76 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
76 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
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SUBJECT: LIFE OF A UFO RESEARCHER FILE: UFO2781
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UFO UPDATE:
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UFO researchers say their work involves endless stress
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and deprives their families of time, energy and love.
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To the typical UFO buff, the daily life of the UFO researcher seems
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romantic indeed. According to the common perception, this lucky
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individual spends days tracking down spectacular sightings and nights
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hypnotically probing the psyches of alleged UFO abductees. When the
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researcher comes up for air, moreover, he tweaks the nose of
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established science and jousts with the government for classified proof
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of UFOs. What a life!
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But the UFOlogists themselves say their profession is costly and
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stressful, exacting an enormous toll on earning capacity and family
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life. The pain and pressure of the work, they say, is rarely mentioned
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on the talk show circuit or in UFO magazines. Stressful career
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problems, for instance, have plagued investigator Richard Hall, who
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worked with the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena
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during the Sixties and Seventies and is now on the board of the Fund
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for UFO Research. Says Hall, "UFOs on my resume interfered with me
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getting straight jobs for years."
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UFOlogist David Jacobs, meanwhile, says his work takes so much time
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it seems "like a bottomless pit." As an abduction expert and a
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historian at Temple University in Philadelphia, he can't find enough
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hours in the day for either activity. When push came to shove, Jacobs
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says, he chose to study abductions. But a senior member of his
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department at Temple informed him that he would have to go back to
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regular historical scholarship if he "hoped to advance in his career."
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His abduction work has also strained his family life, though he feels
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guilty when he takes a break.
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Toronto psychotherapist David Gotlib reports similar strains. Gotlib
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spends hours providing therapy for abductees and also produces a
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newsletter for abduction researchers. Between the newsletter and UFO
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conferences, Gotlib says, he is "out thousands of dollars worth of
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time." He deals with the pressure by reassessing his commitment to
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UFOlogy every six months. "I'll close down the newsletter," Goblib
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says, "when I get a relationship or get married."
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Larry Bryant, head of the Washington, DC, office of Citizens Against
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UFO Secrecy, says he has literally given up on a social life for the
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sake of UFOs. Bryant, a Pentagon employee by day, comes home to a world
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of unanswered phone messages and UFO correspondence. "It's a full-time
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part-time job," he says. Bryant says he recently received a poor job
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rating at the Pentagon because of his UFO work. The rating was improved
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only after he paid a lawyer thousands of dollars and filed a lawsuit.
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Finally, artist and abduction expert Budd Hopkins claims the research
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has deprived his family of "time, energy and love." But even more
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disturbing, he says, is a frightening feeling he calls "terminal
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impotence." This oppressive sensation sets in, he notes, "because there
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is no way to stop the abductions or ultimately help the abductees."
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Given these drawbacks, why do the researchers persist? David Jacobs
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explains. The work, he insists, is critical because "the abduction
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phenomenon is the most important thing that has ever occurred."
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--PAUL McCARTHY
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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**********************************************
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