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>> Marge Christensen is the National Public Relations Director of the
Mutual UFO Network. A very important post, the PR Director is charged with
"getting the word out" about UFOs, and for the past several years, Ms.
Christensen has been doing that through her MUFON Newsletter. The last
issue took on a rather dour tone, as she lamented the current state of af-
fairs in Ufology, and seriously considered resigning her post. This arti-
cle from the latest issue, however, sets a new, upbeat tone for the new
year, the 41st of the UFO era.
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A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE DOLDRUMS
by Marge Christenson
The reader will no doubt note a strong contrast between the tone of
the last newsletter and the tone of this one. That is because "a funny
thing happened on the way to the doldrums!"
Over the past several months, Ufology had become pretty discouraging
from my vantage point. Media coverage popularized the UFO subject as a
type of folklore; abduction hysteria was rampant; bookstore shelves pre-
viously devoid of UFO books were suddenly copiously stocked, including re-
prints of some of the least credible books on the subject; respected UFO
researchers engaged in bitter battles over the authenticity of the MJ-12
documents, with egos and personalities often taking priority over facts
and objectivity. None of this spoke well for Ufology as a profession.
Concurrently, inactivity and apathy appeared to dominate many of the
persons in leadership positions in Ufology, namely our MUFON State Direct-
ors. Coordinating any type of programs or projects nationally was virtual-
ly impossible.
Several Ufologists urged me to disassociate myself from MUFON, which,
they felt, is not a scientific, credible organization, and would thus e-
rode my own credibility if I remained involved. I was depressed and was
seriously considering resigning as MUFON's PR Director.
One day, I decided to clean out my files. In browsing through the
data contained in those files, I realized that the UFO subject remains one
of the most significant enigmas of the 20th Century, regardless of the cur-
rent state of affairs in Ufology. I also realized that there are still
some very impressive, top caliber persons involved with the field, and
with MUFON, in spite of the fact that some good people have recently re-
signed.
The intent of this commentary is not to be melodramatic, but rather
to caution those of you who may begin to feel discouraged with the subject
or feel that you are getting "burned out" to first sit back and try to
take a look at the larger scope of things, rather than to give in too
quickly to your frustrations. Chances are that you will come to the same
conclusions I did, and will decide to hang in there and give it another
shot.
The UFO phenomenon is one of the most important enigmas of our time,
and if we don't continue to gather data related to it, and to research the
subject, no one else will do so, and mankind will be oblivious to a sub-
ject that is someday going to have an impact on just about every aspect of
life as we know it on this planet.