APRO Collapses and its Files Consigned to Purgatory

Following Jim Lorenzen's death, Coral attempted to prop up APRO's crumbling fragments to some degree. High on her mind was an attempt to locate a missing fragment from the alleged Ubatuba, Brazil UFO, and on May 7, 1987 she phoned me for assistance. I'll not belabor the details here because I wrote an article about this in 2000 which ultimately found a home on the Web at the NICAP site (see link in margin). At the NICAP on-site search engine simply type in my name or "Coral Lorenzen and the Ubatuba UFO Fragments."

By May of 1987 Coral's emotions and health seemed frail even during telephone conversations, and less than a year later she, too, was dead (April 12, 1988). Regular readers here know that I've posted numerous historical items regarding APRO and the Lorenzens almost from the start of this blog, so I urge newcomers interested in APRO's work to start back in April of 2007 and work forward.

However, today I'm posting the remainder of my APRO-related letters, and again I apologize for deleting various names and information online, for reasons of my own. Even with blanks, though, you'll get a good picture of APRO's status.

Regarding that final letter from a former APRO board member in 1989: It turned out that APRO's extensive and invaluable case files, despite the assertions expressed in the letter, ended up in the possession of people whom, apparently, did nothing more with them. They are not affiliated with CUFOS, though I am told they did have an association or friendship of some kind with the late Dr. Hynek. The UFO research community has experienced years of troubling silence about the intended and ultimate disposition of these essential scientific and historical reports -- last I heard. At the very least, it's a shame that a complete collection of The A.P.R.O. Bulletin hasn't been made available publicly, as were NICAP's old UFO Investigator issues (on compact disc, available via CUFOS).

If there's more of an update on the post-APRO situation, I would certainly be pleased to know. But, at long last, we have reached the end of a lengthy winding trail, peppered with APRO correspondence, phone calls and UFO sighting reports. Beyond all else, we must remember that organizations such as APRO did not spring up out of frivolity. They were created out of necessity by caring, dedicated people who realized by way of the best evidence available that the UFO is real and exists as a true scientific mystery, unlikely to disappear simply because government, commercial airline and debunkers' proclamations attempt to chase the issue away. Jim and Coral Lorenzen dismissed and reacted to that approach in the fifties, as they most assuredly would today. The unfortunate loss of their intellect in the UFO research arena reminds us that common sense has become a stranger to a society which is more willing than ever to be either cowed about politics or receptive to utter nonsense about UFOs.

Illness at APRO

Terminal illness slowly replaced day-to-day activities at APRO, and by the summer of 1986 cancer was about to claim Jim Lorenzen's life. An APRO representative sent me a very discouraging note, and a relevant portion is shown here.

The Ice That Came In From The Cold

James Ehmann wrote for The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), frequently on scientific topics. Many former readers of his popular columns were saddened and unpleasantly surprised when he died as a young man from an illness several years ago.

I recently happened upon a letter he sent in 1986 after we had a phone conversation about mysterious falls of ice from the sky -- a phenomenon that continues with regularity all over the planet, as most of you already know (all manner of things seem to be falling from above anymore). James, like myself, was perpetually amused by routine explanations which appear like clockwork every time ice falls, stating that the ice "must have" dropped from an airplane toilet. Of course, the vast majority of these ice chunks, some of dangerous size and proportions with a proven ability to destroy a fair number of home roofs, exhibit no evidence of toilet origin. Indeed, whether clear or showing some color, the frozen intruders often contain water and nothing else.

All of this had come about because of Dr. Louis Frank, a physicist in the news nationally who postulated that earth's water was delivered over the eons by bombardment with icy comets and the like. While many of his colleagues were dismissive of his theories in the eighties, the fact that we've since discovered evidence of water on other planets and perhaps throughout the universe may legitimize his ideas significantly.

We should also mention now in 2008 that changes in climate alone may also influence ice falls, with atmospheric conditions precipitating heavy chunks of ice leading to ground damage. One might also wonder if ice from comets (per Dr. Frank) shouldn't include pieces of rock and other debris from the universe itself, or perhaps this mixture would have been more common in the early creation of the universe.

So, James Ehmann sent the letter shown here, and also enclosed photocopies of something the famed writer Arthur C. Clarke had written about ice falls. In addition, Ehmann included a copy of a letter Clarke had written the editor of Omni Magazine (see) just weeks previously.

APRO Begins to Crumble

By 1985 APRO's internal problems were no secret to the membership, and by the end of the year we realized that Jim and Coral Lorenzen's ill health exerted a substantial bearing on the organization's status. This letter (see), written by Coral, indicates the necessity to sell their house and seek smaller quarters. Further, she expresses anger at rumors flying about regarding APRO's demise -- some of them advanced via her presumed nemesis, "Old Motor Mouth" director of another major UFO organization.

Coral tries to end on an upbeat note about APRO's -- and the Lorenzens' -- future in the UFO arena, but her hints of futility (not to mention the uncharacteristic number of typos in the note) are obvious. The world's oldest UFO research organization, sired in 1952, was fading slowly, and a few months later its destiny became even more evident as the membership learned that Jim was gravely ill and Coral, in caring for her husband, was enduring tremendous, though inevitable stress.

The World War II Computer

When I first saw this cartoon, drawn by a Navy member, I did a double-take as the word "computer" jumped into my field of view. After all, this (a small part of a much bigger drawing) was accomplished in the year 1943!

However, a little research showed that there was indeed an early computer used in ballistic calculations amongst the military services in the early forties. Obviously, they were heavy and cumbersome, with a definite thirst for electrical power. Their limited use arose from computer experimentation dating back to the 1930s.

No Microsoft, no Yahoo! and no Google -- yet the darned things worked. Who would have thought?