Post by Morgan Sierra on Jul 20, 2011 20:39:12 GMT -6
MUFON Shuts down Forum
On July 16, 2010, the Mutual UFO network suddenly shut down its' Internet forum leaving hundreds of members of the UFO community without a virtual home.
"I can't believe they would do something like that," said one former member, who goes by the name of Skywalker. "The least they could have done was give us some warning."
Another member named Gort stated, "Waking up this morning and then not being able to get on the board was too much for me. Then investigating what has happened and finding out it was pulled, sent me into a depressive state that caused me to have a really bad day. All of that data lost."
Other members expressed a different point of view.
"It really bites the big one," said Starshipdisaster. "This whole thing has just been a nightmare."
"I will hate MUFON forever because of what they did," complained Starkiller. "I can't believe they would just throw us all away like that!"
The anger and frustration felt by those outed paint a poignant picture of the internal struggles that have long effected the organization.
MUFON was originally formed in 1969 as the Midwest UFO Network by a group of civilian scientists and researchers who wanted to continue investigating UFOs after the Air Force cancelled its' official investigation into the phenomenon, Project Blue Book. Later changing their name to the Mutual UFO Network they quickly spread around the globe and eventually became a multi-million dollar organization with thousands of members.
At first, only serious scientists and researchers were allowed to join, but after recognizing a need for trained investigators at the local levels, they reluctantly began to open their doors to the general public. Being a non-profit organization, and as such, having to rely on donations, member dues, and proceeds from the sale of its' monthly journal for income, finances have always been tight. By allowing ordinary citizens in, they also brought in a much needed source of additional revenue. Unfortunately that extra money came at a price.
The new members, while not actively participating in the investigations, still wanted something in return for their investment. They wanted access to the data and to the results of the investigations. This, unfortunately, was something that they were repeatedly denied. People also wanted to know how their money was being spent, but once again MUFON refused to provide full accounts of their expenditures. This led to allegations of fraud and corruption, as well as to a general sense of unrest and distrust among its' members and supporters.
"The problem with MUFON is that they have a total disconnect with ordinary people," said Morgan Sierra, an independent ufologist in Texas. "The organization was originally made up of serious scientists and research specialists, people with PhDs and a strong background in technical training. They have a tendency to look down on everybody else as being unqualified."
As the organization grew in size and influence, other problems began to surface. A man from Louisiana, who prefers to remain anonymous, claims he called in to report a UFO and was cussed out by the field investigator over the telephone. Another witness filed a report and did not hear from an investigator until almost a year later."I filed the report in January and they didn't even bother to contact me until November, after I had already forgotten half the information," he complained, "What kind of an investigation is that?"
In 2006 James Carrion was promoted to the position of International director, and hoping to lift MUFON's flagging image he began making an effort to be more open with the general public. He created an electronic database of past cases and made them available to researchers all over the world. He began releasing some of MUFON's old journals to the public, and in 2007 he created the MUFON Message Board, an Internet forum in which both members and non-members alike could get together and talk about their favorite subject--UFOs.
Over the years thousands of people logged on to talk about a wide range of topics, from Roswell to Kecksburg, Area 51 to MJ-12, close encounters to alien abductions, flying saucers to black triangles to sailing cigars to levitating lights...anything was fair game. In addition, other unsolved mysteries were also discussed such as Big Foot, Nessie, the Marfa Lights...as well as a host of more mainstream scientific and academic subjects.
Some people were curious and just wanted to ask questions, others were serious researchers conducting their own private investigations. Many people looked forward to the daily conversations with other people from all walks of life who all shared a common interest.
"We had a real sense of community," said Skywalker, "We looked out for each other and cared about each other. We shared the trials and tribulations of our daily lives...I really looked forward to logging on each day just to see what was going on with the others."
All of that came to an end on the morning of July 16.
"I tried to sign on and the computer said the files could not be accessed. I had no idea what was going on. I thought maybe my computer was broken or something."
The MUFON Board of Directors, led by new International Director Cliiford Clift, who took the helm after Carrion was forced to resign, had decided to pull the plug. In an Email reply later that day Clift stated "I did shut down the forum this morning because it seemed to be getting out of control. When we start our new web site, we will have a place for the forum. It will be members only and will be moderated very closely."
This sparked a cry of outrage among the forum members, many of whom, not being members of MUFON, were suddenly without an Internet home.
"I can't believe they would do something like that," Exclaimed Starkiller. "They invite us in and then slam the door shut in our faces!"
Members of other UFO forums and blogs expressed similar outrage and frustration, and most people quickly joined sides against the BoD and Clift, who tried to defend their decision. "We feel the content of the forum did not serve the best interests of MUFON," he stated. "There is much information about UFOs but there seemed to be very little discussion of them there."
Some of the forum members and moderators tried to appeal the decision but their arguments fell on deaf ears. MUFON's decision appears to be permanent, and with no other avenue of recourse available to them the former forum members are left to try to pick up the pieces of their shattered community.
"Four years of conversations...four years of ideas and insights...four years of friends gone, just like that," lamented Starkiller. "How do we get it all back?"
His sentiments were echoed by Pigswillfly, who stated "I was most upset by the thought of never again communicating with all of those people I've exchanged thoughts with over the years. It was like becoming a refugee without family, friends or country."
Many others are still struggling to make sense of it all, like Stiver who wrote, "I still have a feeling like all this, shutting the MUFON board down, is only a terrible nightmare. I just cannot believe that they were able to do such a cruel thing. Even if they did it temporarily, people would never trust them anymore. Thousands of great conversations, wonderful people, believers, skeptics, everyone with opinions, everyone with great ideas, thoughts, stories, arguments...all this gone? No, I still cannot believe it. Memories of funny nicknames and fascinating conversations constantly scroll through my mind. Every ten minutes I click on the MUFON board link hoping that it was only a bug in the system, just a mistake, a server failure. I feel like someone very dear to me has died."
As the forum members try to rebuild their virtual world rumors run rampant as to what exactly it was that caused the meltdown. Some suggest that it may have been a controversial thread, of which, in the previous few weeks, there had been several that had sparked heated debate. One hot topic about Roswell had even involved former MUFON director James Carrion. Though he had scarcely paid much attention to the forum since creating it, he had recently taken a greater interest in some of the discussions, such as Roswell, and was using the forum to promote his new project, CUT, the Center for UFO Truth. It no doubt incensed Clift and the BoD to see their former director making appearances on "their" forum, especially since it has come to light that he departed under less than amicable circumstances.
Another thread that had drawn attention was about the Stephenville Lights and Texas MUFON State Director Ken Cherry, who was accused of mishandling the investigation and the media hype that accompanied it. Though the charges were initially leveled by a member of a different forum, the heated and sometimes caustic debate unfolded in the web-pages of the MUFON message board, which resulted in much negative publicity and caused the BoD to ask for Cherry's resignation. Though initially reluctant to acquiesce, after being pressured by Clift, Cherry finally stepped down in May, 2010.
The two previous incidents are indicative of the power struggle that has taken place in the MUFON hierarchy as Clift has sought to cement his control over the organization.
Another battle that took place was about the overall content of the message board and involved a number of different people who posted there. While MUFON has always prided itself on being a serious, scientifically-oriented investigative agency, the topic of UFOs has always attracted its share of the unorthodox. Kooks, trolls, flamers, extremists...whatever derisive names they were called, many of them routinely took part in what was ostensibly meant to be serious forum discussions. These disruptions sometimes created a circus-like atmosphere on the board and created friction among many of the other forum members. Some argued in favor of silencing those with unconventional opinions, while others pointed out the virtues of freedom of speech, and the potential information that might be gained by having an uncensored discussion. Many MUFON members, especially those at the top, must have been irked that what they considered to be a serious topic was being diluted by less than scientific points of view.
Some people pointed fingers of blame at the forum moderators for not taking more control over the content of the board, but the moderators' general response was that the forum had been put there as a public service and it was not their directive to put restrictions on the debate. Some of the moderators were more serious-minded, and thus very heavy-handed, when dealing with people who had less than mainstream points of view. Others were much more lenient and actually took part in some of the frivolous conversations themselves. Overall, the forum moderators were basically representative of the wide variety of people and opinions involved. As such, they could hardly be held accountable for the problems that the forum faced, especially since they had little oversight from above. They had always done their jobs on a voluntary basis with little or no formal training or compensation for their time.
So, which of these is the reason for why the forum was shut down? Nobody can know for certain since the BoD has not offered an official explanation, but it was more than likely a combination of some, if not all, of them.
Maybe Clift, as the new ID, just wanted to leave his mark on the organization by making a few changes to it. Maybe he saw it as a good business decision, an opportunity to silence some of the organization's critics while possibly gaining new revenue by forcing those desiring to take part in the forum to become paying members.
Of course, there are still other possibilities...
No controversy involving UFOs would be complete without a conspiracy theory, and this case is no exception.
In early 2009, billionaire entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, founder of Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, or BAASS, approached the MUFON BoD with an offer they could not refuse. The multimillion dollar deal would create a number of rapid response teams that could theoretically be at the scene of any new UFO sighting within twenty-four hours. Their goal was to interview eye-witnesses and gather evidence while it was still fresh. Naturally MUFON jumped at the opportunity.
Critics and UFO enthusiasts immediately sounded the alarm citing Bigelow's many government connections as reason for concern. In addition to BAASS holding contracts with several federal agencies, including the CIA, Bigelow had also worked out a secret agreement with the FAA to have airline pilots file any UFO reports directly to his own team of investigators. This type of exclusive sweetheart deal hinted at a very close relationship with the government and lead conspiracy theorists to believe the feds were trying to buy control over the private UFO organization. MUFON, however, chose to ignore the warnings.
On March 1, the Star Impact Project was set up and ready for a trial run. MUFON would supply the investigators and Bigelow would supply the financing and support. In addition, BAASS had a team of fifty scientists standing by to aid in the research and analysis of any evidence that was recovered by the SIP investigators. Any information that was gained would be shared between both groups.
For a while things proceeded smoothly but by the end of the year problems had begun to appear. Bigelow complained of "accounting irregularities" and grumbled over an apparent lack of progress. MUFON, led by then International Director James Carrion, accused BAASS of illegally altering their contract and withholding funds. Bigelow responded by suggesting that maybe he had made a mistake and that the partnership should be dissolved. This sent the MUFON BoD into a panic.
In January of 2010 the SIP was temporarily suspended pending an investigation of the disagreements, and the BoD scrambled to salvage the situation. In the resulting shakeup that followed, Carrion was ousted and replaced by Clift, who worked tirelessly to appease Bigelow, and make the many loose branches of MUFON more accountable to the BoD. He also sought to repair MUFON's tarnished reputation by silencing any internal criticism and taking tighter control over the release of information. This culminated in the forced resignation of Texas State Director Ken Cherry in May, and finally in the cancellation of the Message Board in July.
These latest moves seemed to confirm many of the suspicions that had fired the conspiracy theorist's imaginations.
"I think MUFON has been going downhill ever since they took that bribe money from Bigelow," said Starkiller. "They allowed the government to take control of them and now they are nothing but a disinformation agency for Big Brother. The forum was the last good thing they had going for them."
"I agree," said Skywalker. "That is what I think the money from Bigelow was...a way for the government to buy control of MUFON so they can control the flow of information."
"Perhaps we got too close to the truth somewhere recently and the Feds talked to MUFON," mused another forum member named Randy. "Someone had to have gotten to them with muscle."
These allegations of government involvement brought forth a firestorm of criticism from MUFON's leaders who accused the conspiracy theorists of being igannant and irresponsible. The critics quickly fired back and the Internet feud has been raging ever since. Forums and blogs were soon boiling over with heated speculation as MUFON supporters, led by quotes from Clift and the BoD, let loose a vicious diatribe of attacks and innuendos against the former forum members who tried passionately to defend themselves.
"We are the ones who were screwed here," said Fredm. "Let's not forget that."
"I'm so angry!" complained Pigswillfly."The forum doesn't belong to them, it's our intellectual property. Some people's experiences were literally sweat, blood and tears and now someone else 'owns' the record of that experience. Not fair!"
"That forum and the people on it meant a lot to me," said Starkiller. "It was helping me, and many other people, understand things that we never would have understood otherwise, and now it's all gone. Those were our messages, our discussions, our ideas...They can't just take it all away from us like that!"
Unfortunately, they did.
"I think an explanation would have been nice," said Aaronfarquhar, a forum member from Australia. "I lost all respect for Clift and the organization now."
Newyorklilly, a former forum moderator, seems to agree. "No one saw this coming, not even Starchild (the forum administrator). One would have thought that, if they were going to close down the board, they would have given some notice. They didn't even do that."
That pretty much sums up the general feeling. The biggest complaint that most people seem to have is not so much that they shut the forum down, but rather the way they did it. There was no warning, no notice, no explanation...no regard whatsoever for the thought and feelings of the people involved. That apparent lack of compassion is what has generated the most bitterness.
"I think, in the end, that MUFON just doesn't give a *darn* about its' witnesses, its' investigators, its' volunteers, or its' supporters, and certainly not its' forum members," complained Niki. "I really believe it's just that simple."
Morgan Sierra agrees. "When MUFON first started they were working with the people to achieve a common goal...to educate the public about the truth of UFOs and the existence of extraterrestrial life. Somewhere along the way they lost sight of that objective. Now they see the people as a necessary evil...a rusty tool they must use to get the job done, then when they are finished with it they throw it away. They seem to have forgotten that without the people there would be no sightings...without the eye-witnesses they would have no evidence.
"When people file a UFO report they are not doing it for the benefit of MUFON, or to advance the study of ufology...they do it because they are curious about what they saw. They have questions and they are looking for answers."
Unfortunately, MUFON is not giving any...and they have not been for more than forty years.
So what does the future hold? For the MUFON forum refugees they will try to pick up the pieces of their shattered community and put it back together again.
"It's very hard for all of us," said Stiver, "But we will get through this somehow. Message boards appear and disappear, UFO organizations have their ups and downs...but the UFOs keep flying, and while they fly people will talk about them."
"We can't get back what we lost," added Skywalker, "but we can rebuild it, we can make it better. As long as we look to the future there is always hope."
And what lies in store for the world's largest civilian UFO organization? Not a very bright outlook it would appear. If recent events are any indication of things to come MUFON may soon find itself alienated from the very people it depends upon for information and donations...even for its' very existence. If the management does not do something to mend the rift that they have created they may discover that, just like many of the UFOs that they investigate, their members and supporters will have vanished without a trace.
On July 16, 2010, the Mutual UFO network suddenly shut down its' Internet forum leaving hundreds of members of the UFO community without a virtual home.
"I can't believe they would do something like that," said one former member, who goes by the name of Skywalker. "The least they could have done was give us some warning."
Another member named Gort stated, "Waking up this morning and then not being able to get on the board was too much for me. Then investigating what has happened and finding out it was pulled, sent me into a depressive state that caused me to have a really bad day. All of that data lost."
Other members expressed a different point of view.
"It really bites the big one," said Starshipdisaster. "This whole thing has just been a nightmare."
"I will hate MUFON forever because of what they did," complained Starkiller. "I can't believe they would just throw us all away like that!"
The anger and frustration felt by those outed paint a poignant picture of the internal struggles that have long effected the organization.
MUFON was originally formed in 1969 as the Midwest UFO Network by a group of civilian scientists and researchers who wanted to continue investigating UFOs after the Air Force cancelled its' official investigation into the phenomenon, Project Blue Book. Later changing their name to the Mutual UFO Network they quickly spread around the globe and eventually became a multi-million dollar organization with thousands of members.
At first, only serious scientists and researchers were allowed to join, but after recognizing a need for trained investigators at the local levels, they reluctantly began to open their doors to the general public. Being a non-profit organization, and as such, having to rely on donations, member dues, and proceeds from the sale of its' monthly journal for income, finances have always been tight. By allowing ordinary citizens in, they also brought in a much needed source of additional revenue. Unfortunately that extra money came at a price.
The new members, while not actively participating in the investigations, still wanted something in return for their investment. They wanted access to the data and to the results of the investigations. This, unfortunately, was something that they were repeatedly denied. People also wanted to know how their money was being spent, but once again MUFON refused to provide full accounts of their expenditures. This led to allegations of fraud and corruption, as well as to a general sense of unrest and distrust among its' members and supporters.
"The problem with MUFON is that they have a total disconnect with ordinary people," said Morgan Sierra, an independent ufologist in Texas. "The organization was originally made up of serious scientists and research specialists, people with PhDs and a strong background in technical training. They have a tendency to look down on everybody else as being unqualified."
As the organization grew in size and influence, other problems began to surface. A man from Louisiana, who prefers to remain anonymous, claims he called in to report a UFO and was cussed out by the field investigator over the telephone. Another witness filed a report and did not hear from an investigator until almost a year later."I filed the report in January and they didn't even bother to contact me until November, after I had already forgotten half the information," he complained, "What kind of an investigation is that?"
In 2006 James Carrion was promoted to the position of International director, and hoping to lift MUFON's flagging image he began making an effort to be more open with the general public. He created an electronic database of past cases and made them available to researchers all over the world. He began releasing some of MUFON's old journals to the public, and in 2007 he created the MUFON Message Board, an Internet forum in which both members and non-members alike could get together and talk about their favorite subject--UFOs.
Over the years thousands of people logged on to talk about a wide range of topics, from Roswell to Kecksburg, Area 51 to MJ-12, close encounters to alien abductions, flying saucers to black triangles to sailing cigars to levitating lights...anything was fair game. In addition, other unsolved mysteries were also discussed such as Big Foot, Nessie, the Marfa Lights...as well as a host of more mainstream scientific and academic subjects.
Some people were curious and just wanted to ask questions, others were serious researchers conducting their own private investigations. Many people looked forward to the daily conversations with other people from all walks of life who all shared a common interest.
"We had a real sense of community," said Skywalker, "We looked out for each other and cared about each other. We shared the trials and tribulations of our daily lives...I really looked forward to logging on each day just to see what was going on with the others."
All of that came to an end on the morning of July 16.
"I tried to sign on and the computer said the files could not be accessed. I had no idea what was going on. I thought maybe my computer was broken or something."
The MUFON Board of Directors, led by new International Director Cliiford Clift, who took the helm after Carrion was forced to resign, had decided to pull the plug. In an Email reply later that day Clift stated "I did shut down the forum this morning because it seemed to be getting out of control. When we start our new web site, we will have a place for the forum. It will be members only and will be moderated very closely."
This sparked a cry of outrage among the forum members, many of whom, not being members of MUFON, were suddenly without an Internet home.
"I can't believe they would do something like that," Exclaimed Starkiller. "They invite us in and then slam the door shut in our faces!"
Members of other UFO forums and blogs expressed similar outrage and frustration, and most people quickly joined sides against the BoD and Clift, who tried to defend their decision. "We feel the content of the forum did not serve the best interests of MUFON," he stated. "There is much information about UFOs but there seemed to be very little discussion of them there."
Some of the forum members and moderators tried to appeal the decision but their arguments fell on deaf ears. MUFON's decision appears to be permanent, and with no other avenue of recourse available to them the former forum members are left to try to pick up the pieces of their shattered community.
"Four years of conversations...four years of ideas and insights...four years of friends gone, just like that," lamented Starkiller. "How do we get it all back?"
His sentiments were echoed by Pigswillfly, who stated "I was most upset by the thought of never again communicating with all of those people I've exchanged thoughts with over the years. It was like becoming a refugee without family, friends or country."
Many others are still struggling to make sense of it all, like Stiver who wrote, "I still have a feeling like all this, shutting the MUFON board down, is only a terrible nightmare. I just cannot believe that they were able to do such a cruel thing. Even if they did it temporarily, people would never trust them anymore. Thousands of great conversations, wonderful people, believers, skeptics, everyone with opinions, everyone with great ideas, thoughts, stories, arguments...all this gone? No, I still cannot believe it. Memories of funny nicknames and fascinating conversations constantly scroll through my mind. Every ten minutes I click on the MUFON board link hoping that it was only a bug in the system, just a mistake, a server failure. I feel like someone very dear to me has died."
As the forum members try to rebuild their virtual world rumors run rampant as to what exactly it was that caused the meltdown. Some suggest that it may have been a controversial thread, of which, in the previous few weeks, there had been several that had sparked heated debate. One hot topic about Roswell had even involved former MUFON director James Carrion. Though he had scarcely paid much attention to the forum since creating it, he had recently taken a greater interest in some of the discussions, such as Roswell, and was using the forum to promote his new project, CUT, the Center for UFO Truth. It no doubt incensed Clift and the BoD to see their former director making appearances on "their" forum, especially since it has come to light that he departed under less than amicable circumstances.
Another thread that had drawn attention was about the Stephenville Lights and Texas MUFON State Director Ken Cherry, who was accused of mishandling the investigation and the media hype that accompanied it. Though the charges were initially leveled by a member of a different forum, the heated and sometimes caustic debate unfolded in the web-pages of the MUFON message board, which resulted in much negative publicity and caused the BoD to ask for Cherry's resignation. Though initially reluctant to acquiesce, after being pressured by Clift, Cherry finally stepped down in May, 2010.
The two previous incidents are indicative of the power struggle that has taken place in the MUFON hierarchy as Clift has sought to cement his control over the organization.
Another battle that took place was about the overall content of the message board and involved a number of different people who posted there. While MUFON has always prided itself on being a serious, scientifically-oriented investigative agency, the topic of UFOs has always attracted its share of the unorthodox. Kooks, trolls, flamers, extremists...whatever derisive names they were called, many of them routinely took part in what was ostensibly meant to be serious forum discussions. These disruptions sometimes created a circus-like atmosphere on the board and created friction among many of the other forum members. Some argued in favor of silencing those with unconventional opinions, while others pointed out the virtues of freedom of speech, and the potential information that might be gained by having an uncensored discussion. Many MUFON members, especially those at the top, must have been irked that what they considered to be a serious topic was being diluted by less than scientific points of view.
Some people pointed fingers of blame at the forum moderators for not taking more control over the content of the board, but the moderators' general response was that the forum had been put there as a public service and it was not their directive to put restrictions on the debate. Some of the moderators were more serious-minded, and thus very heavy-handed, when dealing with people who had less than mainstream points of view. Others were much more lenient and actually took part in some of the frivolous conversations themselves. Overall, the forum moderators were basically representative of the wide variety of people and opinions involved. As such, they could hardly be held accountable for the problems that the forum faced, especially since they had little oversight from above. They had always done their jobs on a voluntary basis with little or no formal training or compensation for their time.
So, which of these is the reason for why the forum was shut down? Nobody can know for certain since the BoD has not offered an official explanation, but it was more than likely a combination of some, if not all, of them.
Maybe Clift, as the new ID, just wanted to leave his mark on the organization by making a few changes to it. Maybe he saw it as a good business decision, an opportunity to silence some of the organization's critics while possibly gaining new revenue by forcing those desiring to take part in the forum to become paying members.
Of course, there are still other possibilities...
No controversy involving UFOs would be complete without a conspiracy theory, and this case is no exception.
In early 2009, billionaire entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, founder of Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, or BAASS, approached the MUFON BoD with an offer they could not refuse. The multimillion dollar deal would create a number of rapid response teams that could theoretically be at the scene of any new UFO sighting within twenty-four hours. Their goal was to interview eye-witnesses and gather evidence while it was still fresh. Naturally MUFON jumped at the opportunity.
Critics and UFO enthusiasts immediately sounded the alarm citing Bigelow's many government connections as reason for concern. In addition to BAASS holding contracts with several federal agencies, including the CIA, Bigelow had also worked out a secret agreement with the FAA to have airline pilots file any UFO reports directly to his own team of investigators. This type of exclusive sweetheart deal hinted at a very close relationship with the government and lead conspiracy theorists to believe the feds were trying to buy control over the private UFO organization. MUFON, however, chose to ignore the warnings.
On March 1, the Star Impact Project was set up and ready for a trial run. MUFON would supply the investigators and Bigelow would supply the financing and support. In addition, BAASS had a team of fifty scientists standing by to aid in the research and analysis of any evidence that was recovered by the SIP investigators. Any information that was gained would be shared between both groups.
For a while things proceeded smoothly but by the end of the year problems had begun to appear. Bigelow complained of "accounting irregularities" and grumbled over an apparent lack of progress. MUFON, led by then International Director James Carrion, accused BAASS of illegally altering their contract and withholding funds. Bigelow responded by suggesting that maybe he had made a mistake and that the partnership should be dissolved. This sent the MUFON BoD into a panic.
In January of 2010 the SIP was temporarily suspended pending an investigation of the disagreements, and the BoD scrambled to salvage the situation. In the resulting shakeup that followed, Carrion was ousted and replaced by Clift, who worked tirelessly to appease Bigelow, and make the many loose branches of MUFON more accountable to the BoD. He also sought to repair MUFON's tarnished reputation by silencing any internal criticism and taking tighter control over the release of information. This culminated in the forced resignation of Texas State Director Ken Cherry in May, and finally in the cancellation of the Message Board in July.
These latest moves seemed to confirm many of the suspicions that had fired the conspiracy theorist's imaginations.
"I think MUFON has been going downhill ever since they took that bribe money from Bigelow," said Starkiller. "They allowed the government to take control of them and now they are nothing but a disinformation agency for Big Brother. The forum was the last good thing they had going for them."
"I agree," said Skywalker. "That is what I think the money from Bigelow was...a way for the government to buy control of MUFON so they can control the flow of information."
"Perhaps we got too close to the truth somewhere recently and the Feds talked to MUFON," mused another forum member named Randy. "Someone had to have gotten to them with muscle."
These allegations of government involvement brought forth a firestorm of criticism from MUFON's leaders who accused the conspiracy theorists of being igannant and irresponsible. The critics quickly fired back and the Internet feud has been raging ever since. Forums and blogs were soon boiling over with heated speculation as MUFON supporters, led by quotes from Clift and the BoD, let loose a vicious diatribe of attacks and innuendos against the former forum members who tried passionately to defend themselves.
"We are the ones who were screwed here," said Fredm. "Let's not forget that."
"I'm so angry!" complained Pigswillfly."The forum doesn't belong to them, it's our intellectual property. Some people's experiences were literally sweat, blood and tears and now someone else 'owns' the record of that experience. Not fair!"
"That forum and the people on it meant a lot to me," said Starkiller. "It was helping me, and many other people, understand things that we never would have understood otherwise, and now it's all gone. Those were our messages, our discussions, our ideas...They can't just take it all away from us like that!"
Unfortunately, they did.
"I think an explanation would have been nice," said Aaronfarquhar, a forum member from Australia. "I lost all respect for Clift and the organization now."
Newyorklilly, a former forum moderator, seems to agree. "No one saw this coming, not even Starchild (the forum administrator). One would have thought that, if they were going to close down the board, they would have given some notice. They didn't even do that."
That pretty much sums up the general feeling. The biggest complaint that most people seem to have is not so much that they shut the forum down, but rather the way they did it. There was no warning, no notice, no explanation...no regard whatsoever for the thought and feelings of the people involved. That apparent lack of compassion is what has generated the most bitterness.
"I think, in the end, that MUFON just doesn't give a *darn* about its' witnesses, its' investigators, its' volunteers, or its' supporters, and certainly not its' forum members," complained Niki. "I really believe it's just that simple."
Morgan Sierra agrees. "When MUFON first started they were working with the people to achieve a common goal...to educate the public about the truth of UFOs and the existence of extraterrestrial life. Somewhere along the way they lost sight of that objective. Now they see the people as a necessary evil...a rusty tool they must use to get the job done, then when they are finished with it they throw it away. They seem to have forgotten that without the people there would be no sightings...without the eye-witnesses they would have no evidence.
"When people file a UFO report they are not doing it for the benefit of MUFON, or to advance the study of ufology...they do it because they are curious about what they saw. They have questions and they are looking for answers."
Unfortunately, MUFON is not giving any...and they have not been for more than forty years.
So what does the future hold? For the MUFON forum refugees they will try to pick up the pieces of their shattered community and put it back together again.
"It's very hard for all of us," said Stiver, "But we will get through this somehow. Message boards appear and disappear, UFO organizations have their ups and downs...but the UFOs keep flying, and while they fly people will talk about them."
"We can't get back what we lost," added Skywalker, "but we can rebuild it, we can make it better. As long as we look to the future there is always hope."
And what lies in store for the world's largest civilian UFO organization? Not a very bright outlook it would appear. If recent events are any indication of things to come MUFON may soon find itself alienated from the very people it depends upon for information and donations...even for its' very existence. If the management does not do something to mend the rift that they have created they may discover that, just like many of the UFOs that they investigate, their members and supporters will have vanished without a trace.