Josef Allen Hynek

The skeptic-turned-believer who fought to legitimize the study of the UFO phenomenon

Name	Josef Allen Hynek
Age	75
Born	May 1, 1910
Died	April 27, 1986
Famous for	Being the scientific advisor for the USAF’s UFO investigation projects Founding the Center for UFO Studies

They say Dr. Josef Allen Hynek had more claim to the title of “Father of Ufology” than any Ufologist of his generation or the next. Considering the nearly 40 years of work he devoted to studying UFOs, especially in an era when the subject was still relatively new, perhaps he did deserve the moniker. 

But who was this man whom both believers and skeptics hold in high regard and have come to respect?

His Early Life and Career 

J. Allen Hynek was born on May 1, 1910, in Chicago to Czech parents, Joseph, a cigar maker, and Berta, a grammar school teacher. Days after his birth, his parents took him up to their apartment’s rooftop to view the brilliance of the passing Halley’s Comet. This was his first experience with the stars. 

Years later, seven-year-old Hynek fell ill with scarlet fever and was quarantined with his mother. At the time, his mother would read him children’s books, and when those ran out, she would read him high school textbooks. Some of these textbooks were about astronomy, a subject that fascinated him and soon became the basis of his career.

So, it was unsurprising for him to study astronomy in college. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics and astronomy in 1931 and his doctorate in these fields in 1935, both at the University of Chicago.

Later, he worked for the following institutions:

• 1931–1935: He became a fellow of the Yerkes Observatory.
• 1936–1941: He served as an instructor and assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Ohio State University.
• 1942–1946: He supervised technical reports in applied physics at Johns Hopkins University.
• 1946–1960: He was an associate and professor of physics and astronomy at the Ohio State University and the director of its McMillin Observatory.
• 1956–1960: He was the associate director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Astrophysics Observatory. He also did lectures at Harvard University while he was there.
• 1960–1978: He became the chairman of the astronomy department at Northwestern University and the director of its Dearborn Observatory.

His Entry Into the UFO/UAP Studies

J. Allen Hynek’s proximity fuze project—a radio-controlled detonator developed to help with the war efforts—at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory granted him high military security clearance. His wartime work, clearance, and astronomy background were enough grounds for the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to consider him for the position of scientific advisor for its UFO investigations in 1948. 

At the time, the USAF was overwhelmed with reports about flying saucers and other unidentified objects. This UFO craze started when news got to the public about the multiple sightings happening around Mount Rainier. 

Hynek recalled how the USAF approached him.

One day, I had a visit from several men from the technical center at Wright-Patterson Air Force base, which was only 60 miles away from Dayton. With some obvious embarrassment, the men eventually brought up the subject of “flying saucers” and asked me if I would care to serve as a consultant to the Air Force on the matter. The job didn’t seem as though it would take too much time, so I agreed.

Bear in mind that at this time, Hynek came into the project as a skeptic of the UFO phenomenon.

What He Did for Project Sign (1948)

The USAF needed Hynek to help them sift through the reports Project Sign had received and determine whether the unidentified object was a misidentified astronomical phenomenon. 

He and his team studied these reports of unexplained aerial sightings. To make things easier, they sorted these into different categories:

• Those that were simply astronomical observations, like the appearance of a meteor.
• Those that could be explained by meteorology, like an unusually shaped cloud.
• Those that were made-made objects, like balloons.

To an extent, Hynek enjoyed the work he did in debunking many of these mysterious objects. He shared, “I’d go through them and say, ‘Well, this is obviously a meteor,’ or ‘This is not a meteor, but I’ll bet you it’s a balloon.”

Later, in his final report, he revealed the following:

• 32% of the cases could be astronomical phenomena.
• 35% of the cases had other explanations (balloons, rockets, flares, or birds).
• 13% of the cases lacked sufficient evidence to provide an explanation.
• 20% of the cases had some evidence, but they still couldn’t be explained or identified.

Though 20% were “unidentified” at the time, Hynek believed the answers would eventually present themselves, given enough time and resources.

What He Did for Project Grudge (1949–1951)

Hynek didn’t play a role in Project Grudge. When Project Sign ended, so did his involvement with the USAF’s UFO investigations.

However, one peculiarity was that he was listed as one of Project Grudge’s external consultants. How so? The most likely explanation was that the report he had delivered (signed and dated May 1949) was included in the appendix of the project’s Technical Report.

What He Did for Project Blue Book (1952–1969)

The USAF’s UFO investigations revived under the continued bulk of reported sightings from the public. Now under a new name, Project Blue Book, the project director, Capt. Edward J. Ruppelt, sought Hynek’s help in interpreting old Project Sign case files. Along with that, he was once again tasked with reviewing reports of UFO sightings and determining whether there was a logical astronomical explanation for them. 

This time around, Hynek’s scope of work wasn’t limited to menial paperwork. He was permitted to do fieldwork for especially puzzling cases and speak with witnesses.

The fieldwork experience challenged his assumptions regarding the entire UFO situation. He was beginning to realize that these witnesses were normal individuals who simply wanted to make sense of what they had seen. 

The witnesses I interviewed could have been lying, could have been insane, or could have been hallucinating collectively—but I do not think so. Their standing in the community, their lack of motive for perpetration of a hoax, their own puzzlement at the turn of events they believe they witnessed, and often their great reluctance to speak of the experience—all lend a subjective reality to their UFO experience.

Only then did Hynek understand that many of these cases, or at least the unexplained 20%, presented a real scientific problem and were worthy of serious study. 

He remained with Project Blue Book for its entire 17-year duration, until its end in 1969.

Notable Cases He Investigated Under Project Blue Book

Hynek had investigated numerous high-profile UFO cases, including:

• Father Gill Case (1959), where a Papuan New Guinea minister and his flock saw the occupants of a UFO and exchanged gestures with them by waving their arms.
• Barney and Betty Hill Case (1961), where the couple reported aliens had abducted them.
• Socorro Incident, aka the Lonnie Zamora Case (1964), where police officer Zamora came across a metallic, egg-shaped aircraft that had landed near Socorro, New Mexico, along with two white-cloaked figures, most likely the aircraft’s occupants.
• Michigan Mass UFO Sightings (1966), where, on the first night, witnesses reported seeing glowing objects hovering above a swamp near Ann Arbor. The following night, 87 Hillsdale College students reported observing red, white, and blue lights.

The UFO Case That Turned His Career

The 1966 Michigan UFO sighting changed everything for Hynek. His rash and hurried explanation led to him being ridiculed by the public and being put under a congressional hearing by Michigan politicians; yet, seemingly overnight, he became widely known as the authority on all things UFOs. 

Such a strange turn of events this was, wasn’t it? Let’s explain what happened.

About the Case 

As mentioned earlier, the USAF received a report about the locals seeing unusual lights for two consecutive nights in late March 1966, across southern Michigan. The whole event received significant public attention, prompting the USAF to send Hynek to investigate it.

Unfortunately, as he read the reports, interviewed the witnesses, and consulted with University of Michigan professors, the media constantly hounded him. The USAF didn’t make it easy for him either, as they put pressure on him to produce results due to the national attention the case was receiving. 

In the end, he rushed through the whole investigation process within a matter of days.

During the Press Conference

Hynek’s investigation results of the Michigan case were publicly presented at the Detroit Press Club on March 26, 1966.

There, he pointed out that swamp gas could be a plausible explanation for some of the sightings in Michigan. He also emphasized that this didn’t provide a complete explanation of these sightings.

Other theories he had included optical illusions and college student pranks.

However, it was the “swamp gas” comment that the media latched onto, ignoring the other things he said about this hypothesis. He then became the subject of ridicule in the press and editorials, painting him as either naive or the USAF’s puppet. The “swamp gas” phrase had also become the national punchline, repeated widely and mocked by newspaper cartoonists. 

The entire thing had backfired on Hynek and the USAF completely. 

What’s worse, Michigan politicians were outraged by the shoddy investigation results. They felt it was an insult to the state’s citizens. So, led by former U.S. President and then-Rep. Gerald R. Ford, they demanded a congressional hearing, which the U.S. House Armed Services Committee granted a week later.

At the Congressional Hearing

On April 5, 1966, Hynek was called to testify before the Committee. He used this as an opportunity to advocate for the extensive and unbiased study of UFOs and for the creation of an independent civilian panel to study the “UFO problem.”

His request pushed through, and the Committee endorsed a university-led study to determine whether UFOs were a real phenomenon that deserved scientific research. Later that year, the University of Colorado-led project, the Condon Committee, was formed.

The Aftermath

The backlash Hynek faced over the “swamp gas” controversy pushed him to rethink his skepticism and finally share his long-held views about UFOs.

The swamp gas episode boomeranged like hell on me and the Air Force. I began to feel guilty about my skeptical attitude. And once you open the gates to the possibility that all these people can’t possibly be mistaken, then you see a lot of other cases in a totally different light.

Further, despite the initial public embarrassment, this Michigan case elevated Hynek and UFO research into national topics of conversation.

His Post-Project Blue Book Career as a Ufologist

Once the Condon Committee concluded that UFOs didn’t deserve serious study, the USAF quickly shut down Project Blue Book and ended its involvement in UFO research. Hynek was naturally disappointed by the Committee’s report and the end of Project Blue Book. 

However, he entered a new chapter of his career where he was free to advocate for continued UFO study, officially becoming a Ufologist. Later, in 1973, he established the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS).

Hynek and the Center for UFO Studies 

Hynek founded CUFOS to help establish Ufology as a credible field of study. The organization was comprised of individuals who voluntarily dedicated their time to study and analyze the UFO phenomenon. 

Its purpose was to:

• Promote serious scientific interest in UFOs.
• Conduct original research and investigation.
• Serve as an archive for reports, documents, and publications about the UFO phenomenon.

Additionally, it had publications that could be presently accessed online, namely: 

• International UFO Reporter (1976–2012), the primary news and features magazine.
• Journal of UFO Studies (1979–1983; 1989–2006), the academic journal.
• Associate Newsletter (1980–1985), the newsletter that informed associates about CUFOS’s activities and UFO sighting investigations.
• Center Investigators Quarterly (1977–1988), the newsletter that kept field investigators informed with helpful information and investigative techniques.
• CUFOS Bulletin (1974–1988), the newsletter sent to associates to inform them of CUFOS’s activities, news, and essays.
• UFOCAT (1976–present), the database that cataloged UFO reports from around the world.

Hynek and the Close Encounter Classification System

Hynek first introduced the Close Encounter classification system in his book, The UFO Experience: A Scientific Study. He developed this system to help him categorize the UFO reports and to describe them well to the public. 

In Hynek’s system, the close encounters were divided into three categories. CUFOS later added a fourth one to account for alien abduction cases. 

• Close Encounters of the First Kind (CE1), when a UFO was observed within 500 feet of the witness, but left no evidence.
• Close Encounters of the Second Kind (CE2), when a UFO left physical traces on the witness, the animals, or the environment.
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (CE3), when a UFO made contact with the witness or when the witness had seen its occupants.
• Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind (CE4), when a UFO abducted the witness against their will.

Hynek also categorized UFOs according to the appearance they were reported to have. These were considered distant encounters and generally lacked evidence.

• Nocturnal Lights (NL), when a UFO appeared as lights, often in red, orange, or white, in the night sky.
• Daylight Discs (DD), when a UFO appeared as an oval or disc-shaped object or had an unconventional appearance or behavior, with or without lights.
• Radar-Visual (RV), when a UFO appeared on the radar screens of military pilots.

CUFOS and many modern UFO investigators have adopted his classification system into their UFO studies.

His Well-Known Published Books

Hynek had three books that accounted for his journey, experiences, and research on UFOs since 1948.

The UFO Experience: A Scientific Study (1972)

In this book, Hynek drew on his experience as the USAF’s scientific advisor to help people curious about the UFO phenomenon answer the questions they might have about the authenticity of the reported UFO sightings and the witnesses who reported them.

It was also in this book that the public came to know of his famous UFO classification system.

The Edge of Reality: A Progress Report on Unidentified Flying Objects (1973)

Hynek and long-time friend and colleague Jacques Vallée wrote this book together to show people that the UFO might be unknown, but it constituted a real phenomenon.

Having studied the subject for over two decades, they provided patterns of the phenomenon’s behavior and designed a framework for its further study.

The Hynek UFO Report (1976)

This book was Hynek’s tell-all confession of the secrets and foul-ups of Project Blue Book and the Condon Committee’s report. It also organized Project Blue Book’s UFO sightings and evidence into a clear, unified explanation.

His Legacy in Ufology

The world best remembers Dr. Josef Allen Hynek for his contributions to UFO research, from fighting for it to be a legitimate field of scientific study to the continued investigations of UFO reports after Project Blue Book; from the development of the Close Encounters classification system to the founding of CUFOS. 

Truly, he had proven himself to be the U.S.’s leading expert on UFOs and thus deserved to be called the Father of Ufology. 

But the most important lesson Hynek left behind was to keep an open mind, for we still didn’t know everything there was to know about the universe, and that “there could be aspects of physics that we hadn’t come upon yet.”

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FAQ

Why was he criticized for his work on Project Blue Book?

People criticized J. Allen Hynek for his lack of skepticism and for being the USAF’s puppet, especially after the “swamp gas” issue.

Did he solve the riddle of UFOs?

J. Allen Hynek didn’t, but he made efforts to ensure that this UFO riddle was worthy of scientific study.

Why did he change from skeptic to believer?

Conducting field investigations for Project Blue Book led J. Allen Hynek to realize that the people who reported UFO sightings were normal citizens. The fact that they spoke of the UFO event they witnessed lent credence to the reality of the phenomenon.