Manuals for UFO/anomaly investigators : BUFORA and MARA (UK groups)

From the 1950s onwards, several UFO groups and investigators have sought to produce investigative manuals and guides to help new field investigators. Several more of these manuals are now freely available online.

Tony Eccles of MARA (the Merseyside Anomalies Research Association) has now given me permission to upload a copy of MARA's "Members Handbook and Investigative Guide" (2003). This guide aimed to set out steps that investigators should take "to gather the data required to achieve our goal, and prove the existence of the phenomenon to non-believers..." (including complying with a Code of Practice set out in the handbook). This brief manual extended beyond UFO sightings to ghost sightings / photographs and also conducting experiments into the paranormal.

For ease of reference, I have now also added several of BUFORA's investigative handbooks published in the 1960s and 1970s to the same folder as the MARA handbook and the investigative manuals of some other UFO groups and researchers. (BUFORA has previously kindly given me permission to upload a large collection of the journals and monographs that it had published over the last few decades). This includes a copy of BUFORA's 161 page "UFO Investigation" handbook first published in 1976 and revised in 1979.

The other investigative manuals that I have previously uploaded (to the same folder) include the following:




(1) "UFO Investigators League Field Manual"

This manual was published in 1979. It was written by Timothy Green Beckley and Harold Salkin of the UFO Investigators League. As I have previously mentioned, this particular manual is one of the briefer manual's for UFO investigators, being only 10 pages long. It includes advice on the "challenge, hard work and adventure" ahead of those that have decided to become UFO field investigators. The manual suggests that "You will meet interesting people, go to intriguing places, and perhaps even come up with some new evidence that will help solve the ever-expanding mystery of the skies".

(2) APRO's Field Investigators Handbook

The APRO handbook for UFO investigations, "Recommended Procedures for APRO Field Investigators" was a rather brief (29 page) training manual for new UFO investigators.

(3) "UFO Study" by Jenny Randles, as updated by Robert Moore

The book "UFO Study" was originally written by veteran ufologist Jenny Randles. It was subsequently updated by another British researcher, Robert Moore.  That book aimed to present a concise guide to the many skills and techniques required in UFO investigation.  It also included some attempts to make such investigations more systematic, including attempting to create a flowchart to identify some common candidates for explaining UFO reports.