Members 3,000+ Founded 31 May 1969 | Website MUFON.com | |
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Key people Jan Harzan, International Director Mission "The Scientific Study of UFOs for the Benefit of Humanity" CEO David MacDonald (Feb 2012–) Founders Walter H. Andrus, Allen R. Utke, John Schuessler Similar Center for UFO Studies, The Disclosure Project, National Investigations Committe, Committee for Skeptical, Citizens Against UFO Secr Profiles | ||
The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) is an American-based non-profit organization that investigates cases of alleged UFO sightings. It is one of the oldest and largest civilian UFO-investigative organizations in the United States. MUFON claims 3,000 members worldwide with chapters in every US state. The group maintains a number of investigators, who undergo training administered by MUFON. The organization has been criticized for its focus on pseudoscience, and critics say its investigators fail to practice scientific method. In 2015, MUFON founded an unaccredited online institution called MUFON University.
Contents
History
MUFON was originally established as the Midwest UFO Network in Quincy, Illinois on May 31, 1969 by Walter H. Andrus, Allen Utke, John Schuessler, and others. Most of MUFON's early members had earlier been associated with the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO).
Operation
MUFON is currently headquartered in Newport Beach, California under the direction of Jan Harzan, with a chapters in every American state. The organization claims to have more than 3,000 members worldwide, with a majority of its membership base situated in the continental United States. MUFON operates a worldwide network of regional directors, holds an annual international symposium, and publishes the monthly MUFON UFO Journal. The group now has more than 75 field investigators, as well as specialized teams to investigate possible physical evidence of any extraterrestrial craft. The network trains volunteers to be investigators, and teaches them how to interview witnesses, perform research, and how to draw conclusions from the evidence. Although investigators are not paid, they must pass both an exam based on a 265-page manual, and a background check.
Mission
The stated mission of MUFON is the study of UFOs for the benefit of humanity through investigations, research and education. Along with the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) and the Fund for UFO Research (FUFOR), MUFON is part of the UFO Research Coalition, a collaborative effort by the three main UFO investigative organizations in the US whose goal is to share personnel and other research resources, and to fund and promote the scientific study of the UFO phenomenon.
Criticism
According to science writer Sharon A. Hill, MUFON's focus is "decidedly unscientific with talks on alien abduction, conspiracy theories, human-ET hybrids, hypnotic regression, and repressed memories" and reflects "a wide range of pseudoscience". MUFON has been the subject of criticism for drifting away from their original "nuts and bolts UFO investigation" into "bizarre conspiracy and exopolitics talk". The organization receives large numbers of UFO reports every year, however the qualifications of the amateur volunteers examining the reports have been questioned. Hill wrote that MUFON's idea of scientific researchers "appears to be people who are not scientists or propose fantastic, anti-science tales".
MUFON International Directors
In the media
Some of MUFON's investigations have been featured in the documentary television miniseries UFOs Over Earth, which premiered on the Discovery Channel in 2008 and currently re-airs on Investigation Discovery. Richard Hoffman helped produce the History Channel TV show, UFO Files: Hangar 1 - The UFO Warehouse with producer Weller-Grossman.
MUFON is also featured in the television show The X-Files.