P h y l l i s--B u d i n g e r
Owner of "Frontier Analysis, Ltd" and MUFON of Ohio secretary

Sadly I must announce Bill Jones the founder of Ohio MUFON passed away on March 22nd. He was a good friend and usually jovial with a sense of humor. He was a virtual encyclopedia of UFO information. There was never an event I brought up that he didn’t know the details about. As with conversations with most seasoned ufologists, one usually doesn’t describe the details of an UFO event. It is assumed you already knew all the details. Conversations might start with, “How do you think the Roswell crash compares to those at Cape Girardaeu and Aurora?” “Or how does the Delphos event compare with that at Trans-en-Provence?” A lengthy conversation was sure to happen.

I must parrot something Terry Althouse said to me at the visitation of my husband, Bruce, who passed away on February 28th. She alluded to the UFO mystery. She said, “He knows!” Now Bill does too. Bill’s obituary follows.

OBITUARY William E. Jones, 79, of Columbus, Ohio, passed away peacefully in his home at Dublin Retirement Village on March 25, 2022, with family at his bedside. Mr. Jones was born in Columbus on March 30, 1942, to Raymond and Bernadine (Otten) Jones. A graduate of the Michael E. Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University, he was a career-long attorney with Battelle Memorial Institute. Although well-read and very bright, his personal interests defied the common image of a humorless jurist who spends his days, nights and weekends pouring over contracts and legalese. As a passionate fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, for example, he looked forward to cheering on his favorite gridiron squad each new season. Mr. Jones also held a keen interest in the phenomenon of UFOs. This led to his involvement with the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), for which he served many years as Ohio state director. Over his lifetime, he amassed a sizable collection of UFO literature that is preserved in the William E. Jones Collection on Unidentified Flying Objects at the Ohio State University Library. Mr. Jones' sense of humor was perhaps his most defining characteristic. This was best seen in the pranks he would pull on unwitting family, friends and coworkers. While his bag of tricks was deep, he especially enjoyed leaving odd knickknacks where the object of his antic would eventually discover them and ponder how they came to possess them. Although Mr. Jones lived in one city his entire life, he was well-traveled. From his year-long sojourn to Thailand as a young man to several visits to Australia and New Zealand in his latter years, he loved exploring places that were new to him and experiencing the people and cultures of faraway lands. Mr. Jones also devoted countless hours to serving his community, primarily as a proud volunteer with the Columbus Police Reserve. For more than 30 years, it was his pleasure and privilege to wear the uniform, whether he was directing traffic for a public event or responding to an emergency call that placed him in physical peril. Missing Mr. Jones is his son, David Laprad of Tennessee; his stepdaughter, Leah Potts of Ohio; and his four grandchildren – Abigail Laprad of Tennessee, Lucas Laprad of Texas and Moira Ginger and Ash Potts, both of Ohio. Mr. Jones cherished his family. Mr. Jones' first wife, Fay Ola Jones, and second wife, Sandy (Atherton) Jones, preceded him in death.

W e n d y--B a n
Founding member MUFON of Ohio

“The obituary is very well written and does capture Bill’s personality and character.

For over a decade Don and I spent a lot of time with Bill - Sandy too when they got together - and those friendships were very important to us. To this day I miss Bill’s infectious laugh - and his glee when we could find a UFO publication for him that he hadn’t already put in his massive collection at OSU.

Bill stuck it out through the many ups and downs of the MUFON organization.

And he certainly did manage to bring UFO buffs together in OH.”



P a u l--A l t h o u s e
Webmaster, MUFON of Ohio

"William E Jones, or Bill as he wanted to be known, first came into my life when I read an article in the Columbus Dispatch in 1991, describing a Columbus, Ohio based group of people who were investigating UFOs. The groups name was Mid-Ohio Research Associates, or "MORA" for short. The article included contact information for anyone who was interested in being involved because they wanted to expand their investigative abilities. Since I had always had an interest in the subject, I dialed them up. Bill said he would be happy to visit my home and discuss my interests and see how I might fit into the group. Who I met was an unassuming, gentle man who could pass for anyones father or uncle. This meeting would lead to my experiencing many things I could not have imagined. Just the fact that he was willing to drive to my home to discuss my involvement in their group shows the dedication he had for the subject.

MORA and MUFON of Ohio, under Bill's guidance, published, bulletins, then the Ohio UFO Notebook, and finally, the MUFON of Ohio Newsletter. All designed to educate and inform the public on what was going on in the world of UFOs. (many articles from the Notebook and Newsletters can be found in the "Library" section of this web site.) Bill was State Director of MUFON for Ohio until poor health forced his retirement from that roll.

He ws a friend and mentor to me and will be sorely missed."





RIP





FROM OUR LIBRARY



ARTICLES BY WILLIAM E (BILL) JONES

Bill was the Director of MUFON of Ohio and founded
its predecessor, MORA (Mid-Ohio Research Associates)

Here are a number of articles written or co-written by Bill,
dating back to MORA and the Ohio UFO Notebook.



THE WILLIAM E JONES RARE
BOOK COLLECTION AT




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