Until recently, the collection of information related to human physiological effects in UFO cases was of secondary interest to investigators. The primary focus of investigations was on information about when and where the event occurred and a description of the UFO itself. This was generally true except in cases where extreme medical effects were evident.
For many years the medical practitioners having a UFO interest desired to work only as an "invisible college;" therefore, they were not accessible to UFO investigators in general. As a result, the only time a significant amount of medical data was collected was when the injury left the witness incapacitated, demanding medical treatment and the investigator was aware of it.
Usually the witnesses requiring medical treatment were treated in a text-book fashion for their malady (i.e. eye injuries, burned skin, skin lesions, etc.) by their family doctor or local hospital staff. These practitioneers usually were unaware that the patient was harmed during a UFO encounter and would not have believed it they had been told.
It was common for victims of UFO encounters to suffer alone. The press seldom took these cases seriously and the public giggle-factor made the risk of speaking out more difficult than most people could stomach.
To make matters worse, a protocol for UFO investigators to follow was not well defined or generally available. A lack of cooperation between the various UFO organizations left the data stranded in private files everywhere, inaccessible to other researchers. As a result, most cases involving physiological effects were insufficiently investigated and poorly monitored following the basic investigation.