The Aerial Phenomena Research Organization compiled global sighting reports and published newsletters. Its case files influenced later groups like MUFON and CUFOS.
Founded in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin during January 1952, the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization sought methodical corroboration of UFO reports while avoiding speculative sensationalism.1 Jim and Coral Lorenzen framed APRO as an evidence-gathering clearinghouse rather than a club, mailing standardized questionnaires to witnesses and archiving physical photographs and magnetometer data at their Tucson headquarters after 1960.
Leadership and Administrative Network
Jim Lorenzen, an electronics technician and former US Army Air Corps radio operator, managed day-to-day correspondence and case triage. Coral Lorenzen edited the APRO Bulletin and authored interpretive monographs that circulated far beyond the membership base.2 By 1967 the organization coordinated more than forty state representatives and overseas liaisons, peaking at roughly 1,500 dues-paying members before a 1969 schism led by Walt Andrus precipitated the creation of MUFON.1
Scientific Advisory Corps
Unlike many contemporaries, APRO maintained a roster of credentialed consultants who performed on-site measurements and laboratory review. Atmospheric physicist James E. McDonald and hydraulic engineer James Harder provided optical spectroscopy analysis, soil compositional studies, and hypnosis protocols for close-encounter witnesses. Their testimony before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics in July 1968 placed APRO material in the Congressional Record.
Benchmark Investigations and Publications
Between 1954 and 1988 the APRO Bulletin documented more than five thousand global incidents. Flagship case studies included the 1957 Antônio Villas Boas abduction report, the 1964 Lonnie Zamora encounter, and extensive photographic analysis of the 1973 Coyne helicopter event. Coral and Jim Lorenzen distilled these files into trade books such as "Encounters with UFO Occupants" (1976) and "Abducted!" (1977), texts that introduced abduction typology to academic psychology departments.13
Legacy and Archive Disposition
Although APRO formally dissolved after the Lorenzens' deaths in 1986 and 1988, its methodologies shaped subsequent civilian groups including CUFOS and the Center for UFO Studies. In November 2023 the National UFO Historical Records Center acquired the complete APRO case archive, ensuring continued scholarly access to original data sheets, audio reels, and 35 mm negatives.1