Updated: 27 March 2017 The APRO files pre1947 to Dec 1956 are stored here on microfilm: http://www.konsulting.com/ Other individual cases and groups of cases like APRO-Peru are in the hands of individual and some are at CUFOS. (Jan Aldrich) One of the biggest UFO archives in the world is tucked away in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. There were approximately 15.000 UFO cases contained in the archive for the once influential UFO organization APRO. But no one is allowed to have a peek. Here is the story of how this historical material went adrift. Written by Clas Svahn
One of the best American UFO archives, besides the
archive held by the UFO organisation Centre for UFO
Studies (CUFOS), is the archive that was managed by
APRO (Aerial Phenomena Research Organisation). It was
founded in 1952 by the husband and wife team of Jim
and Coral Lorenzen. The pair also published several
books on the subject and maintained connections around
the globe, especially in South America. The Swedish
ufologist and author, Gösta Rehn, was one of many who
supplied APRO with material.
For years, the archive was getting larger and
larger, containing witness reports and photographs, as
well as original correspondence from ufologists around
the world. The archives were located in Tucson,
Arizona, where the Lorenzens lived for many years.
When astronomer and ufologist Allen Hynek moved to
Scottsdale, Arizona in 1984, he did so partly on the
promises of two enthusiasts, Brian Myers and Tina
Choate. They helped Hynek get in touch with a
millionaire interested in the UFO phenomenon. With a
modest amount of funding, Hynek, Myers and Choate
opened a small office. Shortly afterwards, however,
Hynek decided his partners couldn't be trusted and
severed all connection with them. About that same
time, Hynek fell ill and, suffering the effects of a
brain tumour, died in 1986.
After Hynek's death, Myers and Choate continued the
management of the office, now renamed the
International Center for UFO Research (ICUFOR). Then
Coral Lorenzen, too, died in 1988. The APRO board
lacked management skills and found themselves with a
very extensive UFO archive that they had no interest
in mantaining. - The board wasn't accustomed to acting
autonomously, but instead doing what the Lorenzens
told them to, Mark Rodeghier explains, president of
the Center for UFO Studies in Chicago. But because
there were no instructions left in Coral?s will (and
APRO was an independent organization, in any case),
the decision on what to do with the archive remained
with the board.
They could not hand the archive over to MUFON,
since Coral had hated MUFON because its president,
Walt Andrus, a former member of APRO, had broken away
to start up his own organisation. But there was also
CUFOS. And we were interested. We started a collection
with the aim of purchasing the archive (as we did with
the NICAP archive), when something unexpected
happened. Someone spoke to Larry Lorenzen, Coral and
Jim's son, and convinced him that the files should not
go to CUFOS, either. - Hence Larry contacted the board
of APRO and advised them not to hand the material over
to us. He also expressed the opinion that the archive
should stay in Arizona. The tragedy is that Coral
surely would have said yes and allowed CUFOS to
purchase the archive if had she been alive. Whoever
spoke to Larry Lorenzen did so for malicious reasons.
That's when Brian Myers and Tina Choate reappeared.
They not only lived at the time in Scottsdale, outside
Phoenix, Arizona; they had also collaborated with
Allen Hynek. The board of APRO had no knowledge of
Hynek's breakup with the pair. - When Myers and Choate
received news that the board didn't know what to do
with the archive, they contacted and explained to the
board that they were willing to take it off their
hands. The board happily accepted and gave it all away
for free. All that Myers and Choate had to do was to
drive down there and get it, Rodeghier tells us. Other
sources, however, states that Myers and Choate payed
6.000 dollars for the files that consists of at least
18 filing cabinets of which at least twelve are case
files. According to Mark Rodeghier it must have
contained at least 15.000 sighting reports, many
duplicated nowhere else.
Although ICUFOR had a small office, most of the
archive was kept for many years in Myers and Choates?
garage. I personally visited them in 1991, but was not
even allowed to see the material. No one, to my
knowledge, has been allowed to see it since it ended
up with the pair. All I've been able to extract are a
few copies of cases, such as the Trindade case.
Fortunately, several thousand early cases have been
documented on microfilm, but the majority of the cases
are not available to ufologists. Nowadays Brian Myers
and Tina Choate live in Scottsdale. They have on
several occasions been offered money for the APRO
archive, but have refused every offer made. One of the
few people who have been able to visit the archive is
the famous abductee Travis Walton. - It's a tragedy,
Mark Rodeghier says. Ufologists interested in research
and history all around the world could benefit from
having access to the archive. In its present state, it
is of no use. It's all very sad.
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