The first scientific study of UFO phenomena in the field, directly observed at first hand rather than secondhand reports, was conducted by Dr. Harley D. Rutledge, Chairman of the Physics Department at Southeast Missouri State University. In 1972 residents of southeast Missouri began to persistently report strange lights in the sky, and Dr. Rutledge decided to subject these reported objects to scientific scrutiny. He put together a team of observers with college training or equivalent experience in the physical sciences.
Optical equipment included Celestron, Criterion, and Questar telescopes, high quality camera and lenses of various focal lengths, and binoculars. These instruments were fitted with devices to detect polarized light and to produce a polarized spectrum. Color, black and white, and infrared sensitive films were used. A spectrum analyzer to detect electromagnetic frequencies in the radio spectrum was used.
The following passages have been selected from his history-making landmark of a book entitled Project Identification: the First Scientific Field Study of UFO Phenomena, which was published by Prentice-Hall 1981:

"In this research, more was involved than the measurement of physical properties of UFOs by dispassionate observers. A relationship, a cognizance, between us and the UFO intelligence evolved. A game was played. In my opinion, this additional consideration is more important than the measurements or establishing that the phenomenon exists. This facet of the UFO phenomenon perturbed me as much as the advanced technology we observed. It is a facet I cannot really fathom—and I have thought about it every day for more than seven years… In this project, we dealt with an intelligence equal to or greater than that of man. We interacted with the phenomena under study… On the second night I was at Piedmont, experiences suggested to me that the UFOs may have purposely attracted our attention, and that they may have reacted to us—although at the time I did not label the sightings as UFOs…How did the UFOs react to us? They turned lights off, on, moved away, shot away, changed course, changed brightness, and the like… One type of behavior evident to Project members was the avoidance paths flown by the UFOs. A UFO would approach as if it would pass overhead; then it would go around our position… Often, we felt as though the UFO intelligence knew our moves… I suspect that UFOs actually dart about in daylight at speeds at which they cannot be seen. I base this on a few cases of reflected sunlight and the circumstances of the disc that hovered within viewing range of my office. Possibly a great deal of UFO activity is subliminal—which, if true, could have serious ramifications… No, UFOs do not behave according to prevailing technologies, and the UFO intelligence does not behave as would a human visiting another planet. Surely, the UFO intelligence has gathered all the flora and fauna of the earth, has deciphered all the languages, has determined all of man’s technology, and has become cognizant of the world’s religions; in short, they must know all there is to know about man. I believe that the UFO intelligence uses this information to mimic man and his technology..."