UFOlogist changing attitudes
By KEN WALLENIUS
FOR THE SUDBURY STAR

When Michel Deschamps was nine years old, he saw a circular ball-like object hovering near his home in Hanmer. He thought it was a UFO.

Ever since that day, Deschamps has been interested in UFOs but he never did much about it.

In 1981, he learned about a Sudbury man who had 51 confirmed sightings over a three-year span from 1967 to 1969. His curiosity was peaked again, and he decided to start researching and documenting UFO sightings.

During his research, he learned the object he had seen as a boy also was witnessed by three other people that same night.

He was hooked.

Deschamps is now a UFOlogist. The title may sound funny, but the field is real. UFOlogy was recently made an entry in the Oxford dictionary and is gaining more and more respect, said Deschamps.

And it's not that hard to become one.

"Anybody can be a UFOlogist," he said. You just have to be interested and research the subjects.

Relatives and other people often call him when they think they have seen a UFO. Deschamps will call anybody he can to confirm the sightings.

The latest sighting took place on Manitoulin Island in September of 1990. Three separate sets of circles, believed to be traces of a craft landing, were found.

Deschamps is so interested in UFOs that he's just sent an application to MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network.

"I will be a field investigator trainee," he said. MUFON is a network of volunteers that go to reported sightings and take down information and photos. They then report their findings to the head office where they are kept on file.

Deschamps has seen a change in people's attitudes towards his research.

"Ten years ago, I was laughed at. When I was a kid, I spoke about UFOs all the time," and lost many friends, he said. But now, "slowly but surely I'm getting more respect."

Deschamps hopes research like his will change the attitude of people.

"Instead of people saying, 'Maybe there is life out there'. They will say, 'Yes UFOs are real and they are coming here'."

Deschamps has no plans to write any books about his findings in the near future because he thinks people will get the wrong idea about his research.

"I'm not in it for making money. That's not the image I want."