“THE HERCULES PROJECT”: THE HISTORY OF THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT'S RECOGNITION OF UFOLOGIST AS AN OCCUPATION

 

Dr. Julio C. Acosta-Navarro ^{1, 2} 

 

¹ Unidade Clínica de Emergência do Instituto do Coração, Hospital Das Clínicas, Faculdade De Medicina, Universidade De São Paulo, Brazil

² Director and Founder of the Latin American Academy of Scientific Ufology (LAASU), São Paulo, Brazil  

 

1. INTRODUCTION

On the night of May 30, 2024, in an emotional virtual meeting organized by the Latin American Academy of Scientific Ufology (LAASU), several ufologists from Brazil and three other continents met with the aim of celebrating the recognition by the Brazilian government of the profession of ufologist as an occupation after a long process of technical evaluation Araujo. (2024). Days before the occupation ufologist with the code 5168-15 had appeared on the official website of the Brazilian Classification of Occupations (CBO), an entity that is part of the Ministry of Labor and Employment (Ministerio de Trabalho e Emprego - MTE) for the first time. Ministerio. (2024a).  Dr. Julio Acosta-Navarro emphasized the historical moment in which for the first time in the world, a government recognizes the condition of ufologist as an occupation. It would no longer be dismissed as a hobby, a madness or an eccentricity, but with a social, economic and scientific function that contributes to society. Days later, the Brazilian government, accompanied by the International Labor Organization (ILO), announced this measure to the media Sena L. (2024), triggering the dissemination at an international level UOL. (2024).

The intensification of activities and research by scientific entities such as LAASU, local and federal government entities in Brazil, the U.S. government through the Pentagon, Congress, NASA, and some media, all contributed to create an environment conducive to this heroic feat Vicenzo. (2024). Although this process was an initiative of LAASU, the merit belongs to scientific Ufology worldwide and especially in Brazil, which has contributed with studies, researches and publications for many years.

This article aims to present the rationale basis for concluding that Ufology should be considered a profession. Additionally, this article aims to describe the history of the recognition by the Brazilian government through the MTE of the profession of ufologist as an occupation. Our hypothesis is that Ufology deserves be considered as a profession and in addition, we suggest the possibility that Ufology can be considered as a new science.

 

2. METHODS

Dr. Acosta-Navarro is a Peruvian/Brazilian scientist, Director/Founder of the Latin American Academy of Scientific Ufology (LAASU) a non-governmental organization non-profit recognized since its creation in 2011 by the Justice Ministry of Brazil. (LAASU, 2024a) Figure 1 Figure 2. He also is a medical doctor and university professor from the School of Medicine of Sao Paulo University, and he has more than 45 years of experience in the Ufology field Figure 3.

Figure 1

Figure 1 Team of Members of the LAASU in the Auditorium of the “Assembleia Legislativa do Estado de São Paulo” (ALESP), a Public Governmental Entity During the Meeting “Seminário Científico: Extraterrestres E O Futuro Da Humanidade”, in São Paulo, Brazil, December 2018.

 

Figure 2

Figure 2 At the Height of the COVID-19 Pandemics, Certificate of Qualification as a Civil Organization of Public Interest (OSCIP), an Honor Granted to the LAASU by the Ministry of Justice of Brazil to Some Non-Governmental Organizations of Great Contribution to Society July 7, 2021.

 

Figure 3

Figure 3 On the Way to Huaraz, an Andean City, with the Aim of Researching the ‘Contactee’ Donato Cervantes, on the Shores of the Querococha Lagoon (3980 Meters Above Sea Level). Dr. Julio Acosta-Navarro (Left) with his Father Dr. Hugo Acosta Malpica, Ancash, Peru, January 2008.

 

For several years, Dr. Acosta-Navarro has supported for that Ufology is indeed a science São Judas University (2016).University. (2016), UIB. (2017) and that ufologist could be considered a profession as defended in the “Forum: Ufólogo como profissão” on May 21, 2022, organized by the LAASU. In the sequence and as result of the Forum, days after the forum, the ufologist professor Wilson Geraldo de Oliveira, in the name of the LAASU, submitted to the MTE the solicitation to begin the process of evaluation in order to obtain the formal recognition of ufologist as an occupation. The development of the process was called "The Hercules Project" within LAASU. This paper uses information from official entities, communication mass media, and documents from the LAASU, published scientific papers and virtual networks. All the sources are duly referenced at the point of citation.

 

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1. FIRST STUDIES AND RESEARCH IN UFOLOGY

We can consider the Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting, which occurred on June 24, 1947 as the beginning of the Ufology. The pilot claimed that he saw a string of nine, shiny unidentified flying objects flying past Mount Rainier at speeds that Arnold estimated at a minimum of 1,200 miles an hour. This garnered international news coverage. Arnold's description of the objects also led to the press quickly coining the terms flying saucer as popular descriptive terms for UFOs.

Starting in the 1940s, governmental agencies and private groups sponsored investigations, studies, and conferences related to Ufology. These studies included “Project Sign”, “Project Blue Book”, the Robertson Panel, and the Condon Committee in the United States, Ruppelt. (1956).the Flying Saucer Working Party and “Project Condign” in Britain, Simpson. (2006) and GEIPAN in France GEIPAN. (2014)The United Nations (UN) had previously addressed the subject of the UFO phenomenon and possible contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. In 1978, academics and UFO researchers Jacques Vallee and Allen Hynek suggested an independent department dedicated to researching these phenomena to the UN. Despite the favorable GA/426 decision, nothing has been done Berliner & Huneeu (1995). Except for some published works of scientists such as Dr.  James Mac Donald, Dr. Allen Hynek, Hynek. (1972).Dr. Jacques Vallee Valleé J. (1965) and Dr. Acosta-Navarro Acosta-Navarro, (2009), Acosta-Navarro. (2016) the scientific community did not give attention to Ufology and the mass media treated it like taboo. The UFO phenomena in its modern phase was widely known for its strong evidence that was covered up by governments and neglected by the academic community until recently. The evidence accumulated in the last decades about UFOs, obviously discarding the false ones, has demonstrated their reality. Recently, different personalities and governmental and academic entities have publicly declared the evidence valid National Press Club. (2023)

Efforts to unify the UFO community in Brazil date back to at least 1983 with the “Associação Nacional de Ufólogos de Brasil” (ANUB) Revista. (1997). At the same time, the national UFO community in a series of Congresses in Curitiba and Salvador approved and published the “Código de Ética do Ufólogo” Baraldi. (1994), but it could not be implemented due to lack of consensus among the ufologists. Subsequently, another effort was made through the attempt of the state deputy of Sao, Paulo Edmir Chedid, to regulate the profession of ufologist, which was also unsuccessful. He argued that, if this occurs, it would establish rights for ufologists, in addition to fostering the development of the study of UFOs and "recognizing the scientific activity that seeks to understand these phenomena, enabling funding and lines of research aimed at this purpose with Universities and other public or private institutions." Portal. (2016)

In 2016, the LAASU published the results of the “Final Contact Project”, a milestone study in the field of Ufology Acosta-Navarro et al. (2016). We hypothesized that authentic Close Encounters of Fifth Kind (CE5thK) with Extraterrestrial Intelligences (ETI) could probably be happening. We designed and applied an original approach with qualitative and quantitative variables constituting a rule of 12 criteria for defining a high probability, low probability or inconclusive evidence in order to set the authenticity of 72 cases of alleged CE5thK. We found 25 cases to have a high probability of being an authentic phenomenon. Thus, we found evidence to support that advanced contact from ETI with human beings (‘contactees’) probably is happening on the Earth at present. The results were counter to mainstream science and astronomy, challenging the paradigm of the impossibility that humankind has been contacted by ETI. After the publication of the study, some academic centers from Latin America as the Heart Institute of Sao Paulo University, School Pharmacy, San Marcos University, Lima, some Brazilian governmental entities as Assembleia Legislativa do Estado de São Paulo and Camara Municipal de São Paulo Balloissier. (2017).and other publications Acosta-Navarro (2018) , Vincenzo (2020), give attention about to it with more details. 

In spite of these efforts, we can consider that only in December 2017, Ufology gained consensual recognition with the publication by the “New York Times” of encounters of American jets with UFOs and a subsequent recognition by the American government of the authenticity of the evidence. In that time, the “New York Times” published three videos of UFOs. The first of the videos, known as the “GIMBAL footage” shows a 2004 encounter near San Diego between a Navy fighter jet and an UAP Martinez (2019) . After that, in June 2021, the Pentagon admitted the authenticity of these encounters and released an unclassified version of a report investigating 144 cases by the US Defense Department’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), an agency created in 2007 but only publicly known in 2017. American intelligence officials still cannot explain the unusual movements of the aerial phenomena witnessed by Navy pilots in recent years. These have mystified scientists and the military, according to senior administration officials briefed on the findings of the highly anticipated government report. The report determined that the vast majority of more than 144 incidents over the past two decades did not originate from any American military or other advanced U.S. government technology, the officials said Barnes & Cooper. (2021). The report concedes that much about the observed phenomena remains difficult to explain, including their acceleration, as well as ability to change direction and submerge.

 

3.2.  LAASU FORUM: “UFOLOGO COMO PROFISSAO”

Dr. Acosta Navarro, believing in the importance of Ufology as a new science, thought of organizing a forum discussing the issue of the ufologist as a profession. Therefore, the Latin American Academy of Scientific Ufology (LAASU) organized an international meeting to discuss this subject on May 21, 2022. Five professionals from different academic fields were invited to give their points of view Figure 4.

Figure 4

Figure 4 Poster Announcing the International Virtual Meeting Including the Original “Fórum: Ufólogo Como Profissão” Organized by the LAASU with the Participation of Several Specialists, May, 2022, São Paulo, Brazil.

 

At the beginning, the lawyer and ufologist Gener Silva commented that he learned that in Chile a university tried to make a Ufology course that was never developed. He commented on the effort of state deputy Edmar Chedid to try to regulate the profession of ufologist in 2016, but without success. He stated that ufology is not a profession, although the monetization of You-Tube through views allows some 'influencers' about ufology to have a regular source of income. Other sources of incomes for ufologists may come from lectures, book publishing. Then, ufologist Claudio Oliveira, a firefighter by profession, said that the ufologist must be committed to research and teamwork. So far, we know of some Brazilian and foreign universities that have tried to establish a course on Ufology without success. Subsequently, Julio Gralha, PhD, Professor at the Fluminense Federal University emphasized the multidisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity of the study of ufology having to do with anthropology, history, archaeology, astronomy, geology. Currently he has Course Completion Work (TCC) and post-graduation works that touch on ufology topics, but this does not mean that ufology is a profession. For this, it would be necessary to have a process where the academic community can develop an undergraduate course or, eventually, a specialization course for the graduate, which can be authorized by the Ministry of Education. With respect to ufologists who have done important work in the field, the possibility of being recognized for their "notorious knowledge" is a possibility that is ruled out because this only applies to high school students.

Then Professor Wilson Geraldo de Oliveira entered the effort. He graduated in Anthropology, Lic. in Social Sciences with a Specialization in Bioethics from the University of Brasilia, has more than 40 years of experience in the field of Ufology and has been a member of LAASU since 2020. He commented on the background where himself participated in the efforts to organize ANUB, an organization created in 1983, and that in parallel to this process, the ufologist Arismaris B. Dias discussed together with other ufologists such as Ademar Eugênio de Melo, Rafael Cury, among others, with whom they wrote and disseminated the “Código de Ética do Ufologo” in 1994. Informality and lack of public recognition certainly contributed to the fact that it could not materialize for practical purposes. It was Professor Wilson de Oliveira who presented the proposal to forward through LAASU a request to the MTE/CBO for the inclusion of the ufologist in the Brazilian Classification of Occupations (CBO) in order to promote its recognition, appreciation and social inclusion.

The CBO, established by ministerial ordinance no. 397, on October 9, 2002, has the purpose of identifying occupations in the labor market, for classification purposes with administrative and household records. It is important to clarify that in Brazil, the regulation of the profession, unlike the CBO, is carried out by law, whose appreciation is made by the National Congress, through its Deputies and Senators, and forwarded for the sanction by the President of the Republic. Ministerio. (2024b). 

Finally, in the 21 May 2022 meeting, the last lecturer was Dr. Julio Acosta-Navarro. He maintained that what determines a particular profession in society are 4 factors: the academic community, the government, the market and social need. First, the university is the one that ultimately creates the course, teaches it, and awards the diploma of any course. Second, it is the government that, through congressmen, regulates the profession. Third, the market absorbs the trained professionals through their supply and demand. Finally, it is the spontaneous social need to know about ufology from a serious and scientific source that conditions the strength of having a professional in the specific area. These four factors interact synergistically with each other. On the other hand, at the present time, there are already ufologists who develop their activity having a financial return and even a means of economic support. Additionally, with respect to many other ufologists who have no economic return, he would not take away the merit of being considered a profession due to the fact that many other professionals work on a voluntary basis as "Doutores do Riso" or "Medecins sans Frontieres” (MSF). Even Dr. Acosta-Navarro also insisted on the position that Ufology can already be considered a new and noble science. New for its existence of only seven decades. And noble because the scholars and scientists dedicated to Ufology, in their overwhelming majority, not only work voluntarily and bearing expenses out of their own pocket, but do not have an adequate and fair recognition by the academic community or society. He outlined what would be a 3-year Ufology Course taught by an academic institution or Social Organization of Public Interest (OSCIP) with an academic/scientific profile. After that, he asked the members of the Forum to follow the processes of solicitation of recognition of ufologist as occupation by the MTE proposed in the Forum with the support of LAASU.

On that day, LAASU collaborators and researchers, all of them volunteers, Dr. Tereza Baraldi (PhD in Education) and Prof. Wilson Oliveira, both of them volunteers, were commissioned to follow the process. It was up to the latter to file the request on behalf of LAASU, through the MTE/CBO website in the week immediately following the event and follow up. From then on, the process was monitored via website, e-mail and with some face-to-face visits to the MTE in Brasília.

 

3.3. PARALLEL EVENTS IN THE UFOLOGIC WORLD

Parallel to these efforts from LAASU other events happened in the world. In the American congressional hearing on May 17, 2022, Pentagon officials testified, and admitted the authenticity of encounters of UFOs with jets. An unclassified version of a report investigating several cases was released again admitting that the vast majority of the cases did not originate from American military or other advanced US government technology. In addition to the 144 UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, a new name for the UFO) reports cited above, recently unclassified information was released from the American government showing there have been 247 new reports and another 119 that were either since discovered or reported after the preliminary assessment’s time period. This totals 510 UAP reports as of 30 August 2022.  UAP events continue to occur in restricted or sensitive airspace, highlighting possible concerns for safety of flight or adversary collection activity. Office. (2023). 2022

At the beginning of 2023, the LAASU published the “Epimetheus Project” about a new series of alleged CE5thK. In this study, with a new team of researchers and using the same twelve-criteria method as the prior FCP, we investigated a new series of 66 alleged CE5thK from the world, compared the results to the previous FCP, and present original variables from both studies. We found 52 cases to have a low probability of authenticity, one case to be inconclusive evidence, and 13 cases having a high probability of being an authentic phenomenon. In comparison to FCP, the “Epimetheus Project” had a significantly lower rate of cases of high probability of being authentic (19.7% vs. 34.75). In addition, we discussed the meaning of these results, and the information received in these CE5thK cases of high probability of being authentic, also including original information from both studies, such as historical characters cited, existence of intraterrestrial life, parallel worlds, and time travel. This study confirmed that advanced contact from ETI with human beings on the Earth is occurring. The richness of new technical and scientific information received by authentic ‘contactees’ could represent a means of ‘technology’ transfer, with revolutionary potential for our society to develop and apply these benefits to the critical problems that risk mankind’s extinction. Acosta-Navarro et al. (2023)  After its publication, this research was extensively commented on in European circles, mainly in France and Spain. Acosta. (2023), Branzan. (2024)

 

3.4.  SEQUENCE OF PROCESSES WITH THE MINISTRY OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT OF BRAZIL

After his submission to Brasilia of the request for recognition of ufologist as an occupation by the MTE, Wilson Oliveira regularly followed the process and gave information to the LAASU Council. In an internal conversation at the Council on 05/18/23, the name "Project Hercules" was given to this initiative Coincidentally, a few days later, we received an official response on the progress of the process, signed by Sophie Bernardet, from the “Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Economicas” (FIPE) of the University of São Paulo (USP), a partner of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, who informed us that the technical evaluation process was underway. She additionally asked to us for detailed information on 12 items or tasks to be developed by our group. The significance of naming the project after "Hercules" and then receiving a request from the Ministry of Labor to carry out 12 tasks reminded the members of the Council of the famous 12 labors of Hercules. Figure 5

Figure 5

Figure 5 Minutes of the LAASU Council Meeting Mentioning the “Projeto Hercules” to the Initiative to Lead to Recognition by Brazilian Government of Ufology as a Profession. Registered in Notary of Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 2023.

 

Quoting the letter from FIPE verbatim:

"Being a complex and quite extensive work, the success in its conclusion will only be possible with the participation and collaboration of professional entities and organizations. In this sense, we have come to request information about this occupation in order to complement another level of the project.       

·        Characteristics or attributions of the occupation

·        Description of the activities performed on a daily basis by the professional

·        Minimum education required

·        Training for the exercise of the occupation

·        Characteristics, workload and denomination of the required and/or recommended courses

·        Inform the training entities (NGOs etc.)        

·        Fields or areas of activity in the labor market

·        Number of professionals working in the labor market (100 professionals in Brazil)

·        Evolution of the profession

·        To which entities are the professionals affiliated (NGOs, Unions, Class Associations, and Cooperatives)

·        History of the occupation in the labor market and in other countries

·        CBO code currently used

Thanking you in advance for your collaboration. We are at your complete disposal to clarify any doubts."

It was at this time that a Working Group was created within LAASU that, in addition to Wilson Oliveira and Dr. Tereza Baraldi, was expanded with the invaluable participation of Agnes Franco, Master in Journalism, Dr. Dirceu Cardoso, surgical dentist, Fábio Gomes, data analyst, Marcus Thadeu, airplane pilot and the same Dr. Julio Acosta-Navarro. The Group worked tirelessly to handle the 12 tasks along with the collaboration and participation of several ufologists from Brazil, and was able to answer the FIPE/MTE request within the deadline indicated.

In July 2023, Dr. Acosta-Navarro forwarded the response in two independent and complementary files. In the first of them was the answer to the 12 questions requested by FIPE/MTE LAASU. (2024b).  In the second file, additional material was sent that Dr. Acosta-Navarro believed to be relevant even though it was not requested. This complementary material was intended to better illustrate our activities at LAASU, the entity requesting the process, as well as to give an overview of the most significant contemporary events throughout the world LAASU. (2024c).

After passing this evaluation phase, new requests and clarifications were requested by FIPE/MTE, which were also appropriate and promptly answered by LAASU LAASU. (2024d). Initially, FIPE, seeing the scientificity of the arguments put forward by LAASU, considered the family of Astronomer/Geographer/Meteorologist to include the occupation of ufologist, but considerations about the fact that these courses in Ufology are not yet certified in universities, it was thought another family might be more appropriate to insert the new possible occupation of ufologist. Finally, as the FIPE was close to favorably approving the occupation of ufologist, it invited several ufologists chosen by FIPE to a definitive support meeting by videoconference (Expert Validation Panel) on August 31, 2023. The following were invited to participate in the meeting: Dr. Julio Acosta-Navarro, Agnes Franco, Heglair Alencar, Sergio de Almeida, Wilson de Oliveira, Dirceu Machado and Inajar Kurosky as specialists. Subsequently, participants would receive a certificate of participation and collaboration. The videoconference was also attended by the technical team of the CBO Project of FIPE and the technician of the CBO - Brazilian Classification of Occupations of the Ministry of Labor. Finally, and after almost three hours of argumentation, the occupation UFO was included in the Occupational Family 5168: Esoteric and Paranormal, whose publication would take place in early 2024 when the Ministry of Labor website was updated. It was clarified that each occupation of the same Occupational Family has its own code. It was advised that, despite the approval by FIPE, it would be advisable to wait for the official publication for a possible celebration.

While this was happening in Brazil, in other countries, governments were also in some way interested in the UFO phenomenon. On the path of this project, Dr. Acosta-Navarro and American ufologist John Budrys, concerned about the current geopolitical situation and the UFO event allegedly shot down in the skies over North America in February 2023, published the article "Operation Zeus Ray". In February 2023, the airspace of two countries in North America and China was the scene of a series of UFO sightings, resulting in the proven shooting down of one of these objects by the United States Air Force. Reportedly, one of the objects was identified as a balloon of Chinese origin, while the others remain unknown. With respect to this, the Latin American Academy of Scientific Ufology (LAASU) organized an international meeting to discuss this subject on March 18, 2023 and five professionals from different academic fields were invited to give their points of view. Dr. Acosta Navarro, LAASU’s Director, supported the that hypothesis of extraterrestrial manifestation would be the best explanation for the observed UFO phenomena shot down, which could represent a charade or puzzle presented by Extraterrestrial Intelligences to be interpreted. He called it as "Operation Ray of Zeus". Ten points of argumentation are presented to support this hypothesis. We propose that the downed UFOs could be a consequence of direct or indirect actions by Extraterrestrial Intelligences, which can be interpreted as a charade, intending to raise awareness and reflection about the current critical moment of risk of self-destruction, highlighting our technological limitations and showing our vulnerability Acosta-Navarro & Budrys. (2023).

On Wednesday, July 31, 2023, members of an independent NASA panel studying UFOs, or what the U.S. government now terms UAP for "unidentified anomalous phenomena," said in their first public meeting that scant high-quality data and a lingering stigma pose the greatest barriers to unraveling such mysteries. The 16-member body, formed last year among leading experts from scientific fields ranging from physics to astrobiology, held a four-hour session streamed live on a NASA webcast to deliberate their preliminary findings ahead of issuing a report expected later this summer. The panel's chairman, astrophysicist David Spergel, said his team's role was "not to resolve the nature of these events but rather to give NASA a roadmap" to guide future analysis. The greatest challenge panel members cited, however, was a dearth of scientifically reliable methods for documenting UFOs, typically sightings of what appear as objects moving in ways that defy the bounds of known technologies and laws of nature Roulette & Gorman. (2023). Despite the scientists concluding that there is “"absolutely no convincing evidence" of extraterrestrial activity in any sightings to date, this doesn't mean the panel has ruled out aliens, military adversaries or any other explanation - just that of the 800 or so sightings of strange flying objects or other phenomena that defy easy explanation, the data are simply not sufficient to draw any definitive conclusions. Harwood. (2023)

 

3.5. MEETING AT THE MTE IN BRASILIA

 In October 2023, an initiative by journalist Agnes Franco resulted in an invitation to LAASU and the UFO community in Brazil that was extended to a face-to-face meeting at the MTE in Brasilia. On October 24th, with their own economic resources and those of LAASU, the meeting was attended by ufologists Dr. Julio Acosta-Navarro and Rosemerie Castro from São Paulo, Wilson Oliveira from Minas Gerais and Fernando Ramalho and Paulo Reis from Brasilia. This meeting with the Minister of Labor Luiz Marinho and with the Federal Dep. (PT-SP), Nilton Tatto, who supported the initiative from the beginning, represents an important milestone in the history of the recognition of Brazilian and planetary ufology.

After introductory remarks by the Minister and several of his advisors in an elegant room with a dozen people, Dr. Acosta-Navarro took the floor and said:

"I am very grateful on behalf of the Latin American Academy of Scientific Ufology and the entire Brazilian Ufology for the invitation of His Excellency Minister Luiz Marinho and Deputy Nilton Tatoo. The current moment of ufology is of the greatest scientificity and world importance. Recently, the U.S. government has been addressing the issue at the level of Congress, the Pentagon and NASA. Ufology is a serious activity that already has publications in scientific journals (showing our publications of books and papers), and it is time that Brazil, a regional power, takes the first step at a world level by giving official recognition to the activity of ufologist that until now has been unfairly prejudiced. In this time of crisis of extinction of humanity, whether due to the depletion of natural and energy resources, risks of plagues and epidemics and especially the risk of self-destruction by a nuclear hecatomb unleashed whether in the war in Ukraine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the crisis in the South China Sea, an approach to the knowledge of reality with Extraterrestrial Intelligences would give us an opportunity to dominate and apply alternatives to the very serious problems of humanity."            

After other comments given by those present, Minister Luiz Marinho delivered with his own hands the letter of approval of the condition of ufologist as an occupation with an order to be published in the next updated version of the CBO Figure 6.            

Textually, order No. 856/2023, signed by the Director of the Secretariat of Technical Analysis, Isadora Melo Silva, which said:

"In response to the request, the records were forwarded to the Undersecretary of Labor Studies and Statistics, which expressed itself through an Informative Note No.4328 in favor of the insertion of the profession in the CBO in the following terms:

In view of the above, we communicate that after the technical study carried out and subsequent meeting of a Group of Experts in a virtual environment on 08/31/2023, the occupation in question was described and had its activity chart completed so that the aforementioned CBO code could then be made available. The information regarding the listed occupancy will be made available to the general public in the next update of the CBO document, scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2024."

Figure 6

Figure 6 Historical Meeting in the Brazilian Minister of Labor and Employment. from Left to Right: Wilson de Oliveira, Rosimeire Castro, Parliamentarian Nilto Tatoo, Dr. Júlio Acosta-Navarro, Ministre Luiz Marinho, Fernando Ramalho, Paulo Reis and Felipe Patteo. Brasilia, October 24th, 2023.

 

After the successful meeting in Brasilia and internal celebration within LAASU, a countdown began with a forecast of early 2024 for the publication. Finally, the wait for the publication of the CBO 2024 update, including the classification of ufologist as an occupation, appeared for the first time on the night of May 10, precisely and again, by coincidence, on the eve of the beginning of the “I Curso de Introdução a Ufologia Cientifica” which LAASU had prepared to dictate an orderly and comprehensive course to train ufologists with a scientific profile. On Saturday, May 11th, at the inaugural meeting of the course, Dr. Acosta-Navarro broke the news, causing celebration in those present and immediately passed on to the circle of Brazilian Ufology, which received the news with great emotion and joy. A date of May 30 has been set for an international virtual celebration meeting.

 

3.6.  NEXT CHALLENGES FOR UFOLOGISTS

We must emphasize that in this new social paradigm, there has been an invaluable contribution from other outstanding ufologists in Brazil as well as from the legacy of many scholars and researchers of Ufology from all over the world, who have contributed in recent decades with their research, efforts, dedication and publications to bring light on the reality and transcendence of the UFO phenomenon, without which this unprecedented and historical worldwide acceptance would not be possible.

One of the first challenges is to define, even preliminary, that people dedicated to Ufology can already be considered as an ufologist. There is a risk that the "self-designation" of ufologist by anyone without experience or serious and scientific approach can give a negative image to the new profession. What would be the minimum requirements in terms of time, participation, publications, academic activity, etc? It may be necessary to lay the foundations of some association or federation at the national level for this purpose. Herein lies another of the most important challenges, the ability of ufologists to come together to work on projects with a common purpose to raise the scientific level of Ufology. Empirically, there has been a lack of unity or teamwork and, unfortunately, there have been strong differences or fights between ufologists.

Another great challenge for the ufologists is the financial support for study and research. The study of the UFO phenomenon has suffered over the years from a lack of funding from either government agencies or private foundations. Consequently, all UFO organizations have relied almost exclusively on contributions from the public for their support, some on membership fees, with a handful of projects supported by grants from wealthy donors. The basic reason why no adequate funding is available is that, historically, only a minority of professional scientists and academics have considered UFOs a legitimate topic for scientific study CUFOS. (2024). There currently are no academic programs in ufology at traditionally accredited institutions of higher learning, although individual courses in aspects of the field are appearing. Therefore, people those who study UFOs seriously do so as a voluntary work or avocation—an unpaid activity we pursue as professionally as possible, given the lack of resources.

In addition, challenges present themselves with respect to a best academic formation for the ufologists. The Task Force of the LAASU has proposed technical courses for people with primary education and specialization courses for graduated people. Ufologist John Budrys has suggested some essential course studies which should be included in any proposed ufology program. I agree with him that certainly astronomy, photography, psychology, hypnosis, interviewing skills, the scientific method, data collection, report writing, collaborative research skills, physics of flight, astrobiology, UFO reports throughout history, and Near-death Experiences (NDE) are courses that should be included. However, as the phenomena seems inter-dimensional and has paranormal aspects, some metaphysical studies should also be included. Without some familiarity with these spiritual subjects, and some personal experiences, a new ufologist would be very confused by many of the things people report. Budrys envisions that Brazil’s groundbreaking recognition of the profession of ufologist will likely be used in the future as the model to be replicated in other countries. Therefore, it is important that Brazil’s academic programs be carefully considered before they are firmly codified by Brazil as they may later used as a model by other countries.

Finally, within the UFO community there is no consensus among ufologists as to whether Ufology is a science. Some considered Ufology a hobby, others even talk about parascience or pseudoscience. Dr. Acosta-Navarro, making use of his position as a scientist who walks in the mainstream scientific medical community, has publicly stated that Ufology is a science, that it has an object of study, can apply the scientific method, establish a hypothesis, execute the designed project, analyze results, interpret and write articles to be accepted and finally published after being evaluated by independent journals with peer reviewers’ criteria, thus, becoming scientific knowledge. This path was made with the LAASU projects mentioned above, as it will also be in other research that will come in the future. In addition, Dr. Acosta-Navarro considers Ufology to be a new and noble science. New because the object of study can be considered relatively recent (June 1947 with pilot Kenneth Arnold's report of flying saucers on Mount Rainer in Washington); and noble because Ufology suffers prejudice, in addition to not being recognized and is funded essentially with resources from the researchers themselves Figure 7.

Figure 7

 

Figure 7 Visit to the Ministry of Defense of Brazil where Dr. Julio Acosta-Navarro Delivered a Letter with a Proposal for a Technical Meeting with Experts to Address the UFO Casuistry in Brazil. on the Left Dr. Acosta-Navarro, at the Middle Rosimeire Castro and on the Right Wilson De Oliveira, Brasilia, October 24, 2023.

 

4. CONCLUSION

This study presented the arguments of why Ufology can be considered a profession. In addition, the "Hercules Project" was described, which was conceived with the objective of the Brazilian government's recognition of the profession of ufologist as an occupation with valuable social, economic and scientific contributions and ended in a total success. The struggle for the recognition of the ufologist as an occupation is an epic story of faith, struggle and overcoming that ended in May 2024. The commitment now for ufologists is to write a new history, perhaps that of the recognition and consecration of Ufology as a new science.

 

DECLARATIONS

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or non-for-profit sectors.

 

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

None. 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks to the following peoples by their help and contributions to the aim of this work: Adriano Araujo, Agnes Franco, Alessandra Patricia, Candida Mammoliti, Carlos Medina, Chris Branzan, Celso Bispo, Claudio Oliveira, Dirceu Cardoso, Dirceu Klemba, Esteban Corio, Everaldo Ferreira, Fabiana Vallina, Fábio Gomes, Fábio Ribeiro, Fernando Maciel, Fernando Ramalho, Flori Tasca, Gener Silva, Guilherme Joia, Heglair Silverio, Inajar Kurosky, John Budrys, Jose Maldonado, Judithe Telles, Julio Gralha, Brazilian Minister of Labor Luiz Marinho, Marco Terra de Deus, Marcos Bento, Marcus Thadeu, Marisa Chueiri, Nelson Nozoe, Parliamentarian Nilton Tatto, Norma Cabral, Ondina de Moraes, Patrícia Milani, Roberto Sampedro, Rosemeire Castro, Sergio Almeida, Sophie Bernardet, Sueli Borges, Tereza Baraldi, Valdomiro da Silva, Valmir Costa and Wilson Geraldo de Oliveira.

 

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