We kick things off with James telling us about his background and how he became interested in the UFO phenomenon. We follow the trajectory of James's career with MUFON, including the Pandora Project (turning MUFON's vast library of files from paper to digital). We talk about the origins and history of MUFON, including some fascinating details surrounding the creation of the organization. James talks about the evolution of MUFON, including two new goals adopted rather recently.

James tackles the difficult question of where MUFON stands on what UFOs are. He discusses a groundbreaking series of closed door workshops, beginning in 2007, to discuss just this question. We discuss the ebbs and flows of MUFON membership and how the organization is holding up today. We talk about the average age of a MUFON member and what strides the organization is making to appeal to younger members, including an exciting new development that may help develop a younger generation of MUFON members. Closing out the general MUFON discussion, we talk about the international structure of MUFON.

The conversation turns to Carrion's new job as International Director of MUFON, starting with what kind of duties the job encompasses. He discusses what direction he would like to take MUFON during his tenure as International Director. James talks about what initiatives are in store for raising the public image of MUFON. We talk about if James will be handling national media appearances as new MUFON head and we get his take on the usual skeptics that are thrown on as the "opposing view".

In light of his work with MUFON files, James becomes the latest guest to be asked about the infamous missing APRO documents. We find out more details on this fascinating story. Concerning the MUFON file database, James talks about the status of their availability to the general public and researchers.

We get a response from James to the critics, within Ufology, who want MUFON to be more politically active. Does MUFON have an end game plan for if/when UFO disclosure happens ? We talk about if MUFON has a resident historian, of sorts, to document the evolution of the field. How does James respond to the general paranoia that an esoteric organization would be infiltrated by intelligence agencies (ala NICAP).

James takes us through the basic structure of a state level MUFON organization and how individual UFO sightings are investigated by MUFON. We discuss what the relationship is between MUFON and the National UFO Reporting Center. James talks about the problems today with trying to correlate UFO reports. Crazies in Ufology, its a sad fact of life, how much do they affect MUFON and do they have any form of policing members.

Moving on, we talk about the MUFON journal and what kind of content is in it. We find out if the MUFON journal fits the need for peer-review in Ufology. From there, we talk about the MUFON Symposium, including what this year's theme will be, goals for the conference, who determines speakers at the Symposium and new changes in that policy. James also talks about potential plans for future sites for the MUFON Symposium. Also, binnall implores James to bring the MUFON conference to the East Coast.

James tells us what's next for MUFON, including five key projects they have planned. James talks about MUFON's history studying the abduction phenomenon, including the Ambient Project. We talk about the internal debate within MUFON over abductions and some of the other debates that have gone on within MUFON's ranks.

Wrapping it up, James tells us why people should join MUFON and how they can.

James began his lifelong interest with the UFO phenomenon at the age of 11 when he began his own UFO news clipping collection. As a young boy, James lived in Puerto Rico at a time when the island was a hotbed of UFO activity and he later researched the Chupacabra and Laguna Cartagena sightings. James served for four years as a U.S. Army Russian Linguist in the Military Intelligence Corps and became fascinated with the story of the Gulf Breeze six, a group of young Military Intelligence soldiers that went AWOL from their base in Augsburg, Germany to search for UFOs in Gulf Breeze.

Upon moving to Colorado in 1996, James joined the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and worked as the state section director for both North Eastern and North Western Colorado. James proposed and implemented MUFON’s Pandora Project, the electronic archiving of all MUFON’s UFO case files and served on the MUFON International Business Board for three years before being elected as the MUFON International Director in 2006. James holds a Bachelors of Arts in Russian Language and a Masters of Arts in International Affairs, both from Florida State University. James is also the CEO of a national computer training company and is widely recognized as a computer expert. James currently lives in Bellvue, Colorado with his wife Lisa and son Aidan.

His website is mufon.com

topics discussed:
1 hr 1 min
12.30.06
213
James Carrion