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词条 Mutual UFO Network
释义

  1. History

  2. Operation

  3. Criticism

  4. Association with far-right viewpoints

  5. In the media

     Television  News 

  6. References

  7. External links

{{short description|Organization centered around UFOs}}{{more citations needed|date=May 2015}}{{Infobox non-profit
| name = Mutual UFO Network
| image = MUFON logo.png
| image_size = 220px
| type = Nonprofit organization
| founded_date = {{Start date and years ago|1969|5|31}}
| tax_id =
| registration_id =
| founder =
| location = Irvine, California
| origins =
| key_people = Jan C. Harzan, Executive Director; John F. Schuessler, Founder and Board Member; Roger Marsh, Editor; Chase Kloetzke, Director of Investigations
| area_served =
| product =
| purpose = "The Scientific Study of UFOs for the Benefit of Humanity"
| focus =
| method =
| revenue =
| endowment =
| num_volunteers =
| num_employees =
| num_members = 4,000+
| subsid =
| motto =
| former name =
| homepage = {{URL|www.mufon.com|MUFON.com}}
| dissolved =
| footnotes =
}}{{Paranormal}}

The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) is a US-based non-profit organization based in the United States composed of civilian volunteers who study alleged UFO sightings. It is one of the oldest and largest organizations of its kind, claiming more than 4,000 members worldwide with chapters and representatives in more than 43 countries and all 50 states. In 2015, MUFON founded Mutual UFO Network University, an unaccredited online institution which seeks to train members to investigate UFO sightings. The organization has been criticized for its focus on pseudoscience, and critics say its investigators fail to use the scientific method.

History

MUFON, Inc. was originally established as the Midwest UFO Network on 31 May 1969, in Quincy, Illinois, by Allen R. Utke, Walter H. Andrus, Jr., John F. Schuessler, and others.[1][2] Most of MUFON's early members were associated with the SKYLOOK newsletter of Stover, Missouri and the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO), formerly of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. MUFON was renamed the Mutual UFO Network in 1973 because of its expansion to other states and internationally.[3]

Operation

MUFON is currently headquartered in Irvine, California, under the direction of Jan Harzan, with chapters in every U.S. state. The organization claims to have more than 4,000 members worldwide, with a majority of its membership base situated in the continental United States. It holds an annual international symposium and publishes the monthly MUFON UFO Journal. The group now has more than 500 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.[2] Although investigators are not paid, they must pass both an exam based on a 265-page manual, and a background check.[4] MUFON features a case management system on its website, produces a monthly UFO journal (print and on-line), and hosts a web-based newsroom.

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; the qualifications of the amateur volunteers examining the reports, however, 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".[5][6][7]

Association with far-right viewpoints

An April 2018 article in Newsweek reported evidence of "anti-immigrant, anti-trans, and anti-Muslim sentiments" among MUFON officials, including J. Z. Knight and former MUFON State Director for Pennsylvania John Ventre, both of whom have publicly expressed racist and/or anti-Semitic views, and are described in the article as "high-tier Inner Circle donors to MUFON". The expressed far-right viewpoints "kicked off a wave of anger and resignations across MUFON", including former MUFON Director of Research Chris Cogswell (who stated, "My internal conscience would not let me continue") and former board member and Washington State Director James Clarkson (who stated, "Remaining in MUFON in any capacity is morally unacceptable.") Erica Lukes, former MUFON State Director for Utah, is also reported in the article as describing MUFON as "an organization unwilling to adequately address sexual harassment".[8]

In the media

MUFON has been mentioned in:

Television

  • The 2008 Discovery Channel documentary miniseries UFOs Over Earth

    • The X-Files series
    • The History Channel's series Ancient Aliens

    News

    • The New York Times article "People Are Seeing U.F.O.s Everywhere, and This Book Proves It"[9]
    • Forbes article "MUFON, America's UFO Experts, Discuss Roswell And Possible Cover-Ups"[10]

    References

    1. ^{{cite news|last=Trares|first=Ryan|title=Have you seen a UFO? Hoosier investigators aim at identifying unexplained|url=http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/local_story/Have-you-seen-a-UFO-Hoosier-in_1349999210/|accessdate=15 October 2012|newspaper=Franklin Daily Journal|date=11 October 2012|quote=When local residents see something in the sky that they can’t explain, they call the Mutual UFO Network. The nationwide organization receives dozens of similar reports every year of unusual lights in the night sky.|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014022924/http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/local_story/Have-you-seen-a-UFO-Hoosier-in_1349999210/|archivedate=14 October 2012|df=}}
    2. ^{{cite news|last=Trares|first=Ryan|title=Mutual UFO Network investigates sightings|url=http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/oct/15/mutual-ufo-network-investigates-sightings/|accessdate=15 October 2012|newspaper=Evansville Courier & Press|date=15 October 2012|quote=Most often, the reports can be explained naturally. Refracted light in the sky, electric flashes high in the atmosphere or meteors easily can be mistaken for UFOs.}}
    3. ^{{cite web|last1=Schuessler|first1=John|title=A Brief History of MUFON|url=https://www.mufon.com/history.html|website=MUFON|publisher=mufon.com|accessdate=10 January 2019}}
    4. ^{{cite news|last=Olanoff|first=Lynn|title=UFO sightings lead Pa. man to alien sleuth work|url=http://www.njherald.com/story/19821538/ufo-sightings-lead-pa-man-to-alien-sleuth-work|accessdate=15 October 2012|newspaper=New Jersey Herald|date=15 October 2012|quote=Black triangular objects with three lights are the most commonly seen UFO, not the stereotypical flying saucer shape, Royer said.}}
    5. ^{{cite web|last1=Hill|first1=Sharon|title=UFO research is up in the air: Can it be scientific? - Sounds Sciencey|url=http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/ufo_research_is_up_in_the_air|website=Skeptical Inquirer|publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|accessdate=21 December 2016}}
    6. ^{{cite web|last1=Hill|first1=Sharon|title=MUFON to rebrand|url=http://doubtfulnews.com/2016/09/mufon-to-rebrand/|website=Doubtful News|publisher=doubtfulnews.com|accessdate=21 December 2016}}
    7. ^{{cite book|author=William F. Williams|title=Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abductions to Zone Therapy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vH1EAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT254|date=2 December 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-95522-9|pages=254–}}
    8. ^{{cite news|last=Whalen|first=Andrew|title=What If Aliens Met Racists? MUFON Resignations Highlight Internal Divisions in UFO Sightings Organization|url=http://www.newsweek.com/ufo-sightings-mufon-2018-john-ventre-alien-extraterrestrial-905060|accessdate=7 May 2018|newspaper=Newsweek|date=29 April 2018|quote=Everything this world is was created by Europeans and Americans}}
    9. ^{{cite web |last1=Blumenthal |first1=Ralph |title=People Are Seeing U.F.O.s Everywhere, and This Book Proves It |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/science/ufo-sightings-book.html |publisher=The New York Times |accessdate=19 November 2018 |language=en |date=24 April 2017}}
    10. ^{{cite web |last1=Clash |first1=Jim |title=MUFON, America's UFO Experts, Discuss Roswell And Possible Cover-Ups |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2017/01/17/mufon-americas-ufo-experts-discuss-roswell-and-possible-cover-ups/ |publisher=Forbes |accessdate=19 November 2018 |language=en |date=17 January 2017}}

    External links

    {{sisterlinks|MUFON}}
    • {{official website|http://www.mufon.com/}}
    {{UFOs}}

    5 : UFO organizations|Non-profit organizations based in Ohio|Organizations established in 1969|1969 establishments in the United States|UFO culture in the United States

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