Why do UFO research? I get asked this question frequently enough. The short answer is: because it is needed! In most fields of endeavor and inquiry, academia, government research agencies and corporate America do the lion’s share of investigative work.
The UFO field has largely been ignored by the academic and peer-reviewed literature, and no unclassified agency in the United States government seems to have an interest in researching the topic or publishing anything related. Corporate America doesn’t seem to be interested either because they don’t see a way to make a buck doing it. Likewise, they are ever image conscious and a near 70-year-old stigma certainly prevents them from exploring subject.
The one major exception is the entertainment industry. Many movies have been made on UFOs for years for a large profit because they know a lot of people are interested.
Pepsi Cola also recently released a commercial about the Black Knight object that’s been allegedly orbiting Earth for many years. The ad treated the Black Knight topic respectfully, while keeping it fun and speculative.
As for the job of researching UFOs, it has fallen to the independent investigator and the citizen scientist. A word of caution: You’ll never get rich or make a living in the UFO field.
For the millennial readers, please understand UFO research itself isn’t about scanning in old well-known articles and reposting them on social media. Research is about digging in available information and looking at it in a new way. For example: During statistical research for my upcoming book, I discovered a previously unknown UFO sighting pattern in Florida; this delighted the Florida MUFON investigators. If you’re going to be a Citizen Scientist UFO investigator, work to your strengths and carve out a niche for yourself. Don’t expect overnight success or instant gratification.
UFO investigation is a lot like being a crime scene investigator; it’s about keeping good records and following the evidence. For those of you who like the CSI approach, the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) has a terrific training program for members to become MUFON field investigator. They have a complete self-study training manual and you must pass a test. The cost is modest and after you are certified you’ll be wired in to a network of talented UFO investigators.
For those of you who are the solitary research types, another great way to do research is to do library archive research. Browse through the micro film archives and copy out all the old sighting notices reported in local newspapers. After collecting them, post the sighting information in one of the national databases for easier access to online researchers.
Now some of you might think that this isn’t exciting research work. Think again! In the 1960s, professional actor and part time UFO researcher Ted Bloecher used to spend his afternoons in libraries researching sighting notices in newspapers when his production company was touring the country.
Ted wrote a famous paper titled Report on the UFO Wave of 1947, which tells an interesting story that you rarely hear in the modern pop UFO conversation. It’s a story about the huge volume of UFO sightings in the USA during June and July of 1947; at about the same time as the two alleged UFO crashes near Roswell, New Mexico.
Here’s a case of one guy, with interest and a willingness to dig in library morgues to find data. Sure, it takes work, but that is what research is: work. Trust me when I say that all the juicy UFO data isn’t on the internet.
I know a woman who only tracks UFO sightings in her county in New York. I know a man in upstate New York that has focused on UFO types and where they are seen in New York and on the eastern seaboard. In fact, he recently published a book about the topic.
I enjoy unpublished stories of what people say they witnessed here in New York. I also like to crunch and compile numbers about sighting volumes. It’s my niche.
What’s your niche? What are you going to research as a UFO investigator?
Why Do UFO Research?
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Columnist Cheryl Costa discusses what it takes to be a UFO investigator.
