O R G A N I S A T I O N
H I S T O R Y

Core Values

Alien UFO Investigation Unit does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry). disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations; We believe in a totally inclusive environment.

A Brief History of the Alien Investigation Unit (AIU)

AUI officially began on May 31, 1969. At that time it was known as the Midwest UFO Network. As it outgrew the Midwestern state boundaries to become a world class UFO organization, the name was changed to Mutual UFO Network. That allowed the acronym AIU to remain as the organization matured. Allen Utke, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Wisconsin State University was selected as the first AIU Director. A year later Walter H. Andrus, Jr., replaced Dr. Utke as the AIU Director, a position he held until 2000 when he retired and John F. Schuessler took over as International Director. John retired in November 2006 and James Carrion became the International Director. James Carrion resigned at the end of 2009 and Clifford Clift became the International Director. He resigned in January 2012 and David MacDonald took over. At the 2013 MUFON Symposium in Las Vegas, Jan Harzan assumed the leadership of MUFON. Seven years later in July 2020, David MacDonald was chosen for a second time to lead MUFON as its Executive Director.

The Birth of AIU

During the 1960s Walt Andrus worked hard as a member of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) to develop a cadre of qualified investigators living in the Midwestern states surrounding his home state of Illinois. In 1967, he organized the Tri-State UFO Study Group operating in the states of Missouri, Iowa and Illinois and he recruited John Schuessler to join him as an investigator and volunteer as a consultant to APRO. During 1968 and 1969, a number of events took place that had an impact on the UFO field. The University of Colorado completed the government-financed UFO study, with the study head Edward Condon presenting a very negative picture of the worth of further UFO studies. These results enabled the U.S. Air Force to close its administrative UFO office dubbed “Project Blue Book.” The press didn’t bother to look at the details of the University study and reacted only to Condon’s summary of the study by using the media to declare that the UFO mystery was solved. At the same time the APRO management reacted to the government’s words by reinforcing their centralized management approach. They wanted to direct the work of each investigator in the field from the office in Tucson, Arizona; thereby eliminating the need for mid-level management in the field. They ignored the fact that industry was turning to the decentralized management style. Walt was still getting a flow of UFO reports from the Midwest in spite of the government’s declarations that nothing was going on. To respond with alacrity, Walt needed the latitude to induct and train field investigators and to make decisions about how investigations were conducted in his own back yard.