Tuesday, January 25, 2005
WHAT IS A UFO "Malfunction Junction"?
Someone in the comment section wants to know the meaning of "Malfunction Junction" - Good question.
Well, let me give it a go... it is a bit of an in-house joke or code. From what I know, it has been around for many years late 1970s and was started by Mr Paul Norman of the Victorian UFO Research Society (VUFORS).
Paul an engineer by trade, would in his unusual way, place the phrase into his magazine articles and later his "On The UFO Trail", Paul would slot the phrase in when ever a UFO case/story had gone belly up or wrong.
At first it was used to describe the operations of the older Sydney UFO group, UFO Investigation Centre (UFOIC), who for many reasons wanting to control & centralise all ufo groups and research in Sydney. This battle has raged for years, and as time wore on the original group folded, Paul then shifted the phrase over to target people like Bill Chalker and Keith Basterfield as they locked into some new pact, under the individual research banner. The phrase does not apply to the current Sydney Group UFORNSW, this group works on an even well managed keel, but the focus still remains on Bill Chalker et al.
The best way to describe the phrase is to take the words in their literal sense. Paul would say, what ever went into the "Sydney Junction" came out damaged or from the dictionary:
- To fail to function
- To function improperly
- Failure to function
- Faulty or abnormal functioning
THE 1967 SYDNEY UNDERHAND TRICK
You can see an example of this bid to control, in the records of the National Australian Archives (NAA). In an application by the then UFO Investigation Centre (UFOIC), Harry O'Brian (the secretary) tried to register the name of the all state groups UFO magazine "Australian Flying Saucer Review" as a UFOIC property item, by using The Australian Copyright Act:
http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/ShowImage.asp?B=4999213&S=10&T=R
SEE:
AUTHOR UFO Investigation Centre : ADDRESS Glebe : TITLE OF WORK Australian Flying Saucer Review - Number 8 : TYPE OF WORK Literary : APPLICANT UFO Investigation Centre : DATE OF APPLICATION 18 Nov 1966 : DATE COPYRIGHT REGISTERED 23 Aug 1967 :
Series number A1336 - Control symbol 68837 - Contents date range 1966 - 1967 - Barcode no 4999213
And Again they had another go:
AUTHOR Harry O'Brien : ADDRESS Glebe : TITLE OF WORK Number Nine. "Australian Flying Saucer Review" : TYPE OF WORK Literary : APPLICANT The U.F.O Investigation Centre of N.S.W : DATE OF APPLICATION 24 Aug 1967 : DATE COPYRIGHT REGISTERED 4 Oct 1967 : WORK ENCLOSED? Yes
Series number A1336 - Control symbol 69120 - Contents date range 1967 - 1967 - Canberra Barcode no 4999558
http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/ShowImage.asp?B=4999213&S=12&T=R
And This One
http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/ShowImage.asp?B=4999213&S=15&T=R
FAILURE TO CLEAR
When word got back to the other groups the underhand trick was stopped, the whole effort was illegal, and came to nothing. But it cemented the bad blood in the minds of older Australian Ufologist especially in Victoria (VUFORS & PRA) for ever.
SEE THIS
http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/ShowImage.asp?B=4999213&S=21&T=R
http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/ShowImage.asp?B=4999213&S=22&T=R
WHAT HAPPENED TO UFOIC
What happened to the underhand back stabber Harry O'Brian - he grew old and died and the group, well it now resided in the hands of one Mr Bill Chalker:
UFO Investigation Centre (UFOIC) - PO Box W42, West Pennant Hills NSW 2125 - Bill Chalker (02 9484 4680) - bill_c@bigpond.com
MALFUNCTION JUNCTION does it still exist today - well yes, the want to control groups, information and ufology in general has just passed into more hands with new words and new tricks. This new batch of egos don't like to admit it, but the need for greed is alive and well, it can be heard from big mouths who demand other peoples information - just listen... there in the distance "AUFO... Bi..".
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