This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dr Fil (talk | contribs) at 18:15, 17 August 2005 (Links added; more on McDonald's congressional testimony and avid research). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 18:15, 17 August 2005 by Dr Fil (talk | contribs) (Links added; more on McDonald's congressional testimony and avid research)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Dr. James E. McDonald (1920-1971) was senior physicist at the Institute for Atmospheric Physics and professor in the Department of Meteorology, University of Arizona, Tucson.
A dedicated and tireless UFO researcher and scholar, he personally interviewed over 500 UFO witnesses and uncovered many important government UFO documents. He testified before Congress during the UFO hearings of 1968. Some Ufologists consider his presentation there the single best summary of the UFO evidence ever given. McDonald wrote a similar summary for the book, "UFO's, A Scientific Debate," edited by Carl Sagan and Thornton Page, published posthumously in 1972.
As a result of his research, Dr. McDonald considered the extraterrestrial hypothesis "the least unlikely explanation to account for" UFOs.
Val Germann writes that "McDonald was a scourge of the complacent ufologists of his day. He blasted the Air Force, Hynek, Menzel, Condon and anyone else doing a second-rate job in the UFO arena. He was a first-rate intellect and a world-famous atmospheric scientist, this last very important since UFOs are mainly reported in the atmosphere, not in outer space. This put the astronomers (Hynek & Menzel) on the spot when they tried to challenge McDonald. You see, he was in his field, they were not. This would often cause Menzel acute embarrassment."
McDonald engaged in an often bitterly antagonistic relationship with journalist and UFO debunker Philip J. Klass. Klass' first book (UFOs" Identified) was published in 1968; Klass argued that most UFO reports could be explained as a type of previously unknown ball lightning. McDonald offered a detailed rebuttal against Klass' argument.
Tom McIver writes that afterwords, "Klass accused McDonald of misusing public funds, resulting in a traumatic government investigation and audit (in which he was cleared, though he committed suicide not long afterwards)."
Books on James E. McDonald
"Firestorm: Dr. James E. McDonald's Fight for UFO Science," by Ann Druffel (2003) Ann Druffel comments
External Links
- Statement on UFOs by James MacDonald to the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, 1968 (PDF)
- Science in Default: Twenty-Two Years of Inadequate UFO Investigations, by James E. McDonald
- FBI FILE OF DR. JAMES E. McDONALD