Nicap The Year Of The Ufo January

I'm not certain, but the organization NICAP was probably the first to generate a monthy calendar format spotlighting important events in UFO history. In 1972 every NICAP member received with each bimonthly issue of The UFO Investigator a fold-in page containing a month of UFO history on each side (January on one side and February on the reverse, for example). Page colors changed with each mailing.

During June, I intend to post all 12 months of "The Year of the UFO," the obscure, yet captivating, NICAP feature, and even after 35 years of storage these old copies are in good condition for scanning.

January, as you can see, boasts both familiar and lesser known UFO memorabilia. For instance, Capt. Thomas Mantell died in January during his pursuit of something (UFO? Balloon?), in 1950 True Magazine published an important article by Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe (USMC, ret.), the famous Wallops Island UFO incident occurred in 1965 and, if only we could forget, the "Condon Report" -- the government-financed UFO study tainted by scandal -- saw release in January of 1969.

One of the best features of these monthlies, aside from marking important occasions, is that in many cases the reader can go to the NICAP web site (see link list above) search engine, or other sources, to retrieve detailed information just by typing in key words and dates.

Continue to check back, as months may not be posted on consecutive days here, though the series will be completed by June's end.