions. Typically 60 to 70 percent of the attendees exercise logic and reason when looking into these subjects. You do hear some obvious B.S. but you also hear some good things and new angles to investigations.

Anyway, I hope that helped.

 

[trainedobserver]

Whoa! I was at the lecture where the woman told the copy store story! She was also kind enough to tell everyone they should watch Dan Burisch's stargate video! I had to bite my tongue to prevent saying something about that nonsense.

I was the guy about midway on the left who asked Redfern about Adamski being buried in Arlington and whatnot.

I plan to attend the upcoming Stephenviille lecture in May.

 

[Simonemendez]

MUFON local groups are good for meeting other people interested in Ufos too. However, I have noticed, that they put ET-humanoids-in-galactic-spacecraft-from-other-planets as SYNONIMOUS with UFOs. When the fact is, that ---each--- 'ufo' could be it's own thing. Atmospheric anomaly, earthquake light, rientering spacejunk, etc.

 

[paraschtick]

MUFON local groups are good for meeting other people interested in Ufos too. However, I have noticed, that they put ET-humanoids-in-galactic-spacecraft-from-other-planets as SYNONIMOUS with UFOs. When the fact is, that ---each--- 'ufo' could be it's own thing. Atmospheric anomaly, earthquake light, rientering spacejunk, etc.

I was brave enough to go to a ufo group here in Christchurch, NZ about 18 months ago. The woman who ran it, 10 minutes after meeting me said something to the effect of "well I'm not normally into chanelling but ..." ... yeahhh.

That particular meeting they had some bloke lecturing on UFOs in the Bible and Genesis in particular ... okayyy.

The next week they were going to have some one else talk about UFOs and the Bible again. Hmmmm ...

Also turns out that one of the people there was the New Zealand representative for a hands on healer bloke from what country I can't remember now.

Turns out I never went again ... strange that .

 

[Ron Collins]

Whoa! I was at the lecture where the woman told the copy store story! She was also kind enough to tell everyone they should watch Dan Burisch's stargate video! I had to bite my tongue to prevent saying something about that nonsense.

I was the guy about midway on the left who asked Redfern about Adamski being buried in Arlington and whatnot.

I plan to attend the upcoming Stephenviille lecture in May.

I was the guy in the blue hat that came late. I sat in the same row as you far side right from the podium. I remember the question. I was unaware that he was buried in Arlington until you asked. I will also be that the Stephenville one. Hopefully I will see you there.

Are you a regular at the meetings or only when there is an interesting speaker/subject?

 

[trainedobserver]

Are you a regular at the meetings or only when there is an interesting speaker/subject?

The Navy hat right?

That was the only MUFON meeting I have attended. I've been considering joining the organization but I keep putting it off.

That was the first speaker/subject that interested me since I got on their mailing list. I look forward to this upcoming lecture and seeing you there. I'll wear my Soviet Space Chimp shirt so that I'll be easily recognizable.