60 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
60 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
>> Marge Christensen is the National Public Relations Director of the
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Mutual UFO Network. A very important post, the PR Director is charged with
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"getting the word out" about UFOs, and for the past several years, Ms.
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Christensen has been doing that through her MUFON Newsletter. The last
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issue took on a rather dour tone, as she lamented the current state of af-
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fairs in Ufology, and seriously considered resigning her post. This arti-
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cle from the latest issue, however, sets a new, upbeat tone for the new
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year, the 41st of the UFO era.
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A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE DOLDRUMS
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by Marge Christenson
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The reader will no doubt note a strong contrast between the tone of
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the last newsletter and the tone of this one. That is because "a funny
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thing happened on the way to the doldrums!"
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Over the past several months, Ufology had become pretty discouraging
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from my vantage point. Media coverage popularized the UFO subject as a
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type of folklore; abduction hysteria was rampant; bookstore shelves pre-
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viously devoid of UFO books were suddenly copiously stocked, including re-
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prints of some of the least credible books on the subject; respected UFO
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researchers engaged in bitter battles over the authenticity of the MJ-12
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documents, with egos and personalities often taking priority over facts
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and objectivity. None of this spoke well for Ufology as a profession.
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Concurrently, inactivity and apathy appeared to dominate many of the
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persons in leadership positions in Ufology, namely our MUFON State Direct-
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ors. Coordinating any type of programs or projects nationally was virtual-
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ly impossible.
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Several Ufologists urged me to disassociate myself from MUFON, which,
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they felt, is not a scientific, credible organization, and would thus e-
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rode my own credibility if I remained involved. I was depressed and was
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seriously considering resigning as MUFON's PR Director.
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One day, I decided to clean out my files. In browsing through the
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data contained in those files, I realized that the UFO subject remains one
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of the most significant enigmas of the 20th Century, regardless of the cur-
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rent state of affairs in Ufology. I also realized that there are still
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some very impressive, top caliber persons involved with the field, and
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with MUFON, in spite of the fact that some good people have recently re-
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signed.
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The intent of this commentary is not to be melodramatic, but rather
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to caution those of you who may begin to feel discouraged with the subject
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or feel that you are getting "burned out" to first sit back and try to
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take a look at the larger scope of things, rather than to give in too
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quickly to your frustrations. Chances are that you will come to the same
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conclusions I did, and will decide to hang in there and give it another
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shot.
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The UFO phenomenon is one of the most important enigmas of our time,
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and if we don't continue to gather data related to it, and to research the
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subject, no one else will do so, and mankind will be oblivious to a sub-
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ject that is someday going to have an impact on just about every aspect of
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life as we know it on this planet.
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