Ufology's focus all wrong?

[Ted Roe]

The focus is wrong because the larger society's focus is not on UFOs. You can't make people care about something that they generally ignore. Serious people will not look at the question for the reasons that Paul listed.

The other, larger problem is that the subject and its reported characteristics are not amenable to examination by the traditional tools of science and rules of proof which we currently use. Until those evolve, nothing about the popularity of the subject and some of the dorks that it attracts will change either. If that does happen, no one will care about UFO researchers anymore.

I respectfully disagree on both counts. Polls show a very high interest in UFOs by the general public. I think a Gallup Poll was done a few years ago that revealed that nearly 80% of those interviewed believe that UFO are real. Serious people do study them, you just aren't familiar with the work.
As for your comment about science, there is plenty of good science that is and can be done on this topic. The foundations of which might be found in looking at Hessdalen, Norway and the evolution of inquiry that began as eyewitness reports of UAP and led to instrumented studies and even more inquiries... Review the papers at http://www.hessdalen.org and then go to http://www.itacomm.net for more research....Check out CIPH, Google Massimo Teodorani and Renzo Cabassi for more examples of science applied effectively to UAP research. And don't forget to get current with the work by the official UAP research teams of the world like CEFAA and GEIPAN-CNES... Science has all the tools necessary to resolve this matter. Its a matter of building from foundation to advanced research. Right now we are closer to the foundational work...

I think the big problem in UFOlogy today is its ignorance about current research and its insistence on clinging to mantras like "Science doesn't care" rather than actually finding out what is being done....

 

[Frank Stalter]

I think the big problem in UFOlogy today is its ignorance about current research and its insistence on clinging to mantras like "Science doesn't care" rather than actually finding out what is being done....

I think the Kepler mission, not to mention Earth-bound exo-planet hunting astronomers, is pretty good proof that science cares about the search for ET life.

 

[Simone_m]

It's like a caveman who sees a jet liner fly over expecting that if he just gives the witch doctor enough goats, the witch doctor will be able to get the answers.

This is the best thing said, in and about ufology, I have seen so far! I have this powerful psychic feeling, that ufology needs to get away from the old idea of the U.S. President wheeling a nuts and bolts 1950's era spaceship out onto the front lawn so that the X-Conference attendees can touch it. There are things far more numerous and complex going on with those 'saucers' than meet (even!) the third eye, much less, the eye! Thats just me though.

 

[exo_doc]

. It's like a caveman who sees a jet liner fly over expecting that if he just gives the witch doctor enough goats, the witch doctor will be able to get the answers.

Wow that's quite the statement! I've thought long those lines before but was never able to put it together like that. Damn that's deep.

 

[Christopher O'Brien]

... With a funding proposal comes a background explanation of what is known and what is hoped to be learned. That would be a very short conversation in this field and probably not enough to move someone enough to drop some real money...

I disagree. For example: I think there is a very good chance that the San Luis Valley Camera Project will become funded or underwritten because it is a well-thought out, worthy project. After almost twenty-years of research and documentation, I think we have been able to establish that the region has a higher than normal incidence of activity and would be an ideal place to create a hard-data monitoring surveillance net. I think, in general, that a targeted approach to funding can work, the problem is: people who fund things also want to control and/or own them. The Bigelows of the world spring to mind. However, even that is not entirely true. Laurance Rockefeller funded me (modestly) for two years with no strings attached without my requesting funding in the first place, so there is hope. Not much, but a little...

 

[Simone_m]

What if I was to send MUFON HQs a goat?!

 

[Ted Roe]

Hi Chris,
I suppose I am a little cynical in this regard, I am directly faced with this problem of funding and the lack of enthusiasm when it comes to supporting research efforts like ours. Most of us doing this sort of work are operating on our own funds. I have thought about making our group into a membership org, I may do it as I should leave no stone unturned, but it isn't an attractive proposition. MUFON probably gets less than a dime for research out of every dollar donation as the majority of the funding goes to maintaining the org and entertaining the membership. We just don't have the time and staff to maintain members.
Personally, I need administrative staff to assist with day-to-day issues as well as international relations, etc. In ten years of asking I haven't received any response that led to a reliable and productive addition to the admin staff. I do it all myself because who really can dedicate 12hours plus a week to our program? Volunteers often show up with their own agenda and a lack of respect for managing our image. Its a tricky business and not what most UFO believers want it to be. With our growing relationships with official gov research teams we have to be very careful about who we bring on board.
The deeper problem is that what we need funding for is not research. We can do research. It requires time, an internet connection, and dialog with our team. We can do photoanalysis when relevant to our mission. We can do case investigations as well from our home computers. That is why we gathered together some experts that can apply their knowledge and write a paper. What we need funding for is travel. We need to meet and develop relationships internationally. We also need funding to promote our concerns at various aviation conferences and gatherings. We need to elevate the conversation amongst the segment that we are serving, US aviation.
Even so, we are working closely with CEFAA of Chile and have a cordial relationship with GEIPAN-CNES, two of the four official gov research teams that I am aware of. The trick will be to conduct symposia with them to compare and critique work as we develop our understanding of UAP and their various subcategories. That, again, calls for a travel budget.
In the entire history of our group we have not received one donation.... When George Filer published the pilot commentary last week about promoting the matter with the FAA and the UN ICAO, our group was not even mentioned. We have written substantial documents with both the FAA and the ICAO in mind. Dr. Haines and I flew to Mexico City on our own expense in 2004 to meet with ICAO officials. Yet, we are not known to the various pilot orgs and officials. That emphasizes the need for money to fund activism and promotion....
It seems like a Catch 22...

 

[Ted Roe]

Sure ufology,
I appreciate promotion in general. The main point is to maintain some sense of sanity. Our work is used to promote nonsense and personal beliefs that have nothing to do with our opinions or our efforts and, in many cases, are detrimental to them. Various New Age believers, Exopolitics, etc... I am sure that you understand the situation. MUFON members that aren't really objective and who are true believers are dragging the effort down because they are uncritical and basically present because of their donations. i prefer to have nothing and some success than to have one of our staff pop off in public about Lemuria and the Nazi UFOs that we are (not) documenting.... for example....
If you like you can mention our "Project Sphere" document on the NARCAP site with its various papers, pics and commentary. If you need a banner or a logo let me know. Thank you.
I will be making a formal announcement of some import in the near future, just waiting for the details to clear up, and I will advise folks here on this page as well as through other venues when that happens.
Thanks for your interest and I appreciate your ideas. You can also contact me through my NARCAP email address and we can discuss things further if you like.
All the Best.