James McDonald

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James E. McDonald

James E. McDonald (born May 7, 1920 in Duluth , Minnesota , † June 13, 1971 in Tucson , Arizona ) was an American atmospheric physicist at the University of Tucson in the state of Arizona and UFO researcher.

James McDonald and the UFO issue

In the 1960s, McDonald campaigned for the UFO phenomenon to be scientifically investigated because , in his view , the only body that officially dealt with it - the US Air Force's Commission of Inquiry ( Project Blue Book ) - did not do so.

He spoke out in favor of the extraterrestrial hypothesis , which he considered a plausible, if not yet provable, explanatory model.

McDonald was in contact with many other UFO researchers - including Donald E. Keyhoe , the author of the first historical UFO book ( Flying Saucers Are Real , 1950) and director of the largest US UFO organization NICAP ( National Investigations Committee on Areal Phenomena ) - but remained rather a loner by not joining any UFO organization as a member.

As a UFO researcher, McDonald interviewed more than 500 people who said they were UFO eyewitnesses.

Conflict with Philip J. Klass

There was a friendly correspondence between McDonald and the skeptic Philip J. Klass , in which Klass cautiously brought a plasma theory into play as an explanation. McDonald agreed that this theory might explain some of the UFO sightings. However, when Klass expanded his hypothesis and claimed it applied to most, if not all, UFO sightings, as well as alleged alien abductions, McDonald found it completely absurd and wrote a detailed reply.

When McDonald traveled to Australia on behalf of the Office of Naval Research (ONR, US Navy Research Facility) for meteorological studies and investigated UFO reports there in his free time, Klass started a public campaign against McDonald by misappropriating him accused of taxpayers' money. This campaign failed because the ONR, aware of McDonald’s UFO interest, was not impressed and stood behind McDonald.

Klass then showed that McDonald used at least small sums of government research funding for his UFO research, so that the ONR - apparently for fear of public controversy - no longer financially supported McDonald's meteorological studies.

Congressional Hearing, 1968

In 1968 there was a hearing in front of Congress on the subject of UFOs, in which McDonald was also involved. He testified that, in his opinion, UFOs were real and that we didn't know what they were because we laughed at them in front of the Court of Reason. The possibility that these objects in flight are extraterrestrial objects in flight and that we are dealing here with an observation by advanced technology is a possibility that he takes very seriously. He also emphasized that he did not accept the extraterrestrial hypothesis on the basis of solid evidence in its favor, but rather because he considered the contrary hypotheses to be inadequate.

Critique of the Condon Study

James McDonald did not accept the conclusions of the Condon study because 30% of the investigated cases remained unresolved in the final report. The evidence, in his opinion, would support the opposite conclusion - that UFOs require further scientific investigation - rather than the official conclusion that led to the recommendation not to proceed.

AAAS lecture "Science in default"

In 1969, McDonald gave a lecture "Science in Default" to the AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science . He took stock of the current state of UFO research and vigorously criticized the Condon study.

James McDonald committed suicide on June 13, 1971, after surviving a first suicide attempt in May.

literature

personal data
SURNAME McDonald, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McDonald, James E.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American atmospheric physicist and UFO researcher
DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Duluth , Minnesota
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 1971
Place of death Tucson , Arizona