Greetings. The UFO subculture is populated with a slew of "investigative organizations," groups on social media that claim to conduct investigations, or simply use the title as a description of their group. Are any of these "investigative organizations" worthy of the title or description?
Let's take a look at the situation, as it was, and as it is now...
1975's "The Edge of Reality: A Progress Report on Unidentified Flying Objects," co-written by the late Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallee, contains a candid discussion about private UFO investigative organizations, with Hynek and Vallee making a series of straightforward comments about the efforts of amateur groups, specifically the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) and the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO.)
Several points are made by the two gentlemen, all of which are worthy of consideration here:
1. Private organizations don't openly share information for public scrutiny and consumption. Information is held back to maintain a level of interest in what may be coming down the road.
2. Private organizations are incapable of properly training their field investigators, which holds back any efforts that may be undertaken. The training of any legitimate investigator takes time and effort, and certainly does not take place over the course of a few days.
3. Private organizations are, for the most part, unable to get anything published in professional scientific journals. In fact, most private organizations don't even make the attempt, which speaks to their lack of scientific credentials and professional credibility.
4. Quite a number of the groups on social media that use the term "investigative organization" don't even have a staff, and are essentially run by a single individual. Some groups don't have any members whatsoever, with the group's page or platform the property of a single person, with nobody else in the mix. Not exactly an "organization."
5. Nothing of any scientific value is ever published, or shared with the public at large. Some organizations do publish journals, but all they contain are updates on the organization and its membership numbers, anecdotal accounts of alleged UFO events, and updates about upcoming events or festivals. No scientific data, proof, or evidence is ever shared or produced.
In today's environment, the Mutual UFO Network has joined the mix, participating in the UFO marketing industry, but not publishing any scientifically useful information. More of the same useless endeavors.
Now this is not to say that all investigative organizations are a complete waste of time, nothing could be further from the truth, but the UFO subculture needs to keep a skeptical eye on what is really being done, promoted, published, and accomplished. Are UFO people being misled? Are such "organizations" simply someone's attempt at gaining some notoriety or credibility? I don't have any answers, and for that I sincerely apologize.
Dr. Hynek and Vallee's discussion about private organizations appears between pages 222 and 227 of "The Edge of Reality." It makes for some revealing reading, and I strongly recommend it.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
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