Tag: J. Allen Hynek

Dr. J. Allen Hynek Posted on

The Hynek Classification System

Witnesses to UFOs report many different shapes and sizes. From discs to cigars to triangles and almost anything you could imagine. Despite the varied shapes and sizes, researchers have tried to organize these sightings into neat little boxes. In reality, this can’t be done. However, there have been two systems developed which are as close as we can get to categorizing sighting reports. One is the Jacques Vallee system, which is quite extensive. The other is the Dr. J. Allen Hynek system, which is by far the most widely used, and from which the term, “close encounters” was coined. According to Dr. Hynek: This is the traditional method of describing an event as a distant or close encounter of the first, second, or third […] Read More

Project Bluebook Posted on

Project Bluebook

The Condon Report: Introduction The “Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects” (Condon & Gillmor 1969; often referred to as the “Condon Report”) presents the findings of the Colorado Project regarding a scientific study of unidentified flying objects. It remains the most influential public document concerning the current scientific status of the UFO issue. Following is a short chronology of events that led to the Air Force contract with the University of Colorado to initiate the study. This extract is from: “An Analysis of the Condon Report on the Colorado UFO Project,” by P.A. Sturrock, Center for Space Science and Astrophysics, Stanford University. Dr. Sturrock’s analysis is highly recommended as a comprehensive introduction to the text. Additionally, we have included many relevant links that offer […] Read More

UFO Community Posted on

1995: A Short Introduction to Ufology

Dennis Stacy, Editor, MUFON UFO Journal original source The acronym UFO – for Unidentified Flying Object – is so prevalent and commonplace today, that it’s easy to forget the term is not even fully fifty years old yet. There is even some dispute about the acronym’s exact origin. In his classic account of his years spent as the director of Project Blue Book – the Air Force’s official UFO “investigation” agency – Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt says unequivocally that “UFO is the official term that I created to replace the words ‘flying saucers’” (Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, Doubleday, 1956, p. 6). Presumably, this would have been sometime between 1951, when Ruppelt took over Project Grudge, later renamed Blue Book, and September of 1953, […] Read More

Analysis & Implications Posted on

The Case for UFO Reality

The UFO Briefing Document, Don Berliner, et. al. As long as men and women have talked about strange sights in the skies, two primary questions have been asked about what has come to be called Unidentified Flying Objects: Are they real, or are they just honest mistakes? If they are real, could they be ships from some other world? In this century, it started with the “foo fighters” of World War II: glowing balls that flew in formation or “played tag” with military airplanes over Europe and the Pacific. Suspected of being prototype enemy weapons, they never displayed hostility and when the war was over, they were all-but-forgotten. In 1946, the Scandinavian countries reported many hundreds of “ghost rockets” which flew low and silently, […] Read More

Analysis & Implications Posted on

1997: Summary Of The UFO Phenomenon

© 1997 All Rights Reserved “UFO Report – a statement by a person or persons judged responsible and psychologically normal by commonly accepted standards, describing a personal vision or instrumentally aided perception of an object or light in the sky or on the ground and / or its assumed physical effects, that does not specify any known physical event, object, or process or any psychological event or process [even after examination by qualified persons]…” Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Northwestern University, founder of the Center for UFO Studies. If the only strange things seen in the sky were a few oddly moving lights, or some specks glinting in the sun, there would be no UFO problem. But there have been many close observations of these […] Read More

Analysis & Implications Posted on

2009: UFO ‘tentacles’ are propulsion plasma beams, researcher says

Steve Hammons January 12, 2009 [This article originally appeared on the Joint Recon Study Group link) site.]The “tentacle” appearance of an unidentified flying object (UFO), such as one reported over a wind turbine farm near Conisholme, England, on Jan. 4, 2009, may have been “constantly changing, torque-generating plasma beams” related to an exotic propulsion system.An experienced American scientific researcher has proposed that the “jellyfish” or “octopus” visual effect that some witnesses have reported in the UK and United States could actually be what is called a “magnetoplasmadynamic” or “magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)” field. Ray Stanford, a pioneer in studies of UFOs by use of optical and electronic instrument systems said that, “Although some UFO-generated physical phenomena may, through human mind’s ever-interpreting ‘lens,’ look ‘organic’ (as though […] Read More

Military Posted on

Why Do Ufologists Largely Ignore the Most Scientific Field Study of UFOs Ever Conducted?

by Dr. Greg Little Few ufologists and even fewer people with a causal interest in the UFO phenomenon are familiar with what could have arguably been the most scientific and thorough field study of UFOs ever made. In some ways it is odd that this research is so obscure in ufology, but the reasons become increasingly clear when the findings and psychological aspects of it are understood. Even more oddly, ufologists who begin with the assumption that UFOs are extraterrestrial craft are those who have mostly ignored the findings of this extraordinary research. In fact, this amazing series of field studies could be the best evidence ever put forth that something physical (and operating outside the known laws of science) does move around in […] Read More

Dr. J. Allen Hynek Posted on

1985: Close Encounter with Dr. J. Allen Hynek

By Dennis Stacy An Interview With The Dean 1985 Re-Edited for CUFON by Dale Goudie 1991 For over two decades, from 1948 to 1969, Dr. J. Allen Hynek was a consultant in astronomy to the United States Air Force. The subject of his advice, however, was not the fledgling space program or even the moon and stars above, but Unidentified Flying Objects. In 1973 he founded the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) and had served as Director and editor of its journal, “International UFO Reporter.” STACY: Dr. Hynek, as a scientist, you go back as far with the UFO phenomenon as probably anyone alive today. Exactly how did that relationship begin? HYNEK: That’s an easy story to tell. In the spring of 1948, I […] Read More

Jacques Vallee Interview Posted on

Heretic Among Heretics: Jacques Vallee Interview

Conspire.com PART 1 Jacques Vallee hesitated before agreeing to be interviewed about the subject for which he’s most famous: UFOs. It’s not that he’s reluctant to discuss the topic or tussle with the skeptics. After all, he’s written close to a dozen books on UFOs, several of them best-sellers, analyzing a notoriously ethereal subject as a hard-headed physical scientist, folklorist, and sociologist. He believes there is more than enough solid evidence to make a compelling case for the existence of UFOs, and he doesn’t shy away from honest debate. It’s the hard-core believers who give Vallee pause. Anyone who has observed the semi-academic cockpit known as “UFOlogy” knows that close encounters of the UFO expert kind shed little light and much heat, dogma and […] Read More

The Scientific Context of the UFO/Abduction Phenomenon Posted on

1996: The Scientific Context of the UFO/Abduction Phenomenon

 Don Donderi, Ph.D Summary: The purpose of this essay is to explain how to clarify the evidence for or against the reality of UFO abductions. Many workers in this field have modified the conventional meaning of both the word “reality” and the word “abduction.” I do not accept these modifications. A UFO abduction, if it occurs, is a physical event. Don Donderi is an Associate Professor of Psychology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. His basic research interests include human perception and memory, and his applied work is in the field of human factors and ergonomics. He is a principal of Human Factors North, Inc., a Toronto-based ergonomics consulting firm. Essay originally appeared in: International UFO Reporter, Spring 1996, Volume 21, Number 1 Copyright 1996 […] Read More

Govt. & Scientific UFO Studies Posted on

Firefighters and UFOs

Jim Hickman As many of you know, I have been a firefighter for over 20 years. In this report I have several incidents involving Firefighters and UFO’s. The following reports come from the Project Bluebook’s 701 unknowns and the Magonia database compiled by Jacques Vallee. Also, I recently had a chance to re-read a chapter in an old fire science textbook I had lying around the house, it’s called, A Fire Officer’s Guide to Disaster Control by William M. Kramer and Charles W. Bahme. It is copyright (c) 1992 by Fire Engineering Books & Videos. First, on May 28, 1952; Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1:45-2:40 p.m. Witnesses: two city fire department employees. Two circular objects–one shiny silver and the other orange or light brown– were […] Read More

Govt. & Scientific UFO Studies Posted on

1969: Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects

The “Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects” (Condon & Gillmor 1969; often referred to as the “Condon Report”) presents the findings of the Colorado Project regarding a scientific study of unidentified flying objects. It remains the most influential public document concerning the current scientific status of the UFO issue. Following is a short chronology of events that led to the Air Force contract with the University of Colorado to initiate the study. This extract is from: “An Analysis of the Condon Report on the Colorado UFO Project,” by P.A. Sturrock, Center for Space Science and Astrophysics, Stanford University. Dr. Sturrock’s analysis is highly recommended as a comprehensive introduction to the text. Additionally, we have included many relevant links that offer further context for the […] Read More

Investigation of nocturnal light phenomena Posted on

1972: Investigation of nocturnal light phenomena

AUGUST 1972 ***************************************************************** Originally Submitted November 2, 1972 to Dr. J. Allen Hynek By David W. Akers, P.E. P.O. Box 11517 Seattle, WA 98110-5517 USA Email: 70544.1653@compuserve.com ***************************************************************** Revised December 5, 1995 for Distribution on Electronic Networks. Copyright 1995, David W. Akers All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or commercial use of this document or any of its photographs or illustrations without permission of the author is expressly prohibited. This document may however be redistributed over electronic networks and to researchers as long as it is forwarded in its whole, without modifications and without charge. ***************************************************************** FORWARD The Yakima UFO Field project was undertaken by me in August of 1972 at the request of Dr. J. Allen Hynek. The study has continued to this day. The […] Read More

Physical Evidence Posted on

1975: Ted Phillips’ Physical Trace Catalogue

Special thanks to Paul Fuller for allowing us to compile his extracts into one article, and to Mark Rodeghier of CUFOS for permission to reproduce Ted Phillips‘ material. Ted Phillips’ Physical Trace Catalogue by Paul Fuller E-mail: 100611.1013@compuserve.com I am very grateful to Mark Rodeghier of the J. Allen-Hynek Centre for UFO Studies (CUFOS) for allowing me to reproduce the following cases from Ted Phillips’ celebrated Physical Trace Catalogue. The catalog was published in 1975 by CUFOS and its proper title is Physical Traces Associated with UFO Sightings, A Preliminary Catalogue. Ted Phillips was born in 1942 and has lived all his life in Missouri. He is still alive today and his career in UFO research stretched from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. […] Read More