Australian CUFOS Journal

History

The Australian Centre for UFO Studies grew out of ACOS, the Australian Co-Ordination Section of the Centre for UFO Studies, which had served as J. Allen Hynek's official Australian affiliate since the mid-1970s. At UFOCON 4, the delegates voted to rename the organisation ACUFOS and retitle the ACOS Bulletin as the Journal of the Australian Centre for UFO Studies. The first issue appeared in February 1980, published from PO Box 546, Gosford, NSW 2250, with H. Griesberg and Keith Basterfield as editors.

The journal ran for six volumes of six issues each, the final number appearing in November/December 1985. By that point, the editorial address had relocated to 6 Reginald Avenue, Findon, South Australia 5023, reflecting Basterfield's base in Adelaide, while the ACUFOS organisational address remained at PO Box 728, Lane Cove, NSW 2066, the same suburb that had housed UFOIC in the 1970s. Subscriptions cost ten dollars annually (fourteen dollars for overseas airmail). The journal carried an ISSN (0729-2295) and was registered for posting as a Category B publication.

Basterfield set the editorial direction in the inaugural issue: the journal would be "a vehicle for the publication of researched articles and services available to Australian researchers by Australian researchers." This was a deliberate step up from the newsletter format that most Australian UFO groups used. Articles were expected to be analytical rather than simply descriptive. Contributors included Bill Chalker, who had moved from the UFOIC committee to become one of the country's most active field investigators; John Prytz, who wrote on the philosophical dimensions of the UFO question; David Seargent, who contributed guest editorials and theoretical pieces; and Frank Gillespie, who provided scientific commentary and eventually took over editorial duties in the journal's later volumes.

The journal's coverage ranged from close encounter case studies to book reviews, bibliography services, and debates about UFO theory. Prytz pushed back against uncritical acceptance of the extraterrestrial hypothesis, proposing alternative frameworks and challenging contributors to defend their interpretations. Seargent wrote on the significance of early sighting patterns. Gillespie brought a scientific temperament that showed in his "What is the Electric Field" series and his commentary on proposed physical mechanisms. The review of "Clear Intent: The Government Coverup of the UFO Experience" in the final volume connected the Australian research community to the growing American literature on government secrecy.

Production was always precarious. The January/February 1982 issue shipped late because the printer ran out of envelopes during an industrial dispute. These were volunteer-produced publications dependent on the editors' personal time and resources. That ACUFOS maintained a regular bimonthly schedule for most of its run, across thirty-five issues, represents a significant achievement for an unfunded Australian research organisation in the early 1980s.