I thought that you guys might be interested in this note that I got from MUFON. I have posted it on the Cosmic Token but am putting it here too. Doesn't it seem strange to you all that they didn't even know this man was a member?
MUFON CONTINUES ITS GLOBAL EXPANSION
Not too many weeks ago HQ began receiving communications from one of our MUFON members
in France, Mr. John Tomlinson. He was concerned over the lack of information being
received by the various European UFO groups from MUFON. The Académie d'Ufologie
is the leading UFO organization in France if not most of Europe. It has had communication
with MUFON in the past but felt that as the years have gone by the flow of information
fell silent. They contacted us to consider reestablishing our communications and
reviving MUFON's presence in Europe.
Shortly after that initial email another communication was received concerning a
gentleman in Germany who referred to himself as the Director of MUFON Central Europe
or something similar to that.
Now some red flags were up and waving. We have no such group, nor any such Director.
I was not the only one in management that was concerned. We have enough problems
domestically with unauthorized use of our name much less worldwide.
I contacted Mr. Tomlinson and inquired if he was familiar with a Mr. Illobrand Von
Ludwiger. Not only was he familiar with the gentleman but stated that he is one
of Europe's most well known and highly respected Ufoloigists with a very large following.
He further suggested that rather that confronting him why not use the opportunity
to extend our hand in friendship. Well, we really started investigating this matter
and what we found was a real eye opener. The two gentlemen mentioned above are in
fact MUFON National Directors offering official MUFON representation in Europe.
They were appointed by Walt Andrus back in the 70's and have been loyal ever since.
In the weeks following those initial contacts we have stepped up communication and
interaction with outstanding results. The flow of information and camaraderie is
incredible. (Thank heavens for computer based translators.) We quickly reaffirmed
these gentlemen's positions with MUFON and their promotional efforts have been exciting
to say the least. Word is spreading fast and more groups are coming on board. Our
latest appointment is Mr. Gerard Lebat as National Director of MUFON Morocco.
As of this writing MUFON now has the following National Directors, complete with
fully functional operating groups.
Mr Gudrun Andersson (SWEDEN)
Mr Michael Blackwood (KOREA, REPUBLIC OF)
Mr Bjorn Borg (FINLAND)
Mr Murray Bott (NEW ZEALAND)
Mr Lee Dines (UNITED KINGDOM)
Mr Pieter Hendrickx (BELGIUM)
Mr Gerard Lebat (MOROCCO)
Ms Cynthia Newby Luce (BRAZIL)
Mr Andre Morin (CANADA)
Mr Ahmet G. Ozisik (TURKEY)
Mr Oscar Rafael Padilla Lara (GUATEMALA)
Dr Marco Pinto (PORTUGAL)
Mr Edoardo Russo (ITALY)
Ms Esen Sekerkarar (TURKEY)
Mr John Tomlinson (FRANCE)
Mr Illobrand Von Ludwiger (GERMANY)(AUSTRIA)(SWITZERLAND)
Mr M. J. "Tinus" de Beer (SOUTH AFRICA)
Furthermore we have Field Investigators in an additional 20 countries that will
soon have National Directors and operating groups. At this time an International
meeting is being planned and we are working on the concept of International "Meetups"
via the internet whereas some of our state or sector meetings will be simulcast
with other meetings around the globe allowing personal interaction with the world.
The ground work is being laid for MUFON to evolve into an organization the likes
of which few of us could have envisioned.
Does MUFON rock or what!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~