Media1953

Harvard astronomer Donald Menzel publishes 'Flying Saucers'

Name: Harvard astronomer Donald Menzel publishes 'Flying Saucers'
Start: 1953
Location: Cambridge, MA

When: 1953
Where: Cambridge, MA
Sources: 2 public sources

Harvard astrophysicist Donald Menzel, author of 'Flying Saucers' (1953) Babette Whipple, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Harvard astrophysicist Donald Menzel published Flying Saucers through Harvard University Press, arguing that most reports were mirages and other optical effects. The Condon Report later called it an excellent book while noting its reputation as a debunking one.

Sources

OfficialScientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects (Condon Report), Sec. V Ch. 2: UFOs, 1947-1968 (opens in a new tab)University of Colorado for the U.S. Air Force (text hosted by National Capital Area Skeptics) / 1969
FirsthandThe Report on Unidentified Flying Objects (Edward J. Ruppelt, 1956; revised 1959) (opens in a new tab)Project Gutenberg / 1956

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Where it fits

Earlier in Media'Flying Saucers Have Landed' by Desmond Leslie and George Adamski is published1953 Later in MediaHynek's 'Unusual Aerial Phenomena' in the Journal of the Optical Society of AmericaApr 1953

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