David Marler, executive director of the National UFO Historical Record Center, is working with amateur UFO researchers throughout the country to create a first-ever public archive

“Everyone has a few pieces of the puzzle, but what if we gather all these puzzle pieces together?” Marler told KOB. “What insights might we gain in trying to understand this mystery further? Our vision is to create the largest US-based historical archive on the subject. We look forward to not only collecting and centralizing the data but also digitizing it.”

Marler owns one of the largest private collections of UFO records in the country. Since the early 1990s, he has housed thousands of civilian documents, audio records, and videotapes of reported UFO sightings. He has also acquired hundreds of declassified documents from the Pentagon’s infamous “Project Blue Book” program.

Marler said he and collectors are interested in donating their materials to the archive project. “I’m surrounded by a number of colleagues across the country who themselves have amassed a large collection of historical data in archives, and they’re getting to a point in age where they need to figure out what’s going to happen to that material,” he said.

Marler said the archive potentially located in Albuquerque needs to be a 10,000 square feet facility that includes a library, workspace, and public museum of artifacts related to UFO research. The National UFO Historical Record Center is raising money for the project, adding they are willing to consider donated space.

The archive, Marler said, will allow both researchers and civilians to analyze documents that have been kept locked away for decades.

“I think it’s important that we afford scientists the ability for the first time to access some of this material, especially as now the government is acknowledging the subject and looking into it,” he said.