Barry has pursued the UFO topic since 1964. He has served as an investigator and state section director for Massachusetts MUFON for ten years. He specializes in researching government documents in the late 1970s which lead to the 1984 publication of Clear Intent written with Larry Fawcett. He edited the newsletter "Just Cause" for "Citizens Against UFO Secrecy" (CAUS) from 1984 to 1998. Much of his research has been published in the "MUFON UFO Journal," "Flying Saucer Review" and a variety of international publications since the mid-1970s. In more recent years, he has specialized in UFO history, compiling "The New England Airship Wave of 1909" and editing "U.F.O. Historical Revue," a newsletter that began in 1998. He published the online "Union Catalog of Periodical UFO Articles," a massive listing of UFO articles published in worldwide periodical literature. He is an Associate of "Project 1947" and the "Sign Historical Group" (SHG) and oversees the massive archives of historical UFO materials.

He has held memberships in the American Astronomical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and continues membership as a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. 

The UFO controversy is a topic that deserves continued monitoring and investigation in the event that one or more of the incidents reported may exhibit provable signs of a previously unknown phenomenon. Many of the UFO incidents on record are often highly unusual and difficult to explain but do not provide proof of extraterrestrial or otherwise exotic origins that are commonly expressed in popular media. It is urgent that immediate attention be given to both preserving the existing records and duplicating those records into other forms for future dissemination and study in the event that important elements of information may contribute to a solution, or solutions, to the more mysterious incidents.