The J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies

The J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) is a privately funded, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated entirely to the scientific study, documentation, and analysis of unidentified flying objects/unidentified anomalous phenomena (UFOs/UAPs). It is not a broad public membership group; it relies on scientists, academics, investigators, and volunteers, along with a community of supporters.

History

CUFOS was founded in 1973 by Dr. J. Allen Hynek (1910–1986), then chairman of the astronomy department at Northwestern University. Hynek had served for years as the scientific consultant to the U.S. Air Force UFO projects (Sign, Grudge, and especially Project Blue Book, which ended in 1969). Initially a skeptic who helped explain many sightings as misidentifications, he gradually concluded that a residue of cases resisted conventional explanation and warranted serious scientific attention.

The immediate catalyst included a wave of sightings in fall 1973 and Hynek’s 1972 book The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry, in which he introduced the “Close Encounters” classification system. He co-founded the organization with Sherman J. Larsen (formerly active with the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, or NICAP). Hynek envisioned it as an “invisible college” of scientists and technical experts rather than a general “saucer club.” It began in the Evanston/Chicago, Illinois, area.

In the late 1970s it was relatively active, with full-time investigators (such as Allan Hendry), a national reporting system for law enforcement, and regular publications including the International UFO Reporter and the peer-reviewed Journal of UFO Studies. Hynek retired from Northwestern in the late 1970s to focus on the work. After his death in 1986, Mark Rodeghier (who has training in sociology, astrophysics, and computer science) succeeded him as scientific director; the organization was renamed in Hynek’s honor. It later moved operations (including a period in Arizona) and closed its last physical office around 2009, shifting to a more distributed, volunteer-driven model. In November 2020, the main case files were transferred to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for curation by the National UFO Historical Records Center (NUFOHRC).

Current Activities

All of CUFOS’s work is UAP/UFO-related. Its stated purposes are to promote serious scientific interest in the phenomenon, support investigation and research, serve as an archive, and act as an educational resource for the public.

Ongoing activities include:

• Maintaining and updating the UFOCAT electronic database (described as the world’s largest single catalog of UFO reports; recent versions list over 300,000 entries, including more than 192,000 primary reports). It originated in the late 1960s with work by David R. Saunders during the Condon Committee/Colorado UFO Project era (with early contributions from Jacques Vallée) and was transferred to CUFOS in 1976.
• Operating as a digital and physical archive and educational resource. The website hosts historical materials, selected original reports, investigations, government documents, a UFO timeline, educational resources, and digitized CUFOS publications (including back issues of the International UFO Reporter, the Journal of UFO Studies, bulletins, newsletters, and monographs), plus materials from NICAP.
• Occasional historical research features and commentary (for example, multi-part examinations of 1952 cases and annual or topical “year in review” pieces on UAP events).
• Supporting researchers and investigators with archival materials on request.
• Volunteer and board-driven work under Scientific Director Mark Rodeghier. Current board members have included Michael Swords, George Eberhart, Bill Murphy, Jerome Clark, Eddie Bullard, and David Marler.

It is a small, longstanding organization rather than a high-volume field-investigation group on the scale of its peak years or larger contemporary groups. It functions primarily as a research, archival, database, and educational resource continuing Hynek’s emphasis on scientific rigor.

Data Archive

CUFOS has long maintained one of the most significant civilian collections of UFO/UAP materials. As a result, it is also included in the Data Repositories Section of the UAP News Center. Holdings include:

• Original sighting reports and field investigation files.
• Official government documents and correspondence (including materials related to Hynek’s Blue Book work).
• Extensive files inherited from defunct organizations, notably NICAP (the largest civilian research group of the 1950s–1960s) and others such as CSI-NY.
• Topic and correspondence files, books, periodicals, microfilms, photographs, and audio recordings.
• The UFOCAT database (a computerized catalog and bibliographic tool pointing to original sources).

In summary, CUFOS remains a specialized, scientifically oriented archival and research organization founded by one of the most prominent academic figures in the history of UFO investigation, continuing that tradition more than 50 years later.