The CUFON^SM Interview
of
Richard Hall

06-September-1995

1. State of UFOlogy today/Goals today?

"UFOlogy" mainly is a bunch of amateurs working in their spare time on a problem that would baffle senior scientists (if they ever paid attention) and require tremendous resources if we ever hope to learn what is going on.

Our goals should be to increase our professionalism, focus on careful documentation of evidence, educate the public, and promote serious interest among scientists and other important persons whose skills or resources are necessary for a resolution of the problem. (That includes weeding out nonsense from the field.) 

2. Future of UFOlogy? 

   Hopefully, to work itself out of existence. 

3. What can a single individual do? 

That depends on his/her educational background and motivation. Ample work remains to be done to reach the goals stated above. Many skills are required. Every interested person should at least support the UFO organization(s) of their choice through contributions and volunteer work. 

4. Advice for newcomers? 

Read UFO history thoroughly. Talk to senior people in the field. Apply critical and skeptical standards to weed out tabloid nonsense. 

5. What do hard-core UFO sightings represent? 

Beings from elsewhere whose motives and intentions are entirely unknown to us. 

6. Meaning for mankind? 

They represent an incipient intellectual revolution of the first magnitude.  If recognized and better understood, they could entirely change our outlook on life. 

7. Government cover-up? 

Yes, to some degree. We know that vitally important information has been withheld from the public. Some of it probably is due to fear of the unknown, foul-up, etc., but we need to know everything that is now hidden in Government files. Exactly how much more the Government knows than we do is uncertain, but at a minimum very strong evidence of UFO reality is being withheld (motion pictures, radar screen data, and very possibly crash materials). 

8. Hardware/alien bodies in Government hands? 

"Believe" is not a good word. Strong circumstantial evidence suggests that someone in the Government has in the past obtained UFO hardware and probably alien bodies for examination. 

9. Most important aspect of UFOlogy today? 

Cleaning house by becoming more professional, applying rigorous scientific standards for analysis of data, and expression of strong disapproval of mystics, clowns, opportunists, New Agers, and others who make a shambles of our work and bring discredit on our heads because we seem to go along with them and tolerate them.

10. Message to CUFON's users? 

Don't believe half of what you read about UFOs, and subject the other half to rigorous analysis before taking it seriously. Work toward establishing the hard-core database on what constitutes the UFO mystery and don't confuse it with speculation and wild imagination. 

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