After
57 years of dedicated interest in extraterrestrial-related
phenomena, Walt Andrus is a legend. As with so many others,
that interest was precipitated in August 15, 1948, when
he and his wife and son had a daylight sighting of four
objects flying in formation over downtown Phoenix, Arizona.
The rest is history. [Note. 49 years later, lights in formation
would once again be seen over Phoenix, Arizona.]
He
went on to be a founding member of the Mutual
UFO Network (MUFON)
in 1969 and the International Director of the MUFON from
1970 to July 16, 2000 when he was succeeded by John F.
Schuessler. He also served on the staff of Skylook, as
Editor in Chief of the MUFON
UFO Journal and Editor or Co-editor of the
annual MUFON International UFO
Symposium Proceedings. MUFON
became the largest and best known organization in the
world addressing the science of extraterrestrial-related
phenomena and took up the mantle of NICAP as it
was slowly dissembled by intelligence agency plants during
the 1970's.
Walter
Andrus, robust at 84, was born in Des Moines, Iowa in
1920 and graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1938
and the Central Technical Institute in Kansas City, MO
in 1940. He is also a graduate
of the U. S. Navy Electronics Technician Program during
World War II and taught in both technical schools.
After the war, he was employed by Mid-Continent Airlines
as a station manager in Quincy, Illinois. Then from 1949
to 1975, he worked for Motorola,
Inc. in successive capacities as Assistant Plant Manager,
Manager of Quality Control and Operations Manager
in their Quincy, Illinois facility. In 1975, he transferred
to the Seguin, Texas plant as a
Production Manager. After 34 years with Motorola,
Walt retired in 1982 and devoted full time to the directorship
of MUFON
for the next 18 years.
Walt
was a member of the Board of Directors of the joint USA-CIS
Aerial Anomaly Federation. He was also on the Board of
Directors for the influential UFO
Research Coalition (URC),
composed of Center
for UFO Studies (CUFOS),
Fund
for UFO Research (FUFOR),
and Mutual
UFO Network (MUFON),
organized in 1994. He has lectured all around the world
and appeared on radio and television (including Oprah
Winfrey and Larry
King) too many times to list here.
Walt
has been an amateur radio aficionado
since 1939 and a licensed pilot since 1947.
He is Vice Chairman of the International
Committee for UFO Research (ICUR)
and is one of the founding members of the new Joint
American-Soviet Aerial Anomaly Federation (JASAAF),
organized in 1991 to promote UFO research and cooperation
between UFO organizations in the U.S.A. and similar organizations
in the Russian Commonwealth.
Published
Books
•
MUFON 1985 Ufo Symposium
Proceedings: The Burden of Proof (1985)
• MUFON 1984 UFO
Symposium Proceedings: Extraterrestrial Intelligence,
a Public Forum (1984)
• UFO's - Canada,
a Global Perspective: Proceedings (1982)
Sources:
http://www.paradigmresearchgroup.org/Hall%20of%20Fame/Andrus_Walter.htm
MUFON 1992 International UFO Symposium
Proceedings
