Francis L. Ridge

Francis Lee Ridge Obituary

With solemn reverence, we commemorate Francis Lee Ridge (Evansville, Indiana), born in Vincennes, Indiana, whose life came to an end on January 20, 2026 at the age of 83, leaving behind cherished memories. You can send your sympathy in the guestbook provided and share it with the family. He was predeceased by: his parents, Roland Ridge and Marjorie Baecher Ridge. He is survived by: his wife Carolyn; his children, Brett (Jenny), Brian (Melissa), Deanna Hoffman (Jason) and Brandon (Jade); his siblings, Sherri, Margianne and Steve; his grandchildren, Alex, Shane, Madison, Mason, Aidan, Ashton, Amelie, Myles and Katie Beshear; and his great grandchildren, Roman, Ian, Briar and Alaina. A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, February 7th 2026 from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM at the Lakeridge Crossing (2144 Lakeridge Dr, Newburgh, IN 47630).

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to the American Heart Association.

My friend Fran Ridge passed away today. Francis Ridge was 83 years old and a 50-year veteran of UFO investigation when he wrote his first book in 1994. UFO sightings had waned and he was ready to "retire". But the computer age and instant communication with emails and the internet changed all that. His UFO career exploded into 30 more years of activity he never dreamed of. He created and maintained the NICAP web site, the Nuclear Connection Project, and the Lunascan Project, The MADAR Project with 300 Units Worldwide along with his membership in MUFON holding the Indiana State Director position. He set up a 30-man A-Team and they documented thousands of the best UFO reports, over 500 radar cases, plus hundreds of sightings from aircraft. He updated the old NICAP sighting chronologies and created new ones from 1964 on up to the present, including ALL of the Project Blue Book UNKNOWNS from 1947-1969. He documented the key nuclear connection cases, in particular the missile shutdowns. Fran was a true Pioneer in Ufology. His search for the truth of "Are We alone" was steadfast. He will be missed by many and remembered for years to come. I will miss my talks with Fran and him saying "Good morning" at the beginning of each phone call no matter what time of day it was.

Phil Leech
NICAP/MADAR Chief Security Officer

60 years in UFO investigation & research with major organizations

Statement of Position on UFOs:
"There is no doubt that most UFOs are actually IFOs. For the subset of events that cannot be explained, there is a group of sightings that demonstrates solid objects under intelligent control. I am convinced that these objects are somebody else's craft. Although I cannot prove that the intelligence behind the phenomena is ET in nature, I consider the ETH to be the least unlikely. I also feel that there is a nuclear connection (or one that indicates a cause and effect relationship with serious world events that could lead to a nuclear threat) and that the evidence in the form of military sightings indicates an overt military-type operation."

1973 - On a third company transfer, at Mt. Vernon, Indiana, set up research and investigation team under MUFON as State Section Director for Posey, Vanderburg, & Gibson counties. Continued GDR until end of year which included the massive 1973 sighting wave, set up "saucer grapevine" with scattered observers, police, sheriff, and state police, airport control towers and Civil Defense in the tri-county area with a monthly bulletin and a published telephone number and media coverage. Station designated as the UFO FILTER CENTER.

Also implemented (and improved from earlier experience) the device to detect UFOs and record scientific data, called MADAR. Directed original MADAR Project until late 1990. (See 2014 and 2016)

1986 - Obtained his first computer and continued work on his computer database for the GDR work which listed over 4,000 entries for the region covering Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky & Tennessee. Became Indiana's MUFON State Director and FI for the Center for UFO Studies. With CUFOS' Robert Boyd began work on a monthly 4-page UFO Intelligence Summary mailed out to local police, sheriff, state police, airport control tower, state field investigators and national subscribers. Set up State Section Directors (SD's) and trained and tested 150 potential field investigators in Indiana's 92 counties. The Indiana group rapid deployment team consisted of approximately 30 active FI's throughout this period. Ridge and his team investigated hundreds of cases.

With the help of a kind and intelligent neighbor lady and retired school teacher named Carol Fischer and some computer issues, Ridge was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the realm of the internet. With the aid of email and websites Ridge was introduced to Dan Wilson and the Project Blue Book "gems". By now Jean Waskiewicz had joined the trio and serious work on very important UFO documents began to be placed on the new web site then called the NICAP InterLink site.

2010 - An amazing discovery. MADAR records for 1997 showed a correlation between MADAR-15 and the famous WOW! Signal!

2014 - Constructed new updated MADAR-II UFO detection system, re-established the project with a web site on February 1, 2014. In April of 2016 Ridge began development of the new MADAR-III Dataprobe which is now deployed at over a hundred sites around the world.

Publications:
1973-1986 - Monthly Status Report - Sent to law enforcement officers, news media and airport control tower in tri-county region
1986-1996 - Monthly, Newsletter, MUFON Indiana Monthly, UFO Intelligence Newsletter
1994 - Book, "Regional Encounters: The FC Files"
2006 - The Mantell Incident: Anatomy of an investigation, a 60-year-old cover-up