Field Investigation

HOW TO BECOME A WASHINGTON STATE MUFON FIELD INVESTIGATOR
MUFON Field Investigators are the heart and soul of our organization. To become a MUFON Field Investigator you must be at least 18-years of age, be able to pass a personal background check, and be willing to execute and agree to a MUFON non-disclosure agreement.
Below you will find the steps associated with becoming a Washington State MUFON Field Investigator. All candidates should follow these steps in order.

1 - INITIAL CONTACT
Email the Washington MUFON State Director, Maurene Morgan at mufon.investigates@gmail.com, or Chief Investigator, Dan Nims, at nimsdf@charter.net to discuss your desire to become a Field Investigator (FI) and to gain an understanding of the position.

If you are unable to contact your local State Director or Chief Investigator please contact Douglas Wilson, MUFON Chief Investigator at mci@mufon.com. 2 - FIELD INVESTIGATOR TRAINING
Go to mufon.com on the internet. Select the Store tab and click on “Field Investigators Training" option. Purchase the "FI Training" (not the FI Boot Camp) for $179. This is a good deal. It includes one year of MUFON membership, the MUFON Journal online edition, one year on the MUFON University training course, and the FI Manual online edition. You will be sent information on how to log onto MUFON U to start your training. You have one year to complete your training. Study the MUFON U on-line sessions at your own pace. Use the FI Manual as you study and get familiar with it. (Note: the section on Form 30 is out of date. We now use an on-line version on the Case Management System [CMS).

Supplementary face-to-face training can be had at either the FI Training session offered at the MUFON Annual Symposium, or by the FI Boot Camp offered once a year. This is valuable training, but is not a substitute for the MUFON U course.
3 - TEST In order to become a Field Investigator Trainee, every member must achieve a score of at least 80% or greater on the MUFON Field Investigator's Exam. When you have studied the MUFON U material you can take the test. If you are familiar with the FI Manual you should do okay. You get three attempts to pass the test and if you don’t, you’ll need to wait six months before you can retake it. 4 - BACKGROUND CHECK When you successfully complete the test, you will be sent a notification that you have passed. Print and fill out the two forms on MUFON U. Send the forms to MUFON HQ where they will complete a background check.
5 - GET CREDENTIALED When Headquarters gets your paperwork, and your background check is complete, they will enter you into the CMS system and send you your credentials, and a few nice gifts.
You are now an FI in training, FI 1 Status.
6 - PRACTICAL TRAINING When you achieve FI 1 status, you will be contacted by the MUFON Chief Investigator (MCI), mci@mufon.com, to schedule three one-hour practical training sessions by Zoom meeting with the MCI. The MUFON U course took you through the technical aspects of being an FI. The practical training takes you through the nuts-and-bolts training in how to handle a case and use the CMS.
7 - SUPERVISED CASE WORK
After completion of your practical training, you will be assigned a mentor FI, usually the WA MUFON CI, to work with you. You will work several cases to gain experience initially, following along with your mentor as he works the case. Then, you will work a case, supervised by the mentor. When you have sufficient experience and are comfortable, you will be promoted to FI 2 status. You will then be authorized to work cases independently.