The Research Group forum?

I've been here for years and I don't recall ever seeing a forum named " The Researcher Group". I clicked on a thread on the recent post page that showed someone had posted in it an hour or so ago. But when I got to the bottom of the thread, it shows last post was over a year ago.

Are only certain people allowed to post in this forum? I don't think I've ever seen a thread on the recent post page from this forum before. I can see it's been around since 2003? It looks like some interesting threads in that forum.

How could I have missed this forum for years? Is this forum usually hidden or am I losing my mind?

Got to this page, www.abovetopsecret.com... and you'll see every forum we have. The Research Forum is restricted in who can post in it. Only members with the "Scholar" designation can start threads in that forum.

Springer...

To Expand a bit on what Springer posted, if I may...

I too stumbled upon the research forum on accident a while back, and was intrigued immediately. It's a good way to learn either by doing research and contributing, or just reading through. I chose to challenge myself as a poster and contribute (as you can see in my sig).

There are a few ways to go about contributing. One way is to find a topic that you are interested in, that is still ongoing and speak to the O.P about helping out. Or if you have one you’d like to start, speak to the specific forum moderator about it, but you need a clear, outlined plan regarding what you want to do it on.

But like you said, it’s a seldom visited forum, and often missed when posts are made. Don’t go in with the intent of racking up Stars and Flags, do it for the right reasons. The self satisfaction of knowing you contributed in a new, unique way is quite rewarding.