Over a period of several days in early April, a majority of the MUFON Board of Directors approved a direct ballot initiative referendum in 16 states in order to proclaim the year 2000 as "The Year of UFO Awareness," and to pressure Congress to have open hear-ings to end government secrecy regarding UFOs.

The 16 states which permit citizens to pass laws by direct initiative are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

In addition there are seven states which permit indirect initiative: Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ne-vada, Ohio, Utah, and Washington. The indirect ini-tiative produces law when the people submit the proposal to the state legislature during the regular session and win approval.

By utilizing the initiative in the appropriate states, proponents expect to indirectly influence the federal government when several states call on Congress to investigate the matter with open hearings and the granting of immunity by waiver of security oaths in order to encourage testimony by military and civilian personnel.

Proponents believe that scores of current and former military personnel and other government workers stand ready to testify if given immunity.

This initiative movement was developed by Robert Bletchman, an attorney and MUFON's Director of Public Relations, and Larry Bryant, MUFON's Director of Government Affairs.

"Formidable hurdles, such as gathering tens of thousands of petition signatures, lie ahead," says MUFON International Director Walter Andrus, Jr., "but if you believe that our constitutional republic depends on an informed citizenry, and that the UFO problem has as much political presence as it has scientific promise, then join us in this effort."

With chapters in nearly every state and in 45 for-eign countries, MUFON serves as the world's largest member organization dedicated to the scientific study of UFO reports.

Whether the initiative effort and resulting publicity will be coupled with some sort of membership drive, as has been suggested, is still under consideration, pending feedback from the various state organizations, according to Andrus.