You may know them by their acronyms - MUFON, CAUS, NICAP, CUFOS, FUFOR etc. They are the various organisations that, in one way or another, purport to speak on behalf of ufology about the UFO phenomenon, or some aspect thereof. They have all done good, often overlooked, work.
Unfortunately, they're also part of the problem with contemporary ufology- there is no centralised organisation that has the authority to represent ufology to the mainstream.
What we have instead is a ufological "alphabet soup" similar to that found in the world of professional boxing, where the WBC, WBO, WBA, IBF etc all declare their own champion. What we need is a sort of "Ring Magazine" for ufology, ie. a respected group that can act as a sort of ufological supreme court, or federal government, or United Nations (take your pick).
This doesn't mean that all of the other organisations have to close up shop - far from it. It is time for ufology to adopt a federalist model. Let these various organisations all select a member from within their ranks to sit on the board of directors of, oh, I don't know, call it the World UFO Research and Advocacy Committee (WUFORAC). Elect an independent chair that does not belong to any of these organisations. Let WUFORAC serve as the spokesgroup for all of these other sub-groups. Let each sub-group contribute some money, and hire an executive director who can coordinate efforts and serve as a spokesperson for ufology. Put together an advisory group from outside the ranks of any of these organisations, made up of journalists, scientists, historians, maybe even politicians (after a while, it may happen) and others who can make a positive contribution, and let them referee any disputes as to cases, witnesses, evidence, etc.
Unwieldy? Unworkable?
Perhaps. But it's got to be better than the current situation. At the very least, let's start the discussion.
In short, let's move beyond the alphabet soup. Let's find a real champion for ufology, while there's still a ufology to champion.
Paul Kimball
5 comments:
Paul:
Wesley Clark comes to mind. And (former?) members of academia or the space program could make up an advisory board. A prominent media person, as you have suggested, would be helpful.
This harkens back to Major Keyhoe and NICAP, and we still have Richard Hall in our midst. Who better to co-ordinate the new, re-invigorated UFO "over group"?
Rich Reynolds
Rich:
My dream advisory panel, at least to get the effort off of the ground, would include Hall, Stan Friedman, Bruce Maccabee, Kevin Randle, Jacques Vallee, Jerry Clark, Mark Rodegheir, Dr. Michael Swords, Larry Landsman (Sci-Fi Channel), and Don Ledger (we need at least two Canadians).
Call them the Committee for Public Sanity... and let them get the ball rolling.
Their first call should be to Michio Kaku, with an offer to act as Chair.
Paul
Here's a few other suggestions - John Scheussler, Chris Rutkowski, Karl Pflock and Rob Swiatek.
Paul
Paul:
The only person who might not invite opprobrium (because of their former and present UFO affiliation) is Richard Hall.
The other names you suggest, all good men, are associated with UFOs in negative and/or positive terms,
beclouding the new "organization" from the get-go.
Richard Hall is not so tainted. He's been at the forefront since the Keyhoe days and hasn't tried to capitalize on the UFO mystery, except to pay the bills.
No one thinks he's a promoter. No one thinks he a CIA operative. No one questions his integrity.
So he could be Director or Director Emeritus, but the rest of the "over-group" should be, in my estimation, persons not identified with UFOs.
They would then select those who would head up your suggested sub-groups. And that's where Stanton Friedman comes in, or Jerry Clark.
But Carl Pflock? Some would question his motivations, rightly or wrongly, but he would compromise the new group immediately.
And Canadians? Those motley UFOers?
I dunno...
Rich Reynolds
Rich:
Perhaps we should call the oversight group MJ-12.
At least it would show that ufology has a sense of humour - something else it is sorely lacking at times.
Paul
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