Hynek was a scientific consultant for Project Blue Book, the United States Air Force official study of the UFO phenomenon from 1948 to 1969.[3] Although Hynek started out as a skeptic and helped the Air Force to debunk most UFO reports, he gradually became convinced that a small number of UFO cases were not hoaxes or explainable as misidentifications of natural phenomena, and that these cases might represent something extraordinary—even alien visitation from other planets.[4] When the Air Force shut down Project Blue Book in 1969, Hynek, in 1973, founded the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) to continue to collect and study UFO reports.[2] Ufologist James W. Moseley wrote that CUFOS was "... the first real attempt to set up a private research group genuinely dedicated to scientific investigations and study of UFOs."[5] Moseley observed that CUFOS "wasn't a saucer club and, for a while, wasn't open to general membership. Participation was restricted to scientists and other professionals who donated their time and expertise, Hynek's invisible college. This wouldn't last—though CUFOS has."[6]
The Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) has two principal activities. First, it maintains a library and archives of UFO-related materials, which are open for use by researchers and investigators who are writing about UFO-related topics. These materials include books, articles, documents, and sighting reports. Second, CUFOS continues to compile and analyze reports of UFO incidents from around the world.[14][2]