To say that Dr. J. Allen Hynek was a reluctant ufologist may be something of an understatement. For himself, he considered his profession as an astronomer and educator even though he is most popularly remembered for his study of unidentified flying objects. After taking his doctorate degree from Yerkes Observatory, Dr. Hynek joined with the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Ohio State University, studying stellar evolution and spectroscopic binaries. He spent World War II at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory as a civilian scientist developing the radio proximity fuse for the Navy.

While returning to Ohio State after the war, Dr. Hynek eventually moved on to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Being a man of science, Dr. Hynek was chosen by the United States Air Force as their scientific consultant when they began their first official investigation into the UFO phenomena with Project Sign. He continued in that position through the notorious debunking Project Grudge and into the occasionally more serious research of Project Blue Book. Being originally highly skeptical of any "flying saucer" reports he was perfect for Project Grudge. He admitted to sometimes stretching logic to the breaking point to "explain" sightings as ordinary objects that were misidentified.

Slowly Dr. Hynek's views changed. As he read more and more UFO reports he realized that the witnesses to many were not just "crackpots" but reliable observers. As well as pilots, police, and military personnel, his polling of fellow astronomers turned up 11% of them who admitted to having seen inexplicable objects in the sky and had kept quiet for fear of ridicule and loss of career. Ultimately Dr. Hynek realized that "Ridicule is not part of the scientific method, and people should not be taught that it is." He began serious work on studying the phenomena with an insistence on proper scientific methodology. One of these was the founding of the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) as a means for serious scientific analysis to be done concerning sightings.

It was during his work with Project Blue Book that Dr. Hynek began to occasionally disagree with his Air Force employers. He was particularly disappointed with the handling of the Portage County UFO chase that was undertaken by a number of very credible and reliable police officers. There, too, was the encounter of Lonnie Zamora, another police officer who reported encountering two humanoid beings in an egg-shaped craft. There was some physical evidence left by its departure including tracks, strangely burnt grasses, fused sand, and "two organic substances" that analysis failed to identify. Clearly a sighting by an impeccable witness but the Air Force downplayed the event publicly and Dr. Hynek made the statement that "The AF doesn't know what science is."

While never completely convinced of an extraterrestrial origin for UFO's he did leave it as one of three major possibilities. According to him the UFO phenomena is real. The evidence he states can as easily be applied to create bias for extraterrestrial origins as they could be extradimensional. He stated that there could also be a technology existing that encompasses both the physical and psychic realms. This material and mental hypothesis, he states could be an older civilizations everyday science that we just have not caught up with as yet.

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