Ufologists & Researchers

74 people who shaped the field — pioneers, investigators, skeptics, and the UAP era.

Internationaljournalist

A. J. Gevaerd

1962–2022

Founded Revista UFO and Brazil's Central UFO Research Bureau, conducting over 700 field investigations across three decades.

Internationalscientist

Auguste Meessen

1932–

Belgian physicist who led the scientific investigation of the 1989-90 Belgian UFO wave.

Internationalinvestigator

Bill Chalker

1952–

Australia's leading UFO researcher and chronicler of the Westall 1966 mass sighting.

Internationalinvestigator

Chris Rutkowski

1954–

Canada's leading UFO researcher and chronicler of the 1967 Shag Harbour incident.

Internationalinvestigator

Edison Boaventura Jr.

1966–

Founded Brazil's Grupo Ufológico do Guarujá in 1985 and built one of the country's largest private archives of declassified military UFO documents.

Internationalauthor

Erich von Däniken

1935–2026

Popularized the 'ancient astronaut' hypothesis with Chariots of the Gods? (1968), selling over 70 million copies despite comprehensive scholarly rejection.

Internationaljournalist

Jaime Maussan

1946–

Mexico's most influential UFO broadcaster, whose career spans major regional sighting investigations and repeated, widely debunked hoax presentations, including 2023's 'alien mummies' shown to Congress.

Internationalscientist

Jean-Jacques Velasco

1946–

Directed France's official government UFO investigation unit SEPRA for nearly two decades, later declaring publicly his belief in extraterrestrial origin.

Internationalauthor

Jenny Randles

1951–

Prolific British author who coined the 'Oz Factor' and helped establish the early witness record for the Rendlesham Forest incident.

Internationalinvestigator

Nick Pope

1965–2026

Ran the UK Ministry of Defence's 'UFO desk' from 1991 to 1994, becoming Britain's most recognized government-insider UFO commentator.

Internationalinvestigator

Roberto Pinotti

1944–

Founder of Italy's Centro Ufologico Nazionale and organizer of the World UFO Symposium.

Internationalinvestigator

Rony Vernet

c. 1985–

Founded UAP Brazil and used freedom-of-information law to declassify Amazon UAP records, culminating in a 2024 multi-sensor field expedition to a Yawanawá village in Acre.

Internationalauthor

Timothy Good

1942–

British author whose 1987 bestseller Above Top Secret introduced the American UFO-cover-up narrative to international audiences with extensive original UK research.

Internationalmilitary

Uyrangê Bolivar Hollanda Lima

c. 1940–

Commanded Brazil's 1977 Operação Prato, one of the only known military operations tasked directly with investigating and countering UFO activity.

Internationalscientist

Yves Sillard

1934–

As CNES director-general, provided the institutional backing that established GEPAN in 1977, embedding UFO research within the French space agency.