Dateline Greeley Colorado January 16, 2011
Clifford Clift, International Director of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), has announced he will be stepping down as International Director, effective January 31, 2012.
David MacDonald, member of MUFON's board of Directors and State Director for Kentucky will replace Clift as International Director (ID) February 1, 2012. Clift is stepping down as ID due to personal commitments and family health issues, which will require his full attention. He said, "MUFON needs a full time ID and he will not be able to provide full time leadership under these conditions".
Clift also said, "I know my limitations and the requirements of time MUFON needs to be successful. I can't be successful with both." Clift would like to express his deep gratitude to MUFON subscribers/members for their commitment in seeing that MUFON achieves the fulfillment of its goals and thanks everyone for their continued support over the past two years. Cliff goes on to assure, "MUFON has come a long way in a positive direction and I'm excited to say that the Mutual UFO Network is in good hands with David. His level of dedication and his leadership skills will be an incredible benefit to our organization. David will be a very effective International Director for MUFON."
David MacDonald is no stranger to MUFON and the organization's mission. David is currently on MUFON's Board of Directors, Assistant Director of Investigations, MUFON's Star Team Administrator, the conductor of testing for new Field Investigators and much more.
As a business man, over the years David has had numerous successful businesses. Currently, he runs a school for Pilots and Aircraft Dispatchers. Additionally, he owns and runs Flamingo Air, a Charter Airline. Clifford continued his praise, "David MacDonald has excellent credentials within MUFON and the business world. David's business background and knowledge of the UFO phenomenon is very sound and successful. He brings much to the table as the new leader for MUFON. " When asked how David felt about taking over the position of MUFON's International Director, he said, "I'm excited about taking over the leadership role of MUFON and I'm looking forward to working with all the great people in the MUFON organization."
David will move MUFON International Headquarters to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he operates Global Airline Education Center and Campus. Being centrally located, the International Headquarters will be easily accessible to many more members. Cincinnati is within a 6 hour drive for 60% of the population of the United States.
The location will have high visibility to pilots and many perspective new MUFON members in the aviation industry as well as increased exposure to the general public which will be a real benefit. MUFON will have room for office space, storage on site, and a walk-in merchandise store. We ask everyone to have patience during this transition period. Keep your eyes on the sky and let's all welcome Mr. David MacDonald as MUFON's new International Director!
Our 2011 State Conference in Murfreesboro turned out very well. It is true that we had about 25 less in attendance than we did last year, but success in not always measured in sheer numbers. This year we had about 65 people filling the Conference room, which ain't bad. The excitement and positive energy that was present throughout this day-long event was even more impressive than at our 2010 State meeting. Everybody seemed to have caught the contagion of Conference fever. The good cheer of the holiday season may have also helped to make this event so enjoyable. And the fact that we outdid ourselves this time by having THREE major speakers and two special guests from MUFON Headquarters made this Conference, in terms of the impact of the information received, the most intense one we have had so far.
One highlight of the 2011 Conference was seeing the splendid 3-D animations of sensational Tennessee sightings by our own Chris Bennett of Memphis. Fletcher Gray the National Manager of MUFON's Star Team who spoke at the Conference was so impressed by Chris' work that he has made him the official illustrator for MUFON Star Team cases. We are proud to see that Chris has already illustrated the cover of the January 2012 issue of the MUFON Journal. That's a great way to start the New Year (don't you think?) with one of our TN MUFON Team in the limelight on the cover of the Journal!
Some more positive fallout from the Conference is the fact that another one of our special guest speakers from Headquarters Dave McDonald, State Director of Kentucky and Interim Board Member, who is hosting the 2012 MUFON Symposium in his State this coming year, got to hear our own Thomas Reed from Knoxville tell his riveting story of multi-generational alien intervention and was so impressed that he has now invited Tom to be one of the major presenters at the Symposium. Another score for TN MUFON!
One other thing of note about our Murfreesboro State Meeting is the fact that it brought out some new witnesses to more amazing Tennessee UFO events of recent date that we would probably not otherwise have heard about. You will be reading about these in coming issues of our newsletter and on our website. One of these cases just might inspire Chris to do another one of his 3-D animations. And finally I want to express our gratitude to Sue Pitts of the Huntsville, Alabama MUFON group who showed up with 15 people. That's the kind of support we need to be seeing from cities like Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville. We only got 6 from Memphis to attend this year. Our number one New Year's resolution MUST be to get hotly proactive local MUFON chapters started in our major population centers across our State.
Well, another year gone by. 2011 proved to be an extraordinary year for MUFON and Tennessee MUFON for number of Reports filed. We investigated 127 UFO Reports in Tennessee for 2011, thanks to a small, but dedicated group of Certified Field Investigators.
Star Team Cases have eluded us again. We had several we thought might be Star Team Cases, but would not meet the Star Team criteria due to lack of physical or measurable evidence. Sorry.....thanks for playing, but NO Cigar!
Our monthly CMS Ranking is still at 100%, month in and month out. We even captured the # 1 spot several months ago! Eddie and I were excited about that when it came out in our Report, but we are still not sure how they calculate it. Voodoo Math I suspect!
We still need Certified Field Investigators in all areas of Tennessee. Eastern Tennessee, South Central, and North Western Tennessee are areas we seem to have the most need in. If any Member is interested in Investigations, please contact me, or Eddie Middleton.
2011 ended on a positive note with our 3rd Annual State Conference we held in Murfreesboro in December. Thanks to Eddie Middleton our State Director, and Steve White (the guy that wears many hats). Their hard work in putting the Conference together was appreciated by all those that attended this year.In closing, I wish our Members a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!
Well, we had the annual State Conference! It was a great success, and our speakers were wonderful. We want to thank Tom Reed, George Filer, and Christopher O'Brien for their incredible and compelling presentations! All three speakers brought many questions to the minds of the attendees.
Check out our new blog post. Do you have questions, answers, or comments? Nows your chance!
We need your help in Tennessee with your suggestions and ideas for content here on the website. What do you want to see? Do you have articles you want to post? Let us know at
tnmufon@gmail.com
Thank you for your support!
Steven White
Tennessee MUFON
Public Relations/Editor/Field Investigator, State Section Director
State Director, NC MUFON
Director of Professional Standards, MUFON HQ
