Ignored Again

Ufology Research

I shouldn't be surprised.

Fate Magazine has just publsihed its list of "100 Most Influential People in Ufology Today." The list includes Canadians Stan Friedman, Grant Cameron, Don Ledger, Errol Bruce-Knapp and Brian Vike. (In fact, I read about this on Errol's UFO Updates. http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/2005/may/m16-005.shtml )

Now, I like these guys and think they've been making some good contributions to ufology. Stan and Grant and I hail from the "good old days" of ufology and have seen it evolve into whatever it is today. I also don't want to diss anyone on the list.

But jeez, guys...

I have four books on Canadian ufology out. Along with Gf Dittman (who also wasn't mentioned on the list), I compile and produce the annual Canadian UFO Survey, a serious study of UFO data unparallelled elsewhere in the world, which generates a lot of media attention and helps get other Canadian ufologists a lot of airplay. Some years it even gets international attention. We've been at it since the late 1980s, and it's been featured in several books and mags.

I've done my stints on Rense and Errol's show. I've also been on three different A&E UFO specials, was featured on Unsolved Mysteries and have been recently filmed for what may be my 20th or 30th appearance on a UFO TV series or special.

My Swamp Gas Journal was the longest-running of any Canadian ufozine, from 1978 to the early 1990s. (It still kind of exists in this bLog and another one.)

In other words, I've been at this a long time, and I've received a significant amount of kudos within ufology for my work, which has included many peer-reviewed articles in scientific publications (advocating the serious study of UFOs by science), comments in UFO magazines, dozens of mainstream UFO books and many, many contributions to discussion lists.

I also have freely provided otherwise difficult-to-obtain case data for some on the list who used it later in their own books and articles.

And somehow, none of this has been "influential."

Billy Meier made the list, but not me. And Lynne Kitei, who has studied one particular recent series of sightings? Again, a nice person, but...

Well, this all says something. I'm not sure what, but it does.