Investigating the unexplained: UFOs in Oregon and across the U.S.

What happens when you think you’ve seen something unexplainable? Who do you call?

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- What happens when you think you’ve seen something unexplainable? Who do you call?

MUFON, The Mutual UFO Network, is a nonprofit that studies UFOs and their sightings around the U.S.

Founded in 1969 in the Midwest, MUFON now boasts more than 5,000 members worldwide according to Tom Bowden, the Oregon State Director for the organization.

"It's the most, in my opinion, the most strongest and most productive organization that exists on in the entire world that investigates this subject matter," Bowden said. "There are other military organizations in the United States and other countries that investigate UFOs, but they don't talk publicly about it."

Bowden became interested as a young boy and as he grew up he only got more and more obsessed with the thought of life beyond the clouds. Now, he investigates close encounters reported by Oregonians.

"MUFON's definition of a close encounter is anytime a human has an incident where they're closer than 500 feet or within 500 feet of an unusual or anomalous object," said Bowden.

According to Bowden, someone that close could see their life change after a sighting like that.

"There's often other effects like either messages that they get telepathic messages or they feel physical effects like maybe electronic disturbances or things like that," Bowden added.

KOIN 6 News reporter Emma Jerome spoke with Bowden and asked him when he thought UFOs went from being an urban legend to something accepted by the scientific community.

"Going back centuries and maybe longer, maybe millennia, people have explained strange things," Bowden said. "And to some people, it becomes a religious experience. They may think that they're seeing angels or demons or whatever, but these kinds of experiences go way back in human history."

Oregon has its own deep history with UFOs dating back to the 1950s.

It was May 11, 1950, when McMinnville farmer Paul Trent and his wife Evelyn saw something strange in the sky and captured it on film.

"Now, the original negatives were studied and analyzed exhaustively by a number of people," Bowden said. "And the best experts have concluded that it's a genuine photo. It wasn't faked. Paul and Evelyn Trent were just plain old farmers."

Bowden is far from the only person seeking answers to the unexplained. Ryan Graves is a former U.S. Navy fighter pilot & Executive Director of Americans for Safe Aerospace. He’s also a featured speaker at the 2024 UFO Festival in McMinnville.

"We always have to be certain about what's in our airspace," said Graves. "For either national security concerns or for aviation safety, we have to understand what's around us and we have to be able to respond to any potential threats."

Graves and his organization are working with lawmakers on legislation to make it easier for pilots at all levels to report UFO incidents, even testifying before Congress about the matter.

"This is an area where the United States is losing the battle, the so-called gray zone, where there are actions being put forward against our military, whether it's here or abroad, that don't necessarily require a military response, and yet they are disruptive to our services," said Graves. "So, we need to understand how to respond to these incidents, not only in a way that's effective but also safe, if it is happening in our own skies."

Graves said last summer's congressional hearing on unidentified aerial phenomenon that featured his testimony and that of two other former military members has helped clear away some of the stigma around the topic and regular people who were maybe too afraid to talk before are talking now.

"It's really opened up the floodgates at least within the pilot community, pilots are much more open to engaging in this conversation in the cockpit, on the radio, in public as well, by sharing their stories with me and with other organizations that are looking to better understand this.

KOIN 6 asked Bowden how MUFON investigates sightings to find them credible and he said they collect as much data as possible, more than just the weather report.

"We arrange to speak with the witness. Usually, we want to do an interview. We want to assess their credibility and what kind of person, what maybe their education background, their knowledge base, are they a down to earth person or are they someone that maybe is given to flights of fantasy," Bowden said. "If we can match that light to an aircraft and the object doesn't make any movements that are unusual, usual for a manmade aircraft, then we would usually conclude that they actually saw an aircraft."

When asked about the government's recent acknowledgment of UFOs, Bowden shared that it didn't come as a surprise to him.

"It doesn't surprise me. We've been moving in that direction for quite a while," Bowden said. "Well, I can tell you one thing, it's unrealistic to believe that they would reveal all the secrets because some of the stuff is downright, embarrassingly strange, and they don't really, a lot of the people involved, they don't really know how to deal with it because it's too weird really for them to deal."

But what should you do if you see a UFO? Bowden said you should pay close attention.

"Just pay attention to the details," Bowden said. "What did you see? What time was it date and time? Where was I? What direction was I looking?"