Philippe Ailleris, who is Project Controller of the Copernicus
Sentinel-2 mission at European Space Agency in the Netherlands, recently sent
me a letter with very important information that here is presented to the
consideration of all our readers.
It is worth mentioning that Philippe is a UAPSG member,
as well as Dr. Mark Rodeghier and Dr. Massimo Teodorani.
Here is the letter:
Dear Milton,
I wanted to inform you about the following and I hope that you can help us
informing the community about this serious project.
For the past couple of years, a small team of scientists and professionals
(and myself) has been planning an innovative approach to the scientific study
of UFOs. Our goal is simple: to build a network of automated stations with a
variety of scientific instruments to capture comprehensive, scientifically
valid data on the UFO phenomenon. We have named the organization UFO Detection
and TrAcking (UFODATA for short), and several members of our team are well
known to the UFO community as pioneers in the study of UFOs in the field,
including Erling Strand, Massimo Teodorani, and David Akers. The project was
conceived by and is led by Mark Rodeghier, scientific director of the Center
for UFO Studies, and Alexander Wendt, a political scientist at Ohio State
University.
Our website (www.ufodata.net) contains details on the technology we plan to
use in our stations, a listing of team members (including silent advisors who
because of their position do not wish to be identified), an FAQ answering many
common questions we anticipate about our plans, and an extensive set of
resources on the scientific study of UFOs and what we currently know about the
phenomenon.
It has become clear that any breakthrough in our understanding of the UFO
phenomenon will require a break from the past. Witness testimony, photos and
videos, and government documents have taken us only so far; instead, we need
to record and study UFOs directly, as other sciences do with their own
specific objects. Of course, this is a daunting task, but it is made
conceivable by advances in technology, software, communication capabilities,
and power sources.
Even though all of us are volunteers, the cost of hardware, programming, and
infrastructure for the stations will be substantial. And that is where we plan
to use another recent social innovation—crowdfunding—which has been used
successfully for many types of projects, from commercial to scientific.
UFODATA is incorporated as a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization to allow for
fundraising, which we will do in at least two stages.
We are now beginning Phase One of the project with the launch of the UFODATA
website and outreach efforts, including communications like this. We hope to
raise sufficient funds in this phase via direct donation
(www.ufodata.net/donate.html) to build a prototype station and develop
necessary software and testing routines. We also, importantly, will be looking
for technically-qualified volunteers in several areas, listed on the Volunteer
page on the website.
In addition to informing you about the UFODATA project, this note has two
other purposes:
1. To invite you to contact us if you have any
questions/suggestions/comments
2. To ask you to consider volunteering if you believe you have expertise
and skills that would assist our work.
We believe that the current scientific, technical, and social environment is
primed to support such an endeavor as UFODATA. We expect to build on the best
work of the past and do what the scientific community as a whole has failed to
do: take UFOs seriously and study them rigorously.
Thanks very much for your attention.
Kind regards,
Philippe
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wanted to inform you about the following and I hope that you can help us
informing the community about this serious project.
For the past couple of years, a small team of scientists and professionals
(and myself) has been planning an innovative approach to the scientific study
of UFOs. Our goal is simple: to build a network of automated stations with a
variety of scientific instruments to capture comprehensive, scientifically
valid data on the UFO phenomenon. We have named the organization UFO Detection
and TrAcking (UFODATA for short), and several members of our team are well
known to the UFO community as pioneers in the study of UFOs in the field,
including Erling Strand, Massimo Teodorani, and David Akers. The project was
conceived by and is led by Mark Rodeghier, scientific director of the Center
for UFO Studies, and Alexander Wendt, a political scientist at Ohio State
University.
Our website (www.ufodata.net) contains details on the technology we plan to
use in our stations, a listing of team members (including silent advisors who
because of their position do not wish to be identified), an FAQ answering many
common questions we anticipate about our plans, and an extensive set of
resources on the scientific study of UFOs and what we currently know about the
phenomenon.
It has become clear that any breakthrough in our understanding of the UFO
phenomenon will require a break from the past. Witness testimony, photos and
videos, and government documents have taken us only so far; instead, we need
to record and study UFOs directly, as other sciences do with their own
specific objects. Of course, this is a daunting task, but it is made
conceivable by advances in technology, software, communication capabilities,
and power sources.
Even though all of us are volunteers, the cost of hardware, programming, and
infrastructure for the stations will be substantial. And that is where we plan
to use another recent social innovation—crowdfunding—which has been used
successfully for many types of projects, from commercial to scientific.
UFODATA is incorporated as a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization to allow for
fundraising, which we will do in at least two stages.
We are now beginning Phase One of the project with the launch of the UFODATA
website and outreach efforts, including communications like this. We hope to
raise sufficient funds in this phase via direct donation
(www.ufodata.net/donate.html) to build a prototype station and develop
necessary software and testing routines. We also, importantly, will be looking
for technically-qualified volunteers in several areas, listed on the Volunteer
page on the website.
In addition to informing you about the UFODATA project, this note has two
other purposes:
1. To invite you to contact us if you have any
questions/suggestions/comments
2. To ask you to consider volunteering if you believe you have expertise
and skills that would assist our work.
We believe that the current scientific, technical, and social environment is
primed to support such an endeavor as UFODATA. We expect to build on the best
work of the past and do what the scientific community as a whole has failed to
do: take UFOs seriously and study them rigorously.
Thanks very much for your attention.
Kind regards,
Philippe
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Please forward your comments to our blog.
Thank you.
Milton W. Hourcade
