Francis Ridge - Headed 7-man investigation team in Indiana for the National Investigations Committee on Aeria] Phenomena, designated Indiana Unit No. 1.

In 1972 he accepted position of State¬ Section Director, MUFON while in Hillsboro, Illinois, continued geographical studies of the 9-¬state area under GDR project.

In 1973 he set up research and investigation team under MUFON as State¬ Section Director for Posey, Vanderburg, & Gibson counties. Continued GDR until end of year which included the massive 1973 sighting wave, set up "saucer grapevine" with scattered observers, police, sheriff, and state police, airport control towers and Civil Defense in the tri¬-county area with a monthly bulletin and a published telephone number and media coverage. Station designated as the UFO FILTER CENTER.

Obtained his first computer in 1986 and continued work on his computer database which listed over 4,000 entries for the region covering Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky & Tennessee. Became Indiana's MUFON State Director and FI for the Center for UFO Studies. Set up State Section Directors (SD's) and trained and tested 150 potential field investigators in Indiana's 92 counties. The Indiana group rapid deployment team consisted of approximately 30 active FI's throughout this period. Ridge investigated hundreds of cases.

He re-opened Mantell case of January 1947, completed report and book in 2008 with the help of Jean Waskiewicz, Dan Wilson & Brad Sparks. Two years later he wrote the report for that re-investigation The Mantell Incident: The Anatomy of an Investigation / A 60-year-old cover-up.