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   SUBJECT: SCIENCE AND THE UNKNOWN                             FILE: UFO1251   
      
      
   DATE OF ARTICLE:  January 27, 1989   
   SOURCE OF ARTICLE:  American-Statesman   
   LOCATION:  Austin, Texas   
   BYLINE:  NONE   
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   THIS FILE WAS PROVIDED BY THE UFO NEWSCLIPPING SERVICE   
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                        SCIENCE AND THE UNKNOWN   
      
        Private   citizens  who  have  reported  UFO  sightings   to   
   government  officials sometimes complain of secrecy,  frustration   
   and laughter.   
        Floyd Petri founded the Center for Instrumented UFO Research   
   in Bastrop in part to circumvent such bureaucratic hassles.   
        "Our  purpose is to confirm the existence or nonexistence of   
   the UFO by scientific means," said Petri, a retired police chief.   
        "Before  organizations such as this existed,  an  individual   
   was  nothing more than a UFO buff or  a  witness.   Often,  after   
   people  made a report to the authorities,  that was the last they   
   heard  of  it.   Any physical evidence they offered  went  up  in   
   smoke."   
        Petri said the 10-year-old center is accumulating  equipment   
   and  personnel  to set up a monitoring station and a field  unit,   
   probably  in a van.   Both will be equipped with devices such  as   
   radar,  mangetometers,  cameras,  video equipment,  radiation and   
   sound detection equipment, and chart recorders.   
        "There  are  many  Americans who are funding  this  kind  of   
   research  right out of their own pockets," he said.   "Just  like   
   there  are people who spend thousands of dollars a year  fishing.   
   This is my hobby.   This is where my money goes.  There also have   
   been donations and benefactors interested in our research."   
        The  scientific instrumentation -- much of which the  center   
   owns  -- sounds  impressive.   But  some  of  the  most  fruitful   
   research -- retrieving government documents pertaining to UFOs --   
   forces  the private UFO investigator to use simpler  but  equally   
   powerful tools such as typewriters and the mail.   
        "The Freedom of Information Act is one of the nicest  things   
   that  ever  happened to us," Petri said.   "There is a  world  of   
   information  in the hands of the government and individuals.   If   
   it  was  gathered,   studied  and  disseminated   properly,   the   
   information would shed some light on the UFO enigma.  Many groups   
   are trying to do that now."   
        Petri's   organization   is  interested   in   investigating   
   suspected  landing  sites and trace materials from all  kinds  of   
   encounters -- from cattle mutilations to indentations thought  to   
   be  made by saucer landing pods.   And the center is involved  in   
   the  computer  enhancement  of photos showing UFOs  to  determine   
   their validity.   
        UFO  abduction  cases also draw the  center's  attention  if   
   there's evidence in addition to an abductee's account.   
        Petri  also serves as state section director of Bastrop  and   
   Travis Counties for the Mutual UFO Network.   
        The   center   and   MUFON  work  together  to   train   UFO   
   investigators,   discuss   cases   and  plan  field   trips   for   
   investigations.   Joint  meetings are under the acronym PULSE  --   
   Project  UFO  Landings,  Sightings and Encounters -- so  the  two   
   organizations can maintain separate identities.   
        "The  goals  are  to share information and ferret  out  bad,   
   distorted information," Petri said.   "So the organizations don't   
   mind communicating."   
        Ten members are training to be field  investigators.   Three   
   have  been  trained.   Most are professional people  with  skills   
   such as photography, computers, legal investigation and medicine.   
        Membership  is by invitation.   The center seeks people with   
   professional   expertise   that   could   be  of   use   in   UFO   
   investigations.   Though it costs nothing to join,  members  must   
   subscribe to the MUFON UFO Journal.   
        "We're  not here to make converts but to collect  evidence,"   
   Petri said.   
      
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