Ufology and a New Approach

I have in recent months been thinking about how to rehabilitate Ufology as a valid area of research. What follows are three recommendations that I have. I would love to hear what people think. What should be done to improve ufology, to encourage people to participate, to stop the bickering, and to bring it into the mainstream?

1. Facts, facts, facts. The focus must be on facts. Who, what, where, when, why. Speculation must be avoided at all costs. Let's be honest: when we talk about superluminal travel, zero-point energy devices, and other dimensions, even when purporting to not be judging a case, people tune out. Quickly. Facts, including testimony, must be cultivated.

2. Sorry, no spirituality allowed. Just as Bush shouldn't be using his personal religion to make policy, people involved in Ufology should not be introducing the spiritual ideas that they have as proof of visitation or justification for certain courses of actions. I respect what people believe, but there is an appropriate time and place for it.

3. Beat the politicians at their own game. Use lobbying techniques to bring people willing to listen into the fold. (Political savvy is one of the most wanting qualities in the ufological community.) Build working relationships with Congressional staff. Stop believing--or at least stop saying--that there is a crushing government conspiracy out to stop ufology or disclosure. It is worse to be scared into inaction when there is nothing out there than to find that there is a force working against you.

In the future, I would like to expand on this list, and consider each point in depth. But I wanted to see what people thought initially, and if people were open to the idea of revamping this important field. My solutions may in some respects seem harsh, but this kind of blood-letting has historically been needed to create enduring, effective change.

You my friend are a doer as apposed to a talker. I applaud you.

I have felt for a long time that change is needed in the ufological community. Specifically, those who can effectively get the attention of those with the power to increase public awareness need to, frankly, leave behind those who can't.

Astronomers and astrologers both study the sky, but they aren't linked at the hip--and with good reason. The former is based in the scientific method. The other is based in faith and spirituality. The two need to be severed both in reality and in the minds of the public.

Some might believe that I am too much of a pragmatist, and that such an approach will be stifled by the government or the public or whatever. But that's not the point. Obviously, there are things going on in the skies everywhere. It will take a coordinated effort to bring that into the forefront of public discourse, an effort that ufology has been unable to mount. It's right in plain sight; someone just has to be able to broadly and credibly point it out.

Search on "Fair Skeptics" here on ATS...

Ha ha, that's the first time I've ever been told that I might identify with skeptics! In fact, I firmly believe that the phenomena exists, which is precisely why the strategy needs to be retooled to ensure that people have access to it. If I am skeptical of anything, it is of unsubstantiated claims, which infest the field more than most people I think admit.

Originally posted by Togetic
Ha ha, that's the first time I've ever been told that I might identify with skeptics!

In fact, I firmly believe that the phenomena exists, which is precisely why the strategy needs to be retooled to ensure that people have access to it. If I am skeptical of anything, it is of unsubstantiated claims, which infest the field more than most people I think admit.

Yeah, definitely check out the Fair Skeptics thread. It's not about being closed-minded or about a refusal to believe, quite the contrary. It's more about process and diligence. Just what you opened the thread with.

I have been thinking more about my ideas, and have started posting them to my blog, the link to which is in my signature.

I am hopeful that there are people on this forum who sympathize with my enthusiasm, if not my express vision.