Civilian Saucer Intelligence (CSI) was an independent unidentified flying object research group founded in New York City in 1954. It was initially called Civilian Saucer Intelligence New York, but the "New York" was quickly dropped from their name. An unidentified flying object, or UFO, is any real or apparent flying object which cannot be identified by the observer and which remains unidentified after investigation. ... New York, NY redirects here. ...

In contrast to the many amateurish early "flying saucer clubs", CSI actually conducted rigorous investigations of UFO reports. The CSI Newsletter was issued quarterly, and Clark describes it as "the best UFO periodical of its time -- well edited, intelligent, thoughtful and critical-minded." (Clark, 188)

They were critical of contactees who claimed to be in regular contact with aliens, but stood apart from other groups by actively investigating close encounters of the third kind, where animate beings are alleged to be seen as part of UFO sightings. Contactees are persons who claim to be in regular contact with extraterrestrials. ... Close encounter in ufology is an event where a person witnesses an unidentified flying object. ...

History

Jerome Clark writes, "Though its membership was small, what the organization lacked in quantity it made up in quality of its personnel" (Clark, 188) CSI's core personnel were Ted Bloecher, Isabel Davis, and Alexander Mebane. Jerome Clark (1946 - ) is an American researcher and writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other anomalous phenomena; he is also a songwriter of some note. ... Ted Bloecher (born 1929) is an American ufologist. ...

American biochemist Michael D. Swords^[1] describes CSI's impressive projects as the result of "the Herculean efforts of three talented UFO researchers ... [t]hey were tough analysts, very difficult to fool with trivial cases." CSI was also notable for translating into English two books by French ufologist Aime Michel. Michael D. Swords is an American scientist. ...

Furthermore, according to Swords, CSI became astronomer J. Allen Hynek's main source of UFO reports during the mid-1950s -- especially cases from outside the U.S. -- after the Robertson Panel (1953) diverted most UFO reports away from Project Blue Book, to which Hynek was consultant. Josef Allen Hynek (May 1, 1910 - April 27, 1986) was a U.S. astronomer, professor, and ufologist. ... The Robertson Panel was a committee commissioned by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1952 in response to widespread Unidentified Flying Object reports, especially in the Washington DC area. ... Project Blue Book was one of a series of systematic studies of Unidentified flying objects (UFOs) conducted by the United States Air Force. ...

Though the group never formally disbanded, CSI was defunct by 1959. However, Davis and Bloecher were active in UFO research into the 1980s, Davis as a NICAP associate. Notably, Bloecher investigated an early 1970s UFO sighting made by young painter, Budd Hopkins; in later years, Hopkins would become a key figure in the alien abduction scene. see National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena ... Budd Hopkins (born on June 15, 1931 in Wheeling, West Virginia) is a central figure in abduction phenomenon and related UFO research. ... The Abduction Phenomenon is as umbrella term used to describe a number of kidnap individuals--sometimes called abductees--usually for medical testing or for sexual reproduction procedures. ...

References