Gaines M. Crook
December 29, 1991
Mr. Jerome Clark, Editor
International UFO Reporter
612 North Oscar Ave.
Canby, MN 56220
RE: Publication of Paper.
Dear Mr. Clark:
I have followed the UFO scene with interest since I first read about them in 1947. I have increasingly been dissatisfied with all sorts of reported UFO effects being called "electromagnetic effects". About a year and a half ago I decided to write a paper which was intended to examine some cases in the light of a knowledge of electromagnetics and report the results. I chose as a starting point Rodeghier's excellent "UFO Reports Involving Vehicle Interference" and added a few cases which I thought were significant. These cases were reorganized by what occurred during the sighting and then analyzed for true electromagnetic involvement (as we presently understand electromagnetics).
This paper was completed about the end of 1990 and was sent to MUFON to see if they would publish it. I received a very enthusiastic reply from Walt Andrus in January, 1991. He wanted me to divide it into two parts along with the references because it was too long to publish in one issue. I did this and sent it back to him. In this paper I discussed my disagreement with the ideas of James McCampbell both about "electromagnetic effects" as well as the statement which he made in his 1976 CUFOS conference paper "UFO Interference With Automobile Electrical systems, Part I Headlights" as follows: "--But there is no reason to assume that the mechanisms by which vehicle interference take place are beyond the capacity of contemporary science."
I heard no more from Walt until October, 1991 when I got an envelope from him with an "evaluation" of my paper by McCampbell. It turns out that McCampbell is MUFON's "Director of Research"! He was very upset with my disagreement with him and vetoed the publication of my paper. This sort of "referee" system strikes me as a little bit odd, but then so is most everything else in the UFO World!
The UFO field is at a distinct disadvantage in regard to the publication of technical papers since probably less than 1% of the readers could comprehend a genuinely technical paper. Even those with backgrounds in various technical fields would not necessarily understand the details of technical papers in another field so one is forced to write as if the paper were to be published in the popular press. On the other hand, if we try to publish in a legitimate technical journal, the staff and readership will be not only unfamiliar with the UFO literature but will also be upset at the effrontery of the author for even believing in such a forbidden subject. I had thought of attempting to publish my paper in the Journal of the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society (of which I am a member).
The quality of UFO literature is generally very poor. Some of the references quoted in some papers are stretched to the limits so the end result is that the relationship becomes no more than rumors. An example is XXXXXXX [N.B. "XXXXXXX" is not identified and so far none of the documents I have recovered make further reference to this- jc]
I have included copies of all of the correspondence surrounding this situation.
If you would like to publish the paper I would be pleased. If on the other hand you do not wish to publish it that is O.K. too. The greater benefit of writing any paper is in getting things straightened out in one's own mind. If you have any questions you may call me…
Yours truly,
Gaines M. Crook
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