MUFON in Oregon Monday, July 30, 2007

Tom Bowden, Oregon State Director for Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), keeps his eyes to the sky from his home in Gresham.

Every year The Outlook and Sandy Post publish a supplement called "Portrait," spotlighting some of the interesting people in their coverage area. This year they used a supermarket tabloid theme and subtitled it "AMAZING!! ... But True Tales!!"

I did photos for three of the stories in the magazine, including this portrait of Tom Bowden, the State Director for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).

MUFON is an international organization that investigates reports of UFOs.

Bowden has been studying the phenomenon for decades, and has read extensively on the subject. Though Bowden has never personally seen an extraplanetary visitor, he has had a glimpse of something that was otherwise unexplained. But that event, he says, was definitely not noteworthy.

Nevertheless, his conviction in their existence is unwaivering. "Belief," he says, "is like religion. It's a leap of faith. For me it's beyond belief. I know intelligently controlled UFOs are real."

Bowden's library of UFO literature includes J. Allen Hynek's "The UFO Experience, a Scientific Inquiry" and "UFO-FBI Connection" by Bruce Maccabee.

For more on Bowden and MUFON, and other interesting people in East County, pick up a copy of Portrait. I'll blog about some of the other images in separate postings.