The Fund for UFO Research (FUFOR) was a non-profit

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

research group based in

Mount Rainier, Maryland Mount Rainier is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, bordering Washington D.C. The population was 8,333 at the 2020 census. Mount Rainier is contained between the Northwest Branch Anacostia River, Cedar Lane Alley, and 34 ...

. Founded in 1979, FUFOR stated its goal was to further the scholarly research of UFOs and the

extraterrestrial hypothesis The extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH) proposes that some unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are best explained as being physical spacecraft occupied by extraterrestrial life or non-human aliens, or non-occupied alien probes from other planets vi ...

(ETH), and to secure the release of alleged classified U.S. government documents pertaining to these. Since 2011, the Fund for UFO Research has not had any active presence on the internet or in print. According to its own promotional material, from its founding in 1979 through 2006, FUFOR provided over $700,000 in research grants, and supported numerous UFO-related investigations, including investigations into the secrecy behind the

MJ-12 Majestic 12, also known as MJ-12 for short, is a purported organization that appears in UFO conspiracy theories. The organization is claimed to be the code name of an alleged secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government offici ...

papers and the US Air Force's

Project Blue Book Project Blue Book was the code name for the systematic study of unidentified flying objects by the United States Air Force from March 1952 to its termination on December 17, 1969. The project, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, O ...

. In 1980 FUFOR director

Bruce Maccabee Bruce Maccabee (born May 6, 1942) is an American optical physicist formerly employed by the U.S. Navy, and a ufologist. Biography Maccabee received a B.S. in physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass., and then at American U ...

represented the organization as a panel member of

The Smithsonian The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's "Symposium on UFOs". In 1996 FUFOR director Don Berliner filmed a cameo role as himself for an episode of ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

''.

FUFOR Directors

* 1979-1993:

* 1993-1997: Richard H. Hall * 1998–?: Don Berliner

References

External links

History of the Fund for UFO Research
* UFO organizations Research organizations in the United States UFO culture in the United States {{US-org-stub