Thursday, June 12, 2008

APRO's Field Manual




If I had my way -- and I don't, and seldom do -- I would round up every issue of The A.P.R.O. Bulletin available to me, scan every page and post them on a blog specifically intended for that purpose. Alas, the Bulletin, journal of the defunct Aerial Phenomena Research Organization of Tucson, AZ (the oldest USA UFO organization, initiated in 1952) is not my property. APRO's extensive files and, I assume, rights to APRO issues belong to a couple of people who inherited them, when the late Jim and Coral Lorenzen's family determined they wanted no further connection with the UFO subject. From what little I know, the folks in receipt of the APRO material are just sitting on this important history, evidently not inspired to do anything with it. I guess they have their reasons.


However, I will continue to post what little more I can from the days of APRO. Today, a few pages from Recommended Procedures for APRO Field Investigators are featured, and I'll add the remainder in future posts. I'm not sure, but this 1972 looseleaf compilation may have been the earliest attempt by a civilian organization to create a manual for guiding investigators. The document isn't all that lengthy, but did offer some basic advice to investigators, whether completing witness reports or actually involved with acquiring physical evidence.


Note, too, the laminated "field investigation in progress" sign intended for the investigator's automobile dashboard or site of investigation. The scan won't show it, but the laminated signs carried APRO's very own embossed seal, in order to deter counterfeit signs and phony or over-enthusiastic investigators who falsely claimed to represent APRO.