Down with the academics! Or, a case study in disciplinarity outside of the Academic Institution

**UPDATE: These links are now on the right side of the page, in the same order as they appear here. If you do browse around on them and come away with some questions, don't hesitate to ask in a comment or an email--that'll help me to further clarify my own understanding of their content as well!
-doug
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I'm still working on a way to condense what I've said so far in class into a manageable thesis statement. Derek's suggestion of framing UFO research in terms of the history of skepticism has gotten a bit of a hold on me, so I'm trying to see if that's a possibility for grounding my idea in an academic tradition while also allowing me the maneuverability I need to be able to express the critique of "THE" academic tradition that these fields are consciously or unconsciously launching. In the meantime, here are four perfectly representative websites of the four main branches or sub-fields of UFOlogy I'm thinking of including in my study:

For "old-school" UFOlogy, Kevin Randle, a retired Army officer whose interest lies primarily in witness testimony from the infamous Roswell, NM case: http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/

The Disclosure Project is something that I think counts as its own sub-field, and I'll explain why in greater detail shortly. It's essentially a whistleblower-gathering effort--individuals from government, military, intelligence, and the private sector who have agreed to come forward with what they know: http://www.disclosureproject.org/

Exopolitics claims as its own definition "the study of the political implications of the extraterrestrial presence." This is the site of one of the primary gatekeepers in the field. As you can see if you browse around a bit, he even offers a structured educational program in Exopolitics which can earn you a sort of pseudo-degree (called a "certificate," which I'm pretty sure just means a sheet of paper) and get you called a...a...an Exopolitician? I'm not sure what they call themselves: http://exopolitics.org/

This next website has grown in popularity ENORMOUSLY over just the past year, and the name of the field it's associated with was only coined in the last three years: synchromysticism. This one is going to take some explaining, and it'll help if you just start clicking around to get a sense of what kind of "research" this actually is. This guy is just the most accessible member of the field/movement I've yet come across, and you'll see me commenting on his website every few days if you pay attention: http://secretsun.blogspot.com/

William James had "The Varieties of Religious Experience;" I give you "The Varieties of UFO Research," my own analysis forthcoming. Enjoy!