Skip to content

PROJECT ARCHIVES

Non-Human Intelligence

A Free Public Archive

← Newsletter Archive

Believe It

Maryland Center for Investigation of Unconventional Phenomena, Kensington, Maryland

United States
Country
1978
Published
1
Issues Indexed
66
Articles Catalogued

History

Believe It appeared as Volume 1, Number 1 in November 1978, published by the Maryland Center for Investigation of Unconventional Phenomena Inc. (the same organisation that later published the MARCEN Journal). The 40-page premier issue carried a copyright notice allowing legitimate news organisations to quote up to 100 words, and other publications up to 200 with permission. Credit to the Center's library went to William Corliss of the Sourcebook Project in Glen Arm, Maryland, Lucius Farish of the UFO Newsclipping Service in Plumerville, Arkansas, and the Aerial Phenomenon Clipping and Information Center of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. F. Helfer of Heller's Camera and Photo provided translation assistance.

The Center was incorporated as a nonprofit in Maryland with federal tax-exempt status applied for. It shared space with two profit-motivated corporations operated by the director, ran entirely on volunteer staff, and operated a complete photographic laboratory capable of black-and-white and colour processing plus photo analysis. A printing shop was being established to bring all production in-house. The Center was actively pursuing university affiliation, finding receptive but cash-strapped academics who needed guarantees of financial self-sufficiency before formalising a relationship.

Cooperative Ambition
The Center's founding editorial declared its mission to promote cooperation between "all UFO and Fortean organizations in the world," offering to serve as "catalyst" and "buffer or interface between any groups that, for whatever reason, find it impossible to cooperate with each other." The editorial argued that pooling resources across groups would generate enough funding "to actually conduct meaningful research." This cooperative vision was unusual for the late 1970s, when factional rivalries between NICAP, APRO, MUFON, and CUFOS defined the field's politics.

The table of contents for Volume 1, Number 1 ran to 40 pages covering: international UFO encounters (a May to August 1978 worldwide roundup), pyramid phenomena, Soviet cosmonauts on Salyut-6 allegedly paced by a UFO formation, an FBI raid in Pennsylvania, nationwide Bigfoot appearances, Bigfoot in Maryland, reincarnation experiences, Chesapeake Bay monsters, the 1978 Fortfest, animal mutilation cases, teenagers and UFOs, a message from Professor Hermann Oberth ("Professor Oberth Sends Accolades"), green slime in Washington, skyquakes, UFO photos from an observatory, and a close encounter of the fourth kind.

The breadth was deliberate. Unlike MUFON or APRO, the Maryland Center claimed jurisdiction over all "unconventional phenomena," not just unidentified flying objects. Bigfoot, animal mutilation, fortean events, and parapsychology shared space with saucer reports. This was the Fortean model: anything anomalous belonged in the same conversation.

From the Archive
Cross-reference with MARCEN Journal for the Center's later publication under its abbreviated name. See also Pursuit (SITU) for another Fortean organisation attempting multi-phenomena coverage from the US East Coast.

Browse the Collection

Two ways to explore: by issue (covers, decade-grouped) or by article (search across the run).

← Newsletter Archive Browse by Country → Encyclopedia →
Home