Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici

THE ITALIAN CENTER FOR UFO STUDIES
(Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici, or CISU) was founded in 1985, as a merging from three different experiences: a dozen former directors of Centro Ufologico Nazionale (CUN), UPIAR (Ufo Phenomena International Annual Review) Cooperative members and the Clypeus/Ufologia editorial team.
CISU is a private, no-profit organization based on volunteer work of its unpaid members.
AIMS AND ACTIVITIES
CISU aims are: 1) to promote scientific study of UFO phenomena; 2) to let information and documentation circulate among researchers; 3) to coordinate nationally activities of data collection, analysis and its diffusion.
Main activities include: investigation on UFO sighting reports; filing and cataloguing of collected data and archiving of any useful documentation; promoting analyses and research; information for its members; public education
ORGANIZATION
There are two levels of membership: temporary associates and full members. Only the latter are entitled to represent the CISU. General administration is managed by a council of directors (presently composed of a president and 6 other members), plus a secretarial staff. Local organization is made of regional coordinators and provincial directors.
INVESTIGATIONS
Fields investigations on reported sightings are made by local members, following CISU Field Investigation Methodology Manual, designed so to collect as many information about sighted phenomena and reliability of testimonies. Written nvestigation reports are the basis for following studies.
In 2001 CISU adopted and has since adhered to the Ufology Code of Ethics developed by BUFORA and UFOIN in the UK.
ARCHIVING
CISU Archives systematically collect all and any Italian documentation and source about UFO phenomena and ufology: investigation reports, newsclippings, research articles, specialized books and periodicals, audio and video recordings, digital and magnetic media sources, as well as a wide range of advertising commercials, toys, gadgets, music records, art and other UFO-inspired popular culture items. A huge collection of international UFO books and periodicals is also stored at CISU headquarters in Torino, a 210 sq.mt. loft which is the largest repository of UFO documentation existing in Italy and one of the largest in Europe.
ANALYSIS, CATALOGUES AND RESEARCH
A first analysis work is done on each reported sighting, trying to evaluate information and identify the cause, whenever possible. Comparisons of cases and statistical presentations are also produced.
One of CISU major activities has always been the painstacking filing and cataloguing of even fragmentary news of any UFO/IFO sighting ever reported in Italy. More than 15,000 case histories have been filed as yet, amounting to tens of thousands of sources archived. This work has been and is being done at a local level, where regional/provincial archives are kept, digital databases built and paper catalogues published. A national archive and a national database also exist.
As for scientific research, CISU is only meaning itself as a source of documentation, consultation and infrastructure for active researchers. Research projects and committees are being activated, though, on specific subjects (an updated list of about 20 ongoing projects is available on the web at www.ufodatanet.org).
PUBLICATIONS
CISU main journal, UFO – Rivista di informazione ufologica (UFO information review, 31 issues published) is a glossy 48-pages magazine presently published three times per year, detailing the state-of-the art of ufology, with a special emphasis on investigations, analyses and articles by CISU members.
A monthly newsclipping service is also available upon request at a nominal fee. A quarterly newsletter (UFO Notizie, 63 issues) and an internal forum for discussion and technical articles (UFO Forum, 19 issues) have also been published for some years in the past.
Longer texts, regional or special sightings catalogues (e.g. Italian sightings by pilots, trace-landing cases, USO reports, ball lightning reports), as well as bibliographies or research results are also published as occasional monographs (Documenti UFO): as many as 34 as of now.
CISU has its own publishing house (Upiar Cooperative), which has released seven books as yet.
INFORMATION TO MEMBERS
Information sharing is the core of CISU philosophy: all members have a right not only to access archives but also to get copies of all archived documentation. Each catalogue or project coordinator is regularly getting copy of all incoming documents pertaining his own activity.
A long-standing book service for CISU members has later evolved into a specialized UFO e-commerce website (www.upiar.com).
Our national yearly congress has been held since 1986, as a regular occasion of meeting and discussion, mostly for members (though about half of them was also open to the public). Meetings and workshops on specific subjects have also been organized when needed.
PUBLIC EDUCATION
In twenty years, CISU members have been organizing or taking part at hundreds of public conferences and debates, photo exhibitions, radio/TV emissions, interviews or articles in the general media, though public education have been given secondary importance, as opposed to other activities, in the last decade. Our main goals in doing public education are: 1) to make ourselves known to witnesses; 2) to attract new members; 3) to collect economic resources.
Though not sold in the newsstands, CISU magazine has been distributed in a nationwide chain of bookshops since 1986. Moreover, CISU magazine has been sent free for years to hundreds of scientists, public libraries, university departments, newspapers or single reporters, in order to keep them aware of our existence and activities.
CISU ON THE PHONE AND ON THE NET
Besides operating the oldest existing UFO-call 24-hours phone line in Italy for witnesses to call, for twenty full years, a new UFO information service on the phone (UFOTEL) has been activated since 1994, offering weekly news for free.
But the main information tool in the last decade has been the Internet: the CISU was the first Italian UFO organization to have a website, a mailing list and a weekly web-zine (all three of them still working). Ufo Online (www.ufo.it) has been and still is the most visitated Italian website on UFOs.
Ufotel weekly newsletter has also been distributed on the Internet (websites, mailing lists, newsgroups) since 1995, and our online UFO sighting form offers an easy tool for hundreds of witnesses each year. Besides the open/public mailing list and another one for CISU members only, as many as 18 specialized, closed-shop mailing lists are also existing for CISU research committees or working groups members to keep in contact and distribute information and discussions.

CISU – CENTRO ITALIANO STUDI UFOLOGICI – P. O. Box 82 – 10100 Torino (Italy)
Phone +39 011 307863 / Fax +39 011545033 – www.cisu.org / cisu@ufo.it

Born in July 1947 (vintage year for ufology!). Graduate in chemistry in 1970 (Université Libre de Bruxelles – Belgium), he has a PhD in History of Sciences and Technics (Université Charles de Gaulle-Lille III – France) since 1995.
Teacher of chemistry at the Athénée Provincial de La Louvière (Hainaut – Belgium) since 1970 and professor at the University of Mons-Hainaut (Lectures on history of experimental sciences) since 1996.

In 1972, he took a hand in the creation of the Société Belge d’Étude des Phénomènes Spatiaux (SOBEPS) and since 1976, he is the President of this society, chiefly involved in the edition of the periodical publication Inforespace.

In 1975, he has directed the edition of the collective book Des soucoupes volantes aux OVNI (From Flying Saucers to UFOs), and in 1977, he wrote a book upon old UFO sightings, La chronique des OVNI (The UFO’s Chronicle), edited by J.-P. Delarge, Paris. At the end of 1991, he has directed (and written some parts of) the first report on the Belgian UFO wave of 1989-91: Vague d´OVNI sur la Belgique. In the beginning of 1994, the second report was published (Vague d´OVNI sur la Belgique. 2. Une énigme non résolue). This second volume was prefaced by Isabelle Stengers, a well known philosopher and historian of science.

Actually, he claims to be somewhat eclectic and, besides ufology and history of science, he takes an interest in several other fields. So, he has published a critical study on the reforms introduced in the education: L´école et ses dupes (School and its Dupes), éditions Labor, 1996, collection Education 2000.

He is a corresponding member of the Comité National de Logique, d’Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences (within the framework of the Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique).

Here are his main publications as historian of sciences: La chimie de Nicolas Lemery, Brepols, Turnhout, collection De Diversis Artibus, tome 40 (N.S. 3), 1999. Scientific Editor of Alchemy, Chemistry and Pharmacy, volume XVIII des Proceedings of the XXth International Congress of History of Science (Liège, July 1997), Brepols, Turnhout, collection De Diversis Artibus, 2002.
Several contributions in the following works: Histoire des sciences en Belgique. 1815-2000, Dexia Banque-La Renaissance du Livre, Bruxelles-Tournai, 2001, première partie, article: En exergue de la chimie: Jean Baptiste Van Mons, pp. 146-153; De l’alchimie à Lavoisier: quelques jalons dans la constitution de la chimie, in La Bibliothèque de l’Université de Mons-Hainaut 1797-1997, Mons, 1997, pp. 112-123; Reflet d’une science en ‘révolution’, in Sciences et lumières à Mons. 1792-1802, Classe des Sciences, Académie Royale de Belgique, Bruxelles, 2005, pp. 251-301.

E-mail: michelbougard@hotmail.com

Manuel Borraz Aymerich was born in Barcelona in 1961 and graduated in telecommunication engineering in 1987. After working with some industrial companies, he is now managing his own enterprise.
An active investigator with CEI since the early 80s, he published several articles mostly on analysis and revision of case histories.
He was also author of two monographs: OVNIs: historias increíbles con explicaciones creíbles (1997), about sightings having astronomical explanations, and Los gigantes de Gáldar (1992), on the mass sightings of the 70s in the Canarian islands.

E-mail: maboay@teleline.es

Born in Karlstad, Sweden, 1952. University studies at Stockholm University: history of religions, philosophy, ethnology.

Present occupation: librarian at the Norrköping Public Library.

A member of UFO-Sweden since 1970 (currently as vice-chairman). Co-founder of Archives for UFO Research (AFU) in 1973 and currently chairman.

Published works:
UFO – I myt och verklighet (UFO in myth and reality), 1993.
 
 
 
Främlingar på vår jord. Ufokontakter i Sverige (Aliens on Earth. Ufo contacts in Sweden), 2009
 
 
En resa i tiden: Riksorganisationen UFO-Sverige 25 år 1970-2010 (A journey in time: The national organization UFO-Sweden 25 years 1970-2010), 2010.
 
Hundreds of articles in various magazines and newspapers.

Special interests:
Contactee cases, psychological, philosophical and religious aspects of the UFO phenomenon. The theosophical/esoteric tradition and its relation to the UFO phenomenon. Building of archives for the preservation of UFO history.

E-mail: hakan1952@gmail.com
Website: http://sites.google.com/site/ufologist52/
Blog: http://ufoarchives.blogspot.com/

Born in Siena in 1973, he graduated in law at Siena University in 1997; since 1999 has been an attorney in Siena.

Interested in UFOs since 1990, he was a member of Centro Ufologico Nazionale (CUN) between 1991 and 1996, and has been a member of Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici (CISU) since 1992 (a regional director for Tuscany since 2002 and a national board member for a few months in 2005).

As such he has not only investigated dozens of local sightings, but also built up a provincial file and wrote a book on UFOs Visiting Siena (1996).

Since 1995 he has been coordinating USOCAT, the national catalogue of Italian USO (Unidentified Submerged Objects) reports. A preliminary edition of UsoCat was released in 1996, and a second (enlarged and revised) edition was published in 2003. All USOCAT cases have been translated to English at Carl Feindt’s WaterUFO website.

He also re-investigated a famous CE-III with ground traces and physical effects, which took place in Torrita di Siena, in 1978, and published a full book about it in 2008.

After publishing an history of all known Tuscanian ufologists and UFO groups in 2008, he is now working on the (much wider) regional catalogue of UFO reports over Tuscany.

For details, see Marco Bianchini’s Bibliography

Address: via del Cavallerizzo 4, I-53100 Siena, Italy
Phone/fax: +39 (0577) 42397
E-mail: marcobianchini@hotmail.com

Born in 1972 near Paris, France. Interested in drawing and unexplained phenomena since a child. Gratuated as a software engineer and got particularly interested in UFOs since 1996. Developed the RR0 website and work on developing software tools for ufology, such as the UFO@home and Archipelago projects. Started playing drums also

Website: http://rr0.org

Born in London in 1971, in 1991 he moved to Cáceres, Spain, and since 2000 he has lived in Madrid, where he teaches English.
In 2003, after a lifelong interest in UFO reports from the pre-1947 era and a short infatuation in the Ancient Astronauts Theory, he chose to specialize in the collection and analysys of pre-Arnold and co-founded (and is the driving force behind) the Magonia Exchange Project, a data-sharing initiative aiming to apply modern technology to historical research, with an emphasis on accumulating original accounts of anomalous aerial phenomena from the past centuries.

A UFO witness himself, he nevertheless retains a sceptical view of claims of a paranormal or Fortean nature and prefers to measure such claims in terms of their sociological and literary impact.

e-mail: caubeck@gmail.com
blog: http://postcardfrommagonia.blogspot.com/
Magonia Exchange website: http://www.magoniax.com

Born in Barcelona (Catalonia), on November 13, 1965.
Master degree in physics and post degree both in anthropology and information studies.
He has been investigating odd phenomena since 1980 and he is interested, not only in potential physical facts, but also in relationships with folklore.

In 1994, he joined the Catalan U.F.O. group “CEI”, of which he is a steering member. He wrote several contributions in Spanish for Papers d’Ovnis, and now in Catalan for the website www.documentant.net.

Ardanuy has been collaborating with the Spanish Fundación Anomalía, he was member of the editorial advisory committee of Cuadernos de Ufologia and he also contributed in the collective work Diccionario Temático de Ufología (1997).

He is member of several organizations about science, folklore studies and humanities.

e-mail: jordi_ardanuy@telefonica.net
website: www.documentant.net

Julio Arcas Gilardi was born in Santander, in 1951.
First interested in UFOs in his teen years, in 1966 he was co-founder of CIOVE and took part in several coordination efforts of Spanish UFO organizations in the 70s.
Since 1971 he has published a UFO bulletin (at first titled Espacio y tiempo and later renamed Vimana). When it merged with J. Ruesga Montiel’s publication, in 1987, Arcas became co-editor of Cuadernos de ufologia.

He was also instrumental in organizing two international congresses in the early 90s and in founding the informal Colectivo Cuadernos. When the Fundacion Anomalia was created in 1996, he was its first president.

e-mail: gilard@wanadoo.es

Born in Milan, Italy, in 1977, he graduated in Economics and Quantitative Methods in Pavia (Italy). After working as a financial analyst in Milan and as a Portfolio Manager in Dublin, he’s currently Portfolio Manager in London.
He has been actively dealing with UFOs since 1997, initially collaborating in the “Operazione Origini” with Giuseppe Stilo, then joining the Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici (CISU).

Within CISU, he’s mainly involved in the constant update of the Italian Catalogue of UFO cases, producing reports and summary statistics. He’s also involved in statistical analysis applied to UFOs, in particular UFO waves and seasonal adjustment of UFO sightings