NUFORC operates a 24-hour telephone hotline and an online data bank that accepts civilian UAP reports in real time.1 The non-profit publishes the raw narrative text and minimal metadata within hours, giving researchers an unfiltered longitudinal sample of U.S. sighting activity.
Early development
In 1974 Seattle firefighter and veteran investigator Robert J. Gribble incorporated the centre, extending work he had started in the 1950s with the Aerial Phenomenon Research Group.2 Gribble's hotline quickly became a default referral point for the FAA, law-enforcement dispatchers and newsrooms.
Leadership transition
Biologist and entrepreneur Peter B. Davenport assumed the directorship in 1994. He self-funded operations, automated e-mail alerts and, in 2006, relocated the archive to a decommissioned Atlas-E missile silo near Davenport, Washington for physical security.3
Technical modernization
Christian Stepien joined as chief technologist in 1994, building the SQL database that still underpins the public website and interactive sighting map.4
Data products and archival assets
The NUFORC Data Bank now holds more than 180,000 entries indexed by event date, posting date, location and observed shape.5 Downloadable CSV files underpin dozens of academic and journalistic analyses. Historical reel-to-reel recordings from 1974-1977 were digitised by historian Wendy Connors and released as the "Night Journeys in Ufology" collection.2
Notable contributions
Current status
NUFORC remains a Washington-registered non-profit run primarily by Davenport. Operating costs average U.S.$500–5,000 per month, covered by personal funds and small donations.3 The centre continues to add several hundred reports monthly and supplies curated datasets to academic teams investigating spatial and temporal patterns in UAP reports.