I was (for a short period of time in 1988) a state section director for MUFON until I was asked to appear at the 1989 MUFON Symposium and present my research on human mutes by the then State Director for Nevada-MUFON John Lear. The then International Director, Mr. Walt Andrus, was not happy because Lears guests ran counter to what Andrus and the then MUFON Board was pushing. Andrus approached me at the symposium and informed me that if I spoke, he would make sure I never spoke at another MUFON event. Well I did speak and I have never again been invited to a MUFON event. Well, it <appears> that things have not changed much with MUFON in the years since.
Tonight on Dark Matters Radio- former (fired State Director of Utah) Elaine Douglas and (fired State Director of Texas) Ken Cherry will be on DMR to discuss what has been going wrong at MUFON. Below is the letter Elaine Douglas has just published.
Decker
From: ELAINE DOUGLASS
Dear MUFON Colleague:
Last week, Leslie Varnicle, State Director of Colorado and a
41-year-member of MUFON, was fired by CLIFFORD CLIFT. Many of you have
seen Leslie's tireless work at the MUFON annual symposia. She was head
of a vibrant state chapter with more than 160 members and a $20,000
kitty. She was the originator of the webinar concept in MUFON; she spent
thousands of dollars of her own money for equipment for her state; she
is a MUFON "Benefactor."
WHY did Clift and the MUFON Board fire Leslie Varnicle and demote this
41 year member to the status of "Journal subscriber"? No one knows! But
we do know this: a whole lot of people think it was WRONG.
And Leslie is NOT only SD fired. This month the SD of Oklahoma, Marilyn
Carlson, a 20-year member, resigned rather than be fired. Christine
Dickey, a 15-year member and SD of Arizona, asked for a leave of absence
and was fired instead. Elaine Douglass, a 25-year-member and SD of Utah,
was also fired.
That makes FOUR (4) high-performing, long time, highly experienced STATE
DIRECTORS arbitrarily FIRED or PUSHED OUT by the MUFON hierarchy for
unknown or insufficient reasons.
In response to these, and many, many other disturbing events and trends
in MUFON, a handful of us have formed "The Committee to Reform MUFON."
We are writing to you now to let you know of these outrageous firings
and most important to send you the enclosed "Petition to the Board of
Directors and the International Director of MUFON." We ask you to read
the four points of the Petition (below), consider them carefully, and
sign and return the Petition to this e-mail address in the next 3 days.
PETITION ITEM #1: Calls for a New democratic corporate structure of
MUFON in which the Board of Directors will be voted upon by all members
of MUFON with the rank of field investigator and above. Under MUFON's
current structure, MUFON is a 501©3 non-profit corporation with 12
members—the 12 members of the Board. These individuals appoint
themselves and no one in MUFON has any say about who is on the Board or
what policies they pursue. There is no accountability of the Board to
the 2800 Members of MUFON.
Accordingly, Petition Item 1 calls for a new corporate document and
structure in which individuals throughout MUFON would be eligible to run
for the Board, and Members of MUFON with the rank of field investigator
and up could vote for each person running. As for the current members of
the MUFON Board, they would be free to run for election along with
everyone else.
PETITION ITEM #2: Calls for the ID to cease arbitrary personnel
practices and instead develop and use due process in all personnel
matters. "Due process" means procedures which are fair, thorough and
transparent. Here is the letter Elaine Douglass sent the ID when she
was FIRED:
Dear CLIFF:
Let's see if I understand this. The accused is NOT informed of what the
charges are against her, she is NOT allowed to confront her accusers,
she is NOT questioned as part of the investigation, she is NOT allowed
to know what evidence was presented against her, she is NOT permitted to
defend herself, and in the end she is CONVICTED! But she's NOT told what
she's been convicted of!
Did I miss something?
ELAINE DOGLASS
This letter captures what it is like when there is no "due process."
This practice must be stopped! It has created a climate of fear and
intimidation throughout MUFON in which people are afraid even to ask
questions about MUFON policy for fear they will be fired.
PETITION ITEM #3: Without going into detail, we know of instances
where "Benefactors" — persons who contributed $1,000 to MUFON and were
given Lifetime memberships — were stripped that status. The granting
of a Lifetime membership is a contract which MUFON may not unilaterally
renounce.
PETITION ITEM #4: Calls on the MUFON Board to do high level fund
raising. High level fund raising is the prime activity of the board of
any well-run non-profit. As far as we can see, the MUFON Board engages
in no high level fund raising and we don't know why. We know of three
offers to help with fund raising which were turned down.
Item 4 also reads " ... with the stipulation that all sources of funding
to MUFON embrace MUFON's mission of publication and transparency of all
data collected by the Members of MUFON." This refers to the well-known
recent debacle in which the MUFON Board sold MUFON's data and the
services of our investigators to another organization that definitely
did not respect MUFON's mission.
The Committee to Reform MUFON knows there are many things wrong with
MUFON not captured in the Petition. For example, it has come to our
attention MUFON headquarters is now reaching down into the state
chapters — without the knowledge or approval of the SDs — and is
investigating individuals, and appointing and firing individuals to
positions in the states.
Will all the Members of MUFON sign the Petition? Probably not. However,
not everyone in MUFON has to sign it for the Petition to have a major
impact. Our question to you is: Will YOU sign the Petition?
Please do! Return the Petition with your name and address by replying to
this email address in the next three (3) days. To sign the Petition,
hit the reply button to this email and type in your name and postal
address on the front of the email. When you do this, you will be adding
your name to the Petition. Together let us take this step to save MUFON.
Sincerely yours,
The Committee to Reform MUFON
° Elaine Douglass, Utah
° Bill McNeff , Minnesota
° Marilyn Carlson, Oklahoma
° Marlee Spendlove , Utah
Petition from: The Members of MUFON
To: The Board of Directors of MUFON and The International Director:
1) WHEREAS the Mission of MUFON is of the utmost importance to ALL
humankind, whereas MUFON is the largest and best known international
ufological investigative organization, whereas the duties of the Members
of MUFON require a significant commitment, the current undemocratic
governance structure of MUFON is unsatisfactory as a vehicle for the
expression of the aspirations of the Members.
THEREFORE, we the undersigned Members of MUFON call upon the 12 Members
of the Board of Directors of MUFON to terminate the current legal
corporate structure of MUFON (in which the Board is self-appointing) and
replace the corporate structure with a new legal incorporation in which
the Members of the Board of Directors will be chosen by vote of the
Members of MUFON having the rank of Field Investigator and above.
2) WHEREAS the arbitrary dismissal of MUFON officers by the
International Director is harmful to MUFON in many ways, THEREFORE we
the undersigned Members of MUFON call upon the International Director to
institute, publish and follow due process procedures in connection with
the dismissal of any officer of MUFON having the rank of Field
Investigator and above.
3) WHEREAS Life Membership in exchange for a financial contribution
(Benefactor status) represents a contract between MUFON and the Member,
THEREFORE the contract shall not be broken except in extremis.
4) WHEREAS MUFON cannot fulfill its mission without adequate funding,
THEREFORE we the undersigned Members of MUFON call upon the Board of
Directors of MUFON to pursue a program of professional-level fund
raising to obtain sources of funding among foundations, wealthy
individuals and the like, with the stipulation that all sources of
funding to MUFON embrace MUFON's mission of publication and transparency
of all data collected by the Members of MUFON.
Those eligible to sign this Petition include all current dues-paid
Members of MUFON.
Tonight on Dark Matters Radio- former (fired State Director of Utah) Elaine Douglas and (fired State Director of Texas) Ken Cherry will be on DMR to discuss what has been going wrong at MUFON. Below is the letter Elaine Douglas has just published.
Decker
From: ELAINE DOUGLASS
Dear MUFON Colleague:
Last week, Leslie Varnicle, State Director of Colorado and a
41-year-member of MUFON, was fired by CLIFFORD CLIFT. Many of you have
seen Leslie's tireless work at the MUFON annual symposia. She was head
of a vibrant state chapter with more than 160 members and a $20,000
kitty. She was the originator of the webinar concept in MUFON; she spent
thousands of dollars of her own money for equipment for her state; she
is a MUFON "Benefactor."
WHY did Clift and the MUFON Board fire Leslie Varnicle and demote this
41 year member to the status of "Journal subscriber"? No one knows! But
we do know this: a whole lot of people think it was WRONG.
And Leslie is NOT only SD fired. This month the SD of Oklahoma, Marilyn
Carlson, a 20-year member, resigned rather than be fired. Christine
Dickey, a 15-year member and SD of Arizona, asked for a leave of absence
and was fired instead. Elaine Douglass, a 25-year-member and SD of Utah,
was also fired.
That makes FOUR (4) high-performing, long time, highly experienced STATE
DIRECTORS arbitrarily FIRED or PUSHED OUT by the MUFON hierarchy for
unknown or insufficient reasons.
In response to these, and many, many other disturbing events and trends
in MUFON, a handful of us have formed "The Committee to Reform MUFON."
We are writing to you now to let you know of these outrageous firings
and most important to send you the enclosed "Petition to the Board of
Directors and the International Director of MUFON." We ask you to read
the four points of the Petition (below), consider them carefully, and
sign and return the Petition to this e-mail address in the next 3 days.
PETITION ITEM #1: Calls for a New democratic corporate structure of
MUFON in which the Board of Directors will be voted upon by all members
of MUFON with the rank of field investigator and above. Under MUFON's
current structure, MUFON is a 501©3 non-profit corporation with 12
members—the 12 members of the Board. These individuals appoint
themselves and no one in MUFON has any say about who is on the Board or
what policies they pursue. There is no accountability of the Board to
the 2800 Members of MUFON.
Accordingly, Petition Item 1 calls for a new corporate document and
structure in which individuals throughout MUFON would be eligible to run
for the Board, and Members of MUFON with the rank of field investigator
and up could vote for each person running. As for the current members of
the MUFON Board, they would be free to run for election along with
everyone else.
PETITION ITEM #2: Calls for the ID to cease arbitrary personnel
practices and instead develop and use due process in all personnel
matters. "Due process" means procedures which are fair, thorough and
transparent. Here is the letter Elaine Douglass sent the ID when she
was FIRED:
Dear CLIFF:
Let's see if I understand this. The accused is NOT informed of what the
charges are against her, she is NOT allowed to confront her accusers,
she is NOT questioned as part of the investigation, she is NOT allowed
to know what evidence was presented against her, she is NOT permitted to
defend herself, and in the end she is CONVICTED! But she's NOT told what
she's been convicted of!
Did I miss something?
ELAINE DOGLASS
This letter captures what it is like when there is no "due process."
This practice must be stopped! It has created a climate of fear and
intimidation throughout MUFON in which people are afraid even to ask
questions about MUFON policy for fear they will be fired.
PETITION ITEM #3: Without going into detail, we know of instances
where "Benefactors" — persons who contributed $1,000 to MUFON and were
given Lifetime memberships — were stripped that status. The granting
of a Lifetime membership is a contract which MUFON may not unilaterally
renounce.
PETITION ITEM #4: Calls on the MUFON Board to do high level fund
raising. High level fund raising is the prime activity of the board of
any well-run non-profit. As far as we can see, the MUFON Board engages
in no high level fund raising and we don't know why. We know of three
offers to help with fund raising which were turned down.
Item 4 also reads " ... with the stipulation that all sources of funding
to MUFON embrace MUFON's mission of publication and transparency of all
data collected by the Members of MUFON." This refers to the well-known
recent debacle in which the MUFON Board sold MUFON's data and the
services of our investigators to another organization that definitely
did not respect MUFON's mission.
The Committee to Reform MUFON knows there are many things wrong with
MUFON not captured in the Petition. For example, it has come to our
attention MUFON headquarters is now reaching down into the state
chapters — without the knowledge or approval of the SDs — and is
investigating individuals, and appointing and firing individuals to
positions in the states.
Will all the Members of MUFON sign the Petition? Probably not. However,
not everyone in MUFON has to sign it for the Petition to have a major
impact. Our question to you is: Will YOU sign the Petition?
Please do! Return the Petition with your name and address by replying to
this email address in the next three (3) days. To sign the Petition,
hit the reply button to this email and type in your name and postal
address on the front of the email. When you do this, you will be adding
your name to the Petition. Together let us take this step to save MUFON.
Sincerely yours,
The Committee to Reform MUFON
° Elaine Douglass, Utah
° Bill McNeff , Minnesota
° Marilyn Carlson, Oklahoma
° Marlee Spendlove , Utah
Petition from: The Members of MUFON
To: The Board of Directors of MUFON and The International Director:
1) WHEREAS the Mission of MUFON is of the utmost importance to ALL
humankind, whereas MUFON is the largest and best known international
ufological investigative organization, whereas the duties of the Members
of MUFON require a significant commitment, the current undemocratic
governance structure of MUFON is unsatisfactory as a vehicle for the
expression of the aspirations of the Members.
THEREFORE, we the undersigned Members of MUFON call upon the 12 Members
of the Board of Directors of MUFON to terminate the current legal
corporate structure of MUFON (in which the Board is self-appointing) and
replace the corporate structure with a new legal incorporation in which
the Members of the Board of Directors will be chosen by vote of the
Members of MUFON having the rank of Field Investigator and above.
2) WHEREAS the arbitrary dismissal of MUFON officers by the
International Director is harmful to MUFON in many ways, THEREFORE we
the undersigned Members of MUFON call upon the International Director to
institute, publish and follow due process procedures in connection with
the dismissal of any officer of MUFON having the rank of Field
Investigator and above.
3) WHEREAS Life Membership in exchange for a financial contribution
(Benefactor status) represents a contract between MUFON and the Member,
THEREFORE the contract shall not be broken except in extremis.
4) WHEREAS MUFON cannot fulfill its mission without adequate funding,
THEREFORE we the undersigned Members of MUFON call upon the Board of
Directors of MUFON to pursue a program of professional-level fund
raising to obtain sources of funding among foundations, wealthy
individuals and the like, with the stipulation that all sources of
funding to MUFON embrace MUFON's mission of publication and transparency
of all data collected by the Members of MUFON.
Those eligible to sign this Petition include all current dues-paid
Members of MUFON.
