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 ACUFOS was established as The Centre for UFO Studies (CUFOS) in 1974 with links to CUFOS in the USA particularly with respect to filtering and passing on UFO sightings reports. It later assumed an independent position, adding 'Australian' to its name. ACUFOS has been dormant for the past decade and was reactivated in July of 2003. It is a voluntary association whose main objective is and has been to engage in the kind of study of all aspects of the UFO phenomenon which is most effective in bringing us to a better understanding. The way in which we implement this objective will become apparent to us and our readers as we build momentum and deal with the issues that will doubtless arise. ACUFOS has a Board of Advisors drawn from around Australia, an Executive and a Membership. It is establishing a web page, publishing a Journal, UFO Quest, and will publish and republish reports on selected topics which are regarded as important contributions to UFO research. Membership in ACUFOS is open to all interested persons and allows people to support and become involved in our work. Members receive a subscription to UFO Quest for an annual fee. There are perhaps four areas of work that are particularly important in our day, and these are on top of the list of priorities for ACUFOS. They are: 1. Building Competence As in every other field of study, the acquisition of data progresses in step with the formulation of hypotheses and the creation of new concepts, procedures and instruments. The notable lack of such progress in UFO research is doubtless a reflection of the preponderance of otherwise untrained people in this work. Their work is very valuable and must continue. It needs to be augmented by people with a range of professional skills and abilities, so that this other work gets done as well. These people do not need to be 'professionals', although they are more than welcomed, but need to have or develop skills and abilities like those found amongst professionals. They also need to be able to go beyond where the 'professionals' have developed to today. 2. Disclosure Many official witnesses to UFO related incidents are coming to the end of their lives, and some are wanting to disclose something of what they know. Also, there is and has been a degree of declassification of secret material. UFO researchers need to find and place information from these sources into the public domain in readily accessible forms, and they need to discuss and analyse this information, to help the public recognise its significance. 3. What the UFO Phenomenon means Together with the many aspects of data-gathering, which has been the typical occupation of UFO researchers, there is now an increasing need for devising 'working hypotheses' with which this information may be better organised and understood. The typical closing remark of the past has been 'Here is the information, you decide if it is real and what it means.' This stance reflects a hesitance on the part of researchers to acknowledge the paranormal implications of their information. It is precisely because the full meaning of the UFO phenomenon lies outside our present conventional knowledge base that the job of finding its meaning can not be just dumped onto the general public. 4. The Human Response The UFO phenomenon is clearly something outside our world-view and it clearly involves sentient beings. Sooner or later UFO research must respond to this feature or fact. One kind of response is the SETI program. After half a century of dithering, it is surely time that the work of formulating an appropriate response be placed on top of the priority list in UFO research. It may be called the 'Contact Issue.'  |
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