Licensed UFO Investigators

[g.gibson]

I didn't find a thread about this, but I wanted to respond to the tweet Gene sent out.

>Harrumph<

I think that David & Gene, as well as forum users and listeners, should help select a group of the very best and the very serious, and most methodical investigators known in the field. Then put the idea to this group, and have them come up with a sort of "Finding of Fact" protocol, qualification list, best practices, don't-dos and gotchas program. In essence, the very best manual, and certification program, possible on how to do this kind of forensic investigation work. To keep it out of the carnival, only the highest standards are nominal.

I think that this idea, if pursued, will go a long way toward keeping the field clear of noise and carnival barkers.

G.

 

[jimbo83478]

sounds fantastic!

 

[methshin]

I think as long as you don't b.s your way through things and claim to know exactly what's going on, you're doing okay. Whether it is what you do with all of your time, or with the free moments that present themselves, like I do.

Due to my career, I can't go off and do "investigations", though I can talk with people that do these things and also read forms of literature that are interesting.

Even though I do all of my investigating and research from an armchair, I don't think it discredits anything that I report. I understand that you have to do a lot more than what I do to be an integral part of the field, but I'm not after that, what I'm trying to do is figure what I've seen in real life and view other peices of evidence that I come across.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that a License to investigate isn't probably the best terminology or goal to set, moreover just a list of the good, the bad, and the ugly should be readily available, kinda like what ufowatchdog does.

 

[mikepc]

In my opinion, the key element in "certifying" UFO investigators is determining what scientific disciplines you would test for/against to determine if the subject were qualified to be a solid forensic analyst in this field, and what specific knowledge makes them a superior witness to an average joe off the street. Believe it or not, in my opinion, the best person to lay out a framework for scientific examination would be a lawyer who selects scientists for technology-focused trials. These are folks who not only understand the law, but what decision trees people follow to accept a fact as genuine rather than BS, and the general issues science has with the public mind. Note that the person I'm talking about is the person who would design the cerfication NOT the ufo investigator themselves. They can design a program that defines how the scientific method can be employed in UFO investigations to maximize the legitimacy of any (if any) claims that are found to be unexplainable.

In addition to defining the certification, we would also look at what infractions would cause the loss of certification (eg. hoaxes, fraud, religion etc.).

Right now the community is so fragmented and fractured that to the world it's nothing but conspiracy theorists and crackpot mysticism hippies. If we don't create a solid foundation with strong scientific principals and follow through with some kind of program like this we are doomed to being relegated to the back room forever.