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