Cincinnati UFO hunters keep looking for answers
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The latest batch of UFO files released by the White House reveals little that ufologists haven't already seen, especially those in the Cincinnati-based Mutual UFO Network.
Why it matters: Most Americans think the government is shielding UFO information from the public, Gallup polling shows.
- MUFON has spent decades independently investigating UFO reports, preserving evidence and pushing for more government transparency.
What they're saying: "As with the other releases, much of this material has already been public," MUFON spokesperson Ron James tells Axios.
- Some pieces are interesting, he says, particularly documents reflecting the early civilian UFO movement.
- But the releases don't necessarily explain what investigators found or why.
How it works: MUFON has volunteer field investigators, laboratories and even a dive team.
- James says it receives roughly 6,000 reports a year, with about 98% ultimately explainable.
- "We're not interested in drinking the Kool-Aid," he says.
- "We really do have a scientific premise to how we investigate this stuff, and we're not interested in promoting things that aren't genuine anomalies."
Flashback: Ohio's connection to UFO investigations predates MUFON.
- The U.S. military ran Project Blue Book, its official UFO investigation, out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton from 1952 to 1969.
- Ohio State University astronomer J. Allen Hynek was the scientific consultant.
- A popular theory is material from the alleged 1947 Roswell UFO crash ended up at Wright-Patterson.
Civilian researchers picked up the work, forming the Midwest UFO Network in 1969 and moving its headquarters to Cincinnati in 2012.
Zoom in: Some of that history is now preserved at MUFON's Hangar One at Lunken Airport.
- MUFON recently brought around 300 boxes of UFO material from California to Cincinnati, including original files from famed investigator Leonard Stringfield.
- Its database contains nearly 200,000 reports spanning about 55 years, James says.
State of play: MUFON has also taken its accountability push to Capitol Hill.
- James says members have held over 300 meetings with members of Congress and staff, and provide quarterly reports to House and Senate intelligence committees.
The bottom line: MUFON isn't waiting for the government to provide all the answers.
- "It's those few that we can't explain," James says. "And you only need one."