RIO RANCHO, N.M. (KRQE) – Rio Rancho students will soon have access to a massive collection of historical records on unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings. The new partnership with the National UFO Historical Records Center is aimed at promoting students’ critical thinking, research skills, and understanding of atmospheric science.
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“We were put in touch with the Rio Rancho Public School system, and when they came and actually saw the archives, they were impressed with the nature and scope of the collection and recognized that this is a portion of history,” David Marler, the executive director of the National UFO Historical Records Center, told KRQE. “It’s a part of our culture, especially here in the state of New Mexico – we identify so closely with the UFO subject.”
The records come from the collection curated by David Marler, whose long-time fascination with military and civilian reports led him to a position as the executive director of the National UFO Historical Records Center. The collection contains thousands of documents on UFO sightings, including eye witness reports, official military records, and newspaper reports.
Marler has already combed through many of the documents, and shared some interesting UFO stories with KRQE News 13. But there are still countless documents in the collection that haven’t seen the light of day in decades.
That’s where the possibility for student research comes in. While the details are still being worked out, Marler says there’s a possibility for student lessons on how to evaluate primary historical documents and think critically about the UFO reports.
Marler emphasizes that the goal is not to convince students that aliens are real. Far from it, Marler says the idea is to teach students how to use critical thinking to analyze UFO reports for inconsistencies and alternative explanations. After all, many so-called UFO reports end up being easily explained as lenticular clouds or military aircraft. But some of the records in the collection aren’t so easily explained, so students will learn to make up their own mind when presented with all the facts.
“In addition to preserving the history, we see this as a vehicle to teach students not about UFOs per se, but about physics and optics,” Marler said. “90% of the UFO reports that we have can be attributable to prosaic explanations, everyday things sometimes seen under unusual atmospheric conditions. And so we see this as a vehicle to teach kids about astronomy and atmospheric physics, radar – those types of things that factor and lead into the UFO report. So UFOs are essentially the vehicle to teach very mainstream scientific and educational principles to the students.”
The records also provide an opportunity to teach archival techniques and how to preserve historical records. That could include teaching students how to convert microfilm to PDFs and how to turn reel-to-reel audio tape into mp3 files.
“This archive/museum really will afford students the opportunity to not only touch and read some of these original documents but hear the original recordings of pilots who are reporting UFOs. And so it’s going to be an immersive environment in that sense,” Marler said. “What we hope to do . . . is instill a sense of wonder as it relates to library, library sciences, document curation, [and] show the students how we take these old analog recordings, digitize them, and then digitally remaster them. So, these are skill sets that they might be able to utilize later in life when they build their careers.”
The plan is to house some of the record collection at one of the elementary schools, with ample parking and safe storage for the records. The site can then be used as a destination for school field trips as well as a specialty library open to the general public (by appointment only).
Right now, Marler says the buildings are being cleaned and set-up for the collection. The idea is to start engaging with students in 2025.
With an ever-growing collection of historical records, Marler and his team have a lot of work to do sorting and cataloguing, and they welcome volunteers. For more info, you can go to www.nufohrc.org.
