Thursday, September 28, 2023

Saucer News & Saucer Smear Archives - The Historic UFO magazines by Jim Moseley

 

James W. Moseley (1931-2012) got his start in ufology while working on a proposed flying saucer book. During 1953-54, he travelled throughout the USA tracking down UFO witnesses, also interviewing authors of early saucer literature and as well as prominent figures in clubs and research organizations. The book didn’t come together as planned, but with the connections and friendships Moseley had cultivated, he launched a magazine dedicated to flying saucers instead.

Jerome Clark wrote in his entry for Jim Moseley in The UFO Encyclopedia Vol II: The Phenomenon from the Beginning, 1992:

With August Roberts and Dominic Lucchesi, Moseley founded Saucer News in July 1954, at first calling the magazine Nexus but changing it to the more self-explanatory title the next year. Saucer News was noted for its freewheeling, iconoclastic, personal style. In its pages Moseley praised friends, lashed out at enemies, exposed frauds and hoaxes (even perpetrating one himself, the notorious “Straith letter” [sent to] contactee George Adamski) and reported gleefully on the doings of ufology’s sane and not-so-sane. Saucer News was never less than entertaining, sometimes infuriating, but more often very funny. In 1968 the magazine was sold to flying saucer publisher Gray Barker. The last issue appeared four years later.

Jim Moseley and Gray Barker

Issues of Saucer News are somewhat rare, but thanks to a former subscriber, there’s a large collection now available. The University of Wyoming hosts the papers of Frank Scully, which were recently shared online through their American Heritage Center. The collection includes scans of correspondence, "newsletters, magazine articles, comics, lecture ads, and more." Lots of good stuff, including a near complete run of Saucer News from 1954 to 1964

Update: The AFU now hosts a complete collection of Saucer News from 1954 to 1970.
The individual issues:

The (preliminary) directory below is largely based on Jim Moseley’s own listing of back issues. Besides the feature articles listed, each issue of Saucer News generally contained a summary of UFO sightings and related news, a gossip and rumor roundup, photos, cartoons, and listings of saucer clubs and conventions. Also, book reviews, as well as letters from readers, often prominent figures in the saucer community.  

The online digital collection hosted by the Archives For the Unexplained (AFU), curated by Isaac Koi. (Note: The links open PDFs, some files contain issues out of sequence.)

Saucer News Archive

Saucer News (Nexus) 1-10, 1954-1955

AFU links to individual issues: Saucer News: Nexus 

#l (July 1954) – First issue contains articles by James Moseley and saucer pioneers August C. Roberts and Dominick Lucchesi.

#2 (Aug. 1954) - Contains interesting accounts of a little-known saucer film taken in Africa, and of the activities of the Civilian Saucer Intelligence of New York.

#3 (Sept. 1954) - Contains one of the most important articles we have ever published, concerning a lady in Miami who claims to have seen official government photographs of a crashed flying saucer from outer space.

#4 (Oct. 1954) - Contains “The Flying Saucer Mystery – solved” by James W. Moseley and “On the Fringe of the Supernatural” by Dominick Lucchesi.

#5 (Nov. 1954) - “Analysis of the Lubbock [Lights] Incident” by James W. Moseley and “Flying Saucers Fact and Fiction” by John P. Bessor.

#6 (Dec. 1954) - Contains “The Green Fireballs of the Southwest” by “Dr. D.” (Leon Davidson), “Invasion from Space” by Richard Cohen, “The Phantom Caravan by John P. Bessor, and “Jersey City’s Mystery Lights by August C. Roberts.

#7 (Jan. 1955) - Contains editorial on William Dudley Pelley and fascism, a report on “Two Meetings held by Civilian Saucer Intelligence,” and a George Adamski exposé, “Some New Facts About ‘Flying Saucers Have Landed’” by James W. Moseley.

#8 (Feb. 1955) - Contains a fascinating account of the strange events which have occurred in recent years in the vicinity of Mount Shasta, California.

#9 (March 1955) - Contains an interesting article by Frank Scully, author of "Behind the Flying Saucers." (The Aztec crash-retrieval hoax.)

#10 (April 1955) - Contains an important article by the late Dr. Morris K. Jessup, author of several saucer books, whose mysterious death is still a subject of controversy.

#11 (May 1955) - Contains an article by Desmond Leslie, co-author with George Adamski of "Flying Saucers Have Landed." Also contains the results of experiments in extrasensory perception conducted by the Saucer News Staff. Also in this issue are articles by Dr. Morris K. Jessup and Frank Scully.


Saucer News 1955-1957

#13 (Aug.-Sept. 1955) - Contains outstanding “UFOs, Atlantis, & The Antiquity of Civilized man” by Dr. M.K. Jessup, “A Parable” by Desmond Leslie, “A Report on the UFO's and Levitation” by John P. Bessor.

#14 (Oct.-Nov. 1955) – ContainsThe Sky Cross” by Frank Reid, “Concerning ‘Space, Gravity, and the Flying Saucer’" by Desmond Leslie, “Are There Other Inhabited Planets?” by Justin Case, and “The Green Fireballs of the Southwest” by “Dr. D.” (Leon Davidson).

#15 (Dec.-Jan. 1955-1956) – Contains “What on Earth Were They?” by Harold T. Wilkins, “The ‘Little People' Case for the UFO” by M.K. Jessup), and “Summary, Notes and comments on Project Blue Book Special Report #14” by Justin Case and James W. Moseley.

#16 (Feb.-March 1956) – Contains “The Al Bender Story” by James W. Moseley, “Conquest of Gravity is Aim of Top U.S. Scientists” (Condensed from the N.Y. Herald-Tribune) comments by Justin Case, “The Air Force and the Saucers - Part One” by “'Dr. D.” (Leon Davidson).

#17 (April-May, 19.56) - Contains an interesting account of pre-World War II sightings by saucer researcher Frank Reid.

#18 (June-July, 19.56) - A most important issue, containing James Moseley's "Earth Theory" solution to the flying saucer mystery.

#19 (Aug.-Sept. 1956) - Contains an interesting article entitled "UFO’ s and Unnatural Clouds," by Frank Reid.

#20 (Oct.-Nov. 1956) - Contains another documented account of pre-World War II sightings, by Frank Reid, and an article by the noted French saucer author Aime Michel.

#21 (Dec.-Jan. 1956-57) - Contains an article entitled "How to Separate Facts from Fiction," by Justin Case, a noted mechanical engineer and saucer researcher.

#22 (Feb.-March 1957) - Contains an important report on attempts to build flying saucers here on earth, and also a report on the early problems of NICAP, written by Dr. M.K. Jessup.

#23 (April-May 1957) - Contains an article entitled "Flying Saucer Research on Trial," by saucer researcher Tom Comella.

#24 (June-July 1957) - Contains interesting articles by Justin Case and “The Air Force and the Saucers” (Part II) by Dr. Leon Davidson, an atomic physicist who is also a noted saucer researcher.

#25 (Aug.-Sept. 1957) - Contains an exposé of Contactee George Hunt Williamson, written by Y. N. ibn Aharon, an expert on ancient history.

#26 (Oct.-Nov. 1957) - Contains interesting articles by Justin Case and Richard Hall, Major Donald Keyhoe's assistant at NICAP.

#27 (Oct. 1957) - The Special Adamski Exposé Issue contains a collection of several articles showing the fallacies in George Adamski's first two books, "Flying Saucers Have Landed" and "Inside the Spaceships." This is one of the most important issues we have ever published.

#28 (Dec.- Jan. 1957-58) - Contains the first in a series of articles by Y. N. ibn Aharon entitled "Extraterrestrialism as an Historical Doctrine." This series purports to prove that the God of the Old Testament, was in reality a being from another planet.


Saucer News 1958-1959

#29 (Feb.-March 1958) - Contains news coverage of the Levelland, Texas, UFO reports and other possibly related cases (including the Reinhold O. Schmidt hoax). “The Air Force and the Saucers” (Part III) by Leon Davidson.

#30 (April-May 1958) - Contains two of the most important articles we have ever published, The first, by Ulbricht Von Rittner, gives the inside story of research on saucer-shaped craft in Germany during World War II; the second, by James Moseley, gives a complete account of the mysterious disappearance in 1953 of saucer researchers Karl Hunrath and Jack Wilkinson.

#3l (June-July 1958) - Contains an outstanding article "Saucers and the International Geophysical Year," by John Corman, an article called "Rationalism in Ufology" by Richard Hall, and another of Y. N. ibn Aharon's series on Extraterrestrialism.

#32 (Aug.-Sept. 1958) - Contains “Study of a Pre-1947 Sighting” by Dr. Leon Davidson and part 3 of the series by Y. N. ibn Aharon. Also, “The Rise and Fall of NICAP” by Moseley and Richard Cohen.

#33 (Oct.-Nov. 1958) - Contains an outstanding article by Major Lawrence J. Tacker of the U.S. Air Force, plus “The Case of the Crashed UFO,” written by noted saucer researcher Bob Barry.

#34 (Dec.-Jan. 1958-59) - Contains an exposé “Otis T. Carr and the Free Energy Principle,” written by NICAP member Robert Durant, plus another of Y. N. ibn Aharon's series on Extraterrestrialism., and a report on the first The Howard Menger Space Convention.

#35 (Feb.-March 1959) - Contains outstanding articles by Tom Comella, “ECM +CIA= UFO, or How to Cause a Radar Sighting by Dr. Leon Davidson, plus an exposé of George Hunt Williamson written by noted saucer researcher Michael Mann, together with James Moseley.

#36 (June 1959) - This most important issue contains a detailed exposé of Gray Barker, written by the noted amateur astronomer Lonzo Dove.

#37 (Sept. 1959) - Contains an article by Bob Barry called "The Case of the Mysterious Airplane Crash," “Who Is Fooling Donald Keyhoe?” by Justin Case, plus articles by Michael Mann and Y. N. ibn Aharon.

#38 (Dec. 1959) - Contains a scathing rebuttal to Saucer News from Major Donald Keyhoe of NICAP, and an article by Frank Reid entitled "The Aerial Phenomena of Earthquakes."


Saucer News 1960-1962

#39 (March 1960) - Contains interesting articles by Michael Mann and Justin Case, plus an article by Y. N. ibn Aharon entitled "How to Build a Saucer.”

#40 (June 1960) - Contains an important article by noted saucer researcher Lee Munsick, plus a review of one of George Hunt Williamson's books, by Y. N. ibn Aharon.

#41 (Sept. 1960) - This outstanding issue contains a long report on the 1960 Giant Rock saucer convention by James Moseley, with many photographs.

#42 (Dec. 1960) - Contains an important article by Y. N. ibn Aharon and an article by Justin Case entitled "Proof by Ignorance."

#43 (March 1961) - Contains an important scientific UFO article by David Wightman, editor of the outstanding British saucer magazine "Uranus." Also, “An Open Letter to Saucer Researchers” (Part One) by Dr. Leon Davidson.

#44 (June 1961) - Contains an interesting article on extrasensory perception by Justin Case, plus an article by our Associate Editor Melvyn Stiriss.

#45 (Sept. 1961) - Contains a very interesting account of an unexplained plane crash by saucer researcher Max Miller, editor of "Saucers." There is also an article on Extraterrestrialism by Y. N. ibn Aharon.

#46 (Dec. 1961) - Contains the first half of an unusually interesting article by the famous naturalist and saucer researcher Ivan Sanderson.

#47 (March 1962) - Contains the conclusion of the above-mentioned article by Ivan Sanderson, and a well-documented article by Lonzo Dove entitled "Humanoids and the Mars Saucer Cycle."

#48 June 1962) - Contains “Why the Bender Book Has Been Delayed” by Gray Barker and “An Open Letter to Saucer Researchers” (Part Two) by Dr. Leon Davidson.

#49 (Sept. 1962) - Contains a long and very important article by James Moseley concerning his exclusive interview with the head of the Air Force UFO project at Wright-Patterson Field, in Dayton, Ohio.

#50 (Dec. 1962) - Contains the first half of an interesting article by Tom Comella, called "A New Inquiry Into the Flying Saucer Mystery.” Also included is a long exclusive report on the recent saucer "flap" in South America.


Saucer News 1963-1964

#51 (March 1963) - Contains the conclusion of the above-mentioned article by Tom Comella, plus a wealth of recent saucer sightings from around the world.

#52 (June 1963) – Contains “The Olden Moore Story” by C. W. Fitch, “The Mystery of the Disappearing Planes” by Sandy Moseley, and “The End or an Era” by Gray Barker, on the merging of "The Saucerian Bulletin” with Saucer News and his role as associate editor.

#53 (Sept. 1963) – Contains “Florida's Coral Castle” by James W. Moseley, “George Hunt Williamson Re-Visited” by John J. Robinson.

#54 (Dec. 1963) Contains “The Electromagnetic Effects of Flying Saucers” (Part One) by John J. Robinson, “Spacemen in our Midst” by Gray Barker, “How Animals Tell Time Without Clocks" by Gene Steinberg, and “Further Information About Jonathan Swift and the Moons of Mars” by Robert J. Durant and James W. Moseley.

#55 (March 1964) – Contains “Space Ships Over Times Square” by Ed Sparks, Part 2 of John J. Robinson’s article on UFO Electromagnetic Effects, and “The X-4 Electro-Craft” by Howard Menger.

#56 (June 1964) - Contains “Flying Saucers and the Father's Plan” by Laura Mundo and “The Flying Saucers” by Rolf Telano.


Saucer News 1965-1970

Saucer News issues from 1965-1970 are available individually in the collection hosted by the AFU.

SN Non-Scheduled Newsletter

There's now a stand-alone collection of the Saucer News Non-Scheduled Newsletter from 1955 - 1968. Moseley hyped the newsletter as often containing “material that we consider ‘too hot to handle’ in the regularly-scheduled issues of our magazine.”

Saucer News Non-Scheduled Newsletter

. . .

Moseley continued Saucer News until 1968 when he sold the magazine to Gray Barker, then it faded away in a few years. In the 1970s, Moseley revived it as a non-scheduled newsletter, eventually named Saucer Smear, published up until his death in 2012. Isaac Koi recently announced that the complete Saucer Smear collection has been added by to the files hosted at the AFU site. Click the picture below to begin your studies.

Saucer Smear

Every Saucer News issue has several points of interest to even the casual student of UFO history. In the news section, it’s interesting to see the amount of attention given to cases and see what was said about them at the time. Some obscure and forgotten cases often were the subject of lingering examinations, while some stories that became classics were initially treated as routine. UFO history mavens will enjoy cross-referencing cases and prominent figures in ufology with the period coverage in Saucer News to see how it was discussed and regarded in its day.

The links again to the AFU collections for individual issues:

. . .


For more information on Jim Moseley and the Saucer News era, 
see the collection of articles at JimMoseley.com










Thursday, September 14, 2023

Donald E. Keyhoe: From Saucers to Swamp Gas


Donald E. Keyhoe was born in Iowa in 1897, so he was a 50-year-old man during the summer the flying saucers arrived in 1947. He went on to become the best-known figure on the topic, and this article is chiefly a scrapbook on him as a pioneering author and UFO lecturer. It’s not intended as a complete biography, but along the way we’ll hit some of his career highlights. 
 

Donald Edward Keyhoe was a retired Marine major who had served in World War I and became a writer of both news articles and fiction, including adventure stories for pulp magazines. 

In 1927 Charles Lindbergh made his historic solo trans-Atlantic flight. Afterwards, he flew across the US on a 3-month publicity tour, managed by retired Marine pilot Donald E. Keyhoe. The experience was later documented by Keyhoe in the 1928 book, Flying with Lindbergh. That was the start of Keyhoe’s new career as an author of adventure stories and non-fiction. 

Keyhoe’s article on the potential of rocketry and space in The Baltimore Sun, April 10, 1938, “To Paris by Rocket.” His closing lines discussed the price of being a pioneer:

“The first who dares will probably never be heard of again. Many others may follow and fail before the secrets of space are learned. But success will come. There has never been a frontier which man has not dared to cross.” 


In 1949 the editor of True magazine sent Keyhoe the assignment on the flying saucer story, hoping Keyhoe’s military contacts could help him penetrate the secrecy by the government. The resulting article was a sensation almost as big as the original fever of 1947, and along with the resulting 1950 book, The Flying Saucers Are Real, proved it was a bankable topic. Keyhoe was persuasive since he focused on factual, documented cases from credible witnesses, but he often leapt far ahead of the evidence. His message solidified some notions that had been circulating into the tenets of  UFO belief:
1) Flying saucers are spacecraft from other worlds. 
2) The government knows it. 
3) There is a government cover-up. 


Keyhoe was promoting flying saucers just as the Air Force was trying to close the book on the problem. They became the villain in Keyhoe's story, and to them, he was a major pain in the neck.
The Buffalo News - Daily News Ad, Jan. 6, 1950

When Keyhoe expanded the material into The Flying Saucers Are Real, he received some free press by claiming authorities were suppressing the book.

Reading Eagle, May 25, 1950

Clip of Donald Keyhoe that was used in the 1950 movie short, The Flying Saucer Mystery.

Keyhoe had a best-selling paperback book, and was in demand by the media, becoming a popular attraction on the lecture circuit. The typical flying saucer lecture was generally held at a public venue, anything from a gymnasium to an auditorium, with a modest admission or donation charged to attendees. The program usually included a speaker or two, followed by a question and answer session. There was also a table set up where the host could sell the guest’s merchandise, and also gather attendees’ addresses for mailing lists, and recruit new members for their organization. 

Keyhoe at press conference about the Washington, DC, UFOs of 1952

Keyhoe’s second book was Flying Saucers from Outer Space, this time a hardcover release.

Ventura County Star-Free Press, Oct. 1, 1953

“He's in demand for serious TV and radio performances, lectures and technical advice. Each morning an average of 20 letters are delivered to his home near Mount Vernon ‘from serious, respectable and the honest persons quote reporting the signings and offering additional information on saucers.’”


Keyhoe NEA news article, Dec. 24, 1953.

The Daily Times, May 15, 1954

Some Professional Advice

Donald Keyhoe frequently corresponded and “talked shop” with Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, the head of the U.S. Air Force UFO investigation from 1951 until 1953. After Ruppelt retired from the AF, and in 1954 he was consulting for the movie, Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story ofFlying Saucers (released May 1956) and began working on a book about his days with Project Blue Book. Ruppelt asked Keyhoe for business advice. Keyhoe’s June 28, 1954, reply detailed the grind of being on the lecture circuit: 

“You asked about lectures... don't sign up unless you get a good offer, better than the one I had. My outfit took 40% of the gross and I had to pay my own expenses. I wouldn't agree to less than a 70-30 split if I talked next season, and I'd try for 75-25%. You should be able to get some paid engagements out in your area, I think; I don t know any California bureaus, but your movie company people should know some names. You could arrange for evening talks, so they wouldn’t interfere with your work — or Saturday and Sunday appearances, before clubs, etc. Regular bureaus often get $250 for a luncheon engagement from the bigger luncheon clubs, Ad, Rotary, etc.

If you didn’t have to travel out of your area, you would make some money. They’d want about a 30-minute talk, for noonday clubs; 45 minutes to an hour for evening talks. My trouble was that I was scheduled for isolated talks involving expensive travel — to Milwaukee, Kansas City, Buffalo, etc. Considering the lost time, plus expenses, I figure I barely broke even; however, I did it at first in order to get more people talking about my book. I learned later that one good TV program, on a network, is worth twenty such lectures, probably worth a hundred of them.”

June 28, 1954

Flying Saucer Conspiracy, 1955

Detroit Free Press, April 8, 1956

Keyhoe had a 1956  movie based on his 1953 book. Sorta. Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, was "Suggested by the novel Flying Saucers from Outer Space..."

 

The Boston Globe, July 8, 1956

In 1956, Edward J. Ruppelt’s The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects was released, and a few passages had barbs about Keyhoe. Of his 1950 book, “Keyhoe had based his conjecture on fact, and his facts were correct, even if the conjecture wasn't.” Of Keyhoe’s 1953 book, Ruppelt said:

“The book was based on a few of our good UFO reports that were released… The details of the specific UFO sightings that he credits to the Air Force are factual, but in his interpretations of the incidents he blasts way out into the wild blue yonder.”


Daily Press (Newport News, VA), March 22, 1957

The Cincinnati Enquirer, March 25, 1957

The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) was founded in 1956, with Keyhoe becoming its director early the next year.

Democrat and Chronicle, Nov. 17, 1957

The Pittsburgh Press, Jan. 5, 1958

The Pittsburgh Press, Jan. 10, 1958

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 11, 1958 ad

Tulsa World, Sept. 7, 1958

The Oklahoma Courier, Oct. 4, 1958

Tulsa World, Nov. 5, 1958

George Adamski was the first Contactee, followed by many imitators came forward claiming to have met aliens, rode in their ships and heard their spiritual messages of cosmic peace  and brotherhood. Keyhoe thought it was all hokum.

UPI story, The Daily Herald, July 13, 1959

Flying Saucers: Top Secret, 1960

The Rock Island Argus, March 27, 1962

Keyhoe continued to get under the skin of the Air Force. In Jan. 1965, his picture appeared in a UFO newspaper article. 
Someone in Project Blue Book made an artistic alteration which might indicate they viewed him as a villain.

TV listing March 3, 1966


TV listing March 14, 1966. - The Pittsburgh Press, April 14, 1966

The Kingston Daily Freeman, April 19, 1966

Tulsa World, Nov. 18, 1966

The Y-12 Bulletin, Jan. 18, 1967 (Paper For Y-l2 Employees of Union Carbide Corporation—Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.)

Swamp Gas

Project Blue Book’s “Swamp Gas” fiasco at the March 1966 flap in Ann Arbor, Michigan, caused a public outrage and an upsurge of interest in flying saucers. The demand for UFO lecturers was so great, two other speakers tried to horn in on Keyhoe’s territory, Jim Moseley, publisher of Saucer News, and the flying saucer physicist, Stanton Friedman.

Akron Beacon, March 30, 1967 (Friedman)

Mt. Vernon Register-News, April 11, 1967 (Moseley)

The findings of the government-contracted UFO evaluation led by Dr. Edward U. Condon was published as Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects in 1969. Keyhoe gave it the thumbs down.

Buffalo News, Jan. 11, 1969

NICAP was struggling with declining membership and financial problems, and in December 1969, the board forced Keyhoe to retire as director. Things continued to decay under the new leadership and NICAP was dissolved in 1980. 

Donald Keyhoe’s final book was Aliens From Space: The Real Story of Unidentified Flying Objects, 1973.

Review from Richmond Times-Dispatch, Dec. 29, 1973


Hynek on Keyhoe's Disclosure Campaign

In the 1975 book, The Edge of Reality, Dr. J. Allen Hynek was asked about UFO literature, “Would you recommend the books by Kehoe?” Hynek replied with some criticism:

“I wouldn't recommend that myself. When I have a seminar on UFOs I do not put that on the reading list, but if a person wants a sociological perspective he should have it, because Kehoe was very largely fighting city he. He took as his objective to vilify the Air Force, to try and get congressional investigations and prove that the Air Force was covering up. What he should have done, of course, was publish solid technical reports on cases and then the sheer weight of those would eventually have toppled the Air Force. But instead he kept importuning congressman and didn't get anywhere.”

Keyhoe on Flying Saucer Crash-Retrievals

The subject of crashed UFOs came up when Keyhoe appeared on a television show in 1975, debating UFOs with a colonel in the USAF. Here’s the Toronto, Canada show listing from The Ottawa Journal, March 15, 1975:

Sunday 7:30 March 16, 1975 (Channel 6) Great Debate Resolved: "That Unidentified Flying. Objects from Outer Space - Exist." Speaking for the motion is Major Donald Keyhoe, author of several books on the subject of UFOs. His opponent Is Colonel William T. Coleman, former chief of Public Information for the U.S. Air Force and a science fiction novelist.

 A recording of the show was archived in the Faded Discs project by Wendy Connors, in the collection “Profiles In Ufology” item no. 20: Major Donald E. Keyhoe and Col. William Coleman, USAF… 41:30

When asked about if any UFOs had been recovered and studied, Keyhoe brought up Silas Newton’s Aztec saucer story. (30:54 in the recording) 

“There was the story about the crashed UFOs way down in the southwest and the small beings who were deep frozen. As far as I’m concerned, you can write that one off. I investigated that for True magazine, years and years ago. The who men who were putting it out were really trying to raise some dough. There may have been such a thing that happened, but I never found any evidence of it.”

(Keyhoe didn’t mention the saucer crash tale in his Jan. 1950 True article, but did discuss it in his first book. He said he’d flown to Denver to investigate, but it “turned out as expected – a dud… a big joke. But in spite of this, the ‘little men’ story goes on and on.”) 

Recognition from MUFON

Ufologist Bob Pratt interviewed Keyhoe by telephone, “in 1977, 1978 and 1979 for thirty to fifty minutes each time.” See: Conversations with Major Keyhoe. 

The annual Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) Symposium was held July 29-30, 1978, in Dayton, Ohio. Major Donald E. Keyhoe delivered the lecture, “Behind the UFO Secrecy," opening with his tenet, “The UFO cover-up is the greatest deception in the history of the United States.” He was later named to MUFON's board of directors, to recognize his lifetime contributions.

MUFON Journal, April 1981

Throughout the 1980s, Keyhoe was often referred to in newspapers and occasionally reached for quotes. Major Donald E. Keyhoe died November 29, 1988, at the age of 91. His obituary appeared in the Washington Post, Dec. 2, 1988.

Lincoln Journal Star, Dec. 7, 1988


The Woman Who Made UFO News

The Washington, D.C. area was a hotbed of UFO activity in the early 1950s, for news, events, and as a locale for researchers. The flying sau...