Figure timeline
Josef Allen Hynek was an American astronomer, professor, and ufologist. He is perhaps best remembered for his UFO research. Hynek acted as scientific advisor to UFO studies undertaken by the U.S. Air Force under three projects: Project Sign (1947–1949), Project Grudge (1949–1951) and Project Blue Book (1952–1969). In later years, he conducted his own independent UFO research, developing the "Close…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
science · American astronomer and ufologist (1910–1986) · astronomer · astrophysicist · ufologist · university teacher · physicist · writer · scientist · also J. Allen Hynek, Dr. Josef Allen Hynek, Josef Allen Hynek, Hynek
Born 1 May 1910 · Died 27 April 1986 · Q350468
26 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
4 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
s departure, Project Blue Book was little more than a public relations exercise, further noting that little or no research was undertaken using the scientific method. Turnaround Hynek began occasionally disagreeing publicly with the conclusions of Blue Book. By the early 1960s—after about a decade and a half of study—Clark writes that
As a scientist I must be mindful of the lessons of the past; all too often it has happened that matters of great value to science were overlooked because the new phenomenon did not fit the accepted scientific outlook of the time.
76%Wikipedia
“s departure, Project Blue Book was little more than a public relations exercise, further noting that little or no research was undertaken using the scientific method. Turnaround Hynek began occasionally disagreeing publicly with the conclusions of Blue Book. By the early 1960s—after about a decade and a half of study—Clark writes that”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Moviefone: J. Allen Hynek
The History Channel created and aired a highly-fictionalized TV show based on Hynek UFO research and the organization he worked for dubbed Project Blue Book
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Died 1986-04-27.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hynek died of a malignant brain tumor, at Memorial Hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“As a scientist I must be mindful of the lessons of the past; all too often it has happened that matters of great value to science were overlooked because the new phenomenon did not fit the accepted scientific outlook of the time.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
At the First International UFO Congress in Chicago, Hynek presented his thoughts in his speech "What I Really Believe About UFOs"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wrote, "If you object, I ask you to explain—quantitatively, not qualitatively—the reported phenomena of materialization and dematerialization, of shape changes, of the noiseless hovering in the Earth's gravitational f
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
In Evanston, Illinois (but now based in Chicago), CUFOS advocates for scientific analysis of UFO cases
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Held in Akron, Ohio, Hynek first expressed his doubts regarding the extraterrestrial (formerly interplanetary or intergalactic) hypothesis, in a speech titled "The Embarrassment of the Riches"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sheaffer was afforded the opportunity to preview a chapter in Hynek's first book–in–progress, and their back–and–forth (along with an appraisal by Philip Klass of that correspondence) is among the material posted in the
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Castigating him for what McDonald saw as his lapses, and suggesting that, when evaluated by later generations, retired Marine Corps Major Donald E
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
By Michigan teenager Grant Jaroslaw who, along with his brother Dan, were the two lone "witnesses"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Called evidence of 'great negative significance,' that is, that there is no mysterious UFO phenomenon
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hynek appeared on the television program To Tell the Truth
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And worked there until his retirement in 1978
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Soviet Union launched its first satellite, Sputnik 1
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hynek left to join Fred Whipple, the Harvard astronomer, at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which had combined with the Harvard Observatory at Harvard
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hynek was an associate member of the Robertson Panel, which concluded that there was nothing anomalous about UFOs, and that a public relations campaign should be undertaken to debunk the subject and reduce public interes
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hynek submitted a report on the fluctuations in the brightness and color of starlight and daylight, with an emphasis on daytime observations
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hynek said that "the whole subject seems utterly ridiculous", and described it as a fad that would soon pass
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
To examine sightings of unidentified flying objects
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“the whole subject seems utterly ridiculous”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Completed his PhD in astrophysics at Yerkes Observatory of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hynek received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Chicago
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born 1910-05-01.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Connections