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About NARCAP
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Reporting: Aviation safety is NARCAPÕs primary focus. We are specifically interested in reports regarding one or more of the following UAP-related situations: Confidentiality: It is our hope that aviation professionals will recognize the importance of this work and contact us with their reports of encounters with UAP. Often, though not always, reporters are concerned about their confidentiality. We are not associated with the FAA or other government agencies, or the airlines. We have modeled our program after NASAÕs Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS). With regards to employers, the FAA, and the media, we have a process in place to ensure that confidentiality is protected. We are primarily interested in reports from pilots, air traffic controllers and radar operators. However, anyone who witnesses UAP appearing to represent a threat to aviation safety may contact us. Investigations: We strongly suspect that UAP adversely affect avionics and aircrews. We are interested in their impact on aviation safety and will carefully examine each incident where safety may have been compromised. We will conduct thorough investigations of UAP reports based on aviation industry standards. Our Technical Advisors have extensive aviation and aeronautic experience and will follow established patterns of aviation safety investigations and reporting. Our International Science Advisors represent a cross section of disciplines, from geophysicists and research psychologists to meteorologists and astrophysicists. We expect that they will be quite helpful in evaluating cases and offering research of their own for review. Analysis, theories or findings related to UAP will be posted and open, critical analysis by peer review will be encouraged. Additionally, we are encouraging written submissions by credentialed parties who wish to present their material for peer review. We are very interested in networking with aviation safety groups in particular, as well as the aviation community in general. Collaborative efforts are encouraged. NARCAP ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND GENERAL STAFFING The National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena is a scientific, non-political, non-profit organization comprised of an Executive Division and a Research Division that is under the direction of an Executive Advisory Committee. The Executive Division plays the following roles: carries out day-to-day Center operations, coordinates computer database planning and execution in cooperation with the Research Division, coordinates and conducts all office support staffing activities, and recommends and jointly approves (with the Research Division's head) new NARCAP National and International Technical Specialists and Research Associates. It conducts public relations activities, performs fund raising, financial and budget planning and execution, distributes NARCAP technical reports, and performs other in-house activities directly and indirectly related to achieving NARCAP's mission(s). The Executive Division is made up of the following sections: Executive Director, Secretarial and Office Support, Data Handling and Security, Special Programs, Webmaster, and Public Affairs. The Research Division plays the following roles: conducts focused and timely reviews of unusual atmospheric phenomena that meet predefined criteria, carries out appropriate activities to determine whether each pilot/ATC/radar report received qualifies as an aviation safety-related incident and, if it does, carries out detailed scientific and technical analyses in order to discover its cause or identity, and prepares a summary report(s), maintains a list of currently qualified aviation specialists and consultants, recommends and jointly approves (with the Executive Division) new NARCAP National and and International Technical Specialists and Research Associates, maintains a comprehensive and current technical library of aviation-related information, provides cost estimates to the Executive Director for each field/case investigation. The Research Division is made up of the following sections: National Technical Specialists, Research Associates, Aviation Incident Research Team(s), and Special Case-related Consultants. Working together, the Executive and Research Divisions co-direct the following sections: Office Support, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) liaison personnel, International Technical Specialists, Reference Librarian, and Data Archivist(s). A national level Executive Advisory Committee is comprised of from three to five members who meet at least annually to provide oversight and policy planning functions to NARCAP. |
| Origins NARCAP was founded in 1999 by Chief Scientist Dr. Richard Haines and Executive Director, Ted Roe. Through careful planning and execution, NARCAP has grown to be a respected research organization dedicated to studying UAP and aviation safety for the public's benefit. NARCAP was developed because it seems that the aviation industry is operating under a bias that is causing an under-reporting of safety-related encounters with UAP. Without this data, effective procedures have not been implemented and there is a real threat to aviation safety. Dr. Richard F. Haines has compiled a catalogue of over 3400 aviation related UAP cases. He has conducted a comprehensive review of UAP reports by U.S. air traffic controllers and pilots from the past 50 years. A result of this effort is Richard's paper "Aviation Safety in America- A Previously Neglected Factor". It contains analyses of over one hundred reports of UAP involved in near misses, close pacing, disrupted avionics, and collisions. These events either occurred to US aviation professionals on domestic or foreign flights, or foreign aircrews operating in US airspace. This document includes Dr. Haines' recommendations for addressing these issues. This paper is not copyrighted and is being widely distributed throughout the aviation industry. NARCAP was founded on non-profit priciples and continues to maintain our non-profit charter under our original leadership. Our official 501(c)3 status is pending. |