WikiProject ParanormalUFO Filter Center
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Founded January 1973, directed by Francis L. Ridge and headquartered out of Mt. Vernon, Indiana, the group was set up to log UFO reports in the Midwest for the MADAR (UFO detection) Project.
UFO Filter Center & SKYNET
In early 1973, as State-Section Director for MUFON, Francis Ridge made initial in-person contacts with law enforcement people and airport control tower operators, attempting to set up a reporting system. The timing was good. The 1973 wave helped to stimulate cooperation among those who didn't want to be burdened with UFO calls and/or didn't have the time or need to follow them up. To maintain the rapport, a Monthly Status Report was sent to police, sheriff, state police and control tower people in the three-county area. In 1986 this monthly report became a State Report for all UFO Field Investigators and State-Section Directors in Indiana. Every opportunity to use the news media, periodically, provided the local readers and viewers with a 24-hotline number.
Local member and non-member personnel who helped the Center identify reported UFOs were spread throughout Posey County were part of SKYNET. A UFO reported in a certain area or direction facilitated a call from the Center to this "Spotter." Kits designed for UFO Investigation were described in the MUFON Field Investigator's Manual, but special kits were created at the Center and used for a "rapid deployment group." CB radios, radiation detection equipment, optical instruments, etc., were all used in this effort.