Donald Edward Keyhoe (June 20, 1897 - November 29, 1988) was an American Marine Corps officer with some flight experience, writer of many aviation articles and stories in a variety of leading publications, and manager of the promotional tours of aviation pioneers, especially of Charles Lindbergh. is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... is the 333rd day of the year (334th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea,[1] using the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces and is one of seven uniformed services. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... Charles Augustus Lindbergh (4 February 1902 – 26 August 1974) (aka Lucky Lindy; The Lone Eagle) was an American aviator who was made world famous by being the pilot of the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic made solo from Roosevelt Field, Long Island to Paris on 20 May-21...

In the 1950s he became well-known as an engaged, knowledgeable UFO researcher, arguing that the U.S. government should conduct appropriate research in UFO matters, and should release all their UFO files. Jerome Clark^[1] writes that "Keyhoe was widely regarded as the leader in the field" of ufology in the 1950s and early-to-mid 1960s. UFO can mean: Unidentified flying object United Future Organization, a Japanese-Brazilian electronic jazz band UFO, the rock band that previously featured Michael Schenker UFO, the Gerry Anderson TV series United Farmers of Ontario, a political party that formed the government in Ontario from 1919 to 1923 U.F.O... Jerome Clark (1946 - ) is an American researcher and writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other anomalous phenomena; he is also a songwriter of some note. ... Artistic representation of UFOs Ufology is the study of unidentified flying object (UFO) reports, sightings, alleged physical evidence, and other related phenomena. ...

Early life and career

Keyhoe was born and raised in Ottumwa, Iowa. He attended the Naval Preparatory Academy, where he earned a B.S. degree in 1919. Not long afterwards he was commissioned as a Marine Corps Lieutenant. Ottumwa (pronounced Uh-tuhm-wa) is a city in Wapello County, Iowa. ... B.S. redirects here. ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea,[1] using the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces and is one of seven uniformed services. ...

In 1922, his arm was injured during an airplane crash in Guam. During his long convalescense, Keyhoe began writing as a hobby. He eventually returned to active duty, but the injury gave Keyhoe persistent trouble, and, as a result, he retired from the Marines in 1923. He then worked for the Geodetic Survey and U.S. Department of Commerce. The United States Department of Commerce is a Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. ...

In 1927, Keyhoe managed a very popular coast-to-coast tour by Charles Lindbergh. This led to Keyhoe's first book, 1928's Flying With Lindbergh. The book was a quick success, and led to a freelance writing career, with many of Keyhoe's articles and fictional stories (mostly related to aviation) appearing in a variety of leading publications. Charles Augustus Lindbergh (4 February 1902 – 26 August 1974) (aka Lucky Lindy; The Lone Eagle) was an American aviator who was made world famous by being the pilot of the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic made solo from Roosevelt Field, Long Island to Paris on 20 May-21...

During World War II, Keyhoe reenlisted in the armed forces, and served in the Naval Aviation Training Division. He was promoted to Major during the war. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Writing for the Pulps

By the time his UFO books appeared, Keyhoe was already a well-established author with numerous appearances in the pulp magazines of the 1920s and 30s. Four of his short stories were printed in Weird Tales, one of the most prestigious of the pulps: "The Grim Passenger" (1925), "The Mystery Under the Sea" (1926), "Through the Vortex" (1926) and "The Master of Doom" (1927). He also produced the lead novel for all three issues of a short-lived magazine called Dr. Yen Sin: "The Mystery of the Dragon's Shadow" (May/June 1936), "The Mystery of the Golden Skull" (July/August 1936) and "The Mystery of the Singing Mummies" (September/October 1936).[1] Pulp magazines, often called simply the pulps, were inexpensive text fiction magazines widely published in the 1920s through the 1950s. ... This page is about the fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine and its heirs. ... Cover of Pulp Classics #9 (1975), containing a facsimile reprint of the first issue of Dr. Yen Sin was a short-lived pulp magazine published by Popular Publications during 1936. ...

Keyhoe wrote a number of air adventure stories, for Flying Aces and other magazines, and created two larger-than-life superheroes in this genre. The first of these was Captain Philip Strange, referred to as "the Brain Devil" and "the Phantom Ace of G.2.". Captain Strange was an American intelligence officer during World War I who was gifted with ESP and other mental powers. His existence has been perpetuated beyond Keyhoe's stories as a minor member of the Wold Newton universe.[2] For other uses, see Superhero (disambiguation). ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP) is defined as ability to acquire information by paranormal means independent of any known physical senses or deduction from previous experience. ... The Wold Newton family. ...

Keyhoe's other "superpowered" flying ace was Richard Knight, a World War I veteran who was blinded in combat but gained a supernatural ability to see in the dark. Knight featured in a number of adventure stories set in the 1930s (when the stories were written).

Many of Keyhoe's stories for the pulps were science fiction or weird fantasy, or contained a significant measure of these elements –- a fact that was not lost on later critics of his UFO books.^[2]

Flying Saucers Are Real

Following Kenneth Arnold's report of odd, fast-moving aerial objects in the summer of 1947, interest in "flying disks" and "flying saucers" was widespread, and Keyhoe followed the subject with some interest, though he was initially skeptical of any extraordinary answer to the UFO question. For some time, True (a popular American men's magazine) had been inquiring of officials as to the flying saucer question, with little to show for their efforts. In about May 1949, after the Air Force had released contradictory information about the saucers, editor Ken Purdy turned to Keyhoe, who had written for the magazine, but who also, importantly, had many friends and contacts in the military and the Pentagon. Kenneth A. Arnold (born March 29, 1915 in Sebeka, Minnesota; died January 16, 1984 in Bellevue, Washington) was an American businessman and pilot. ... Ken Purdy is considered by some in his profession as one of Americas greatest automotive writers and editors. ...

After some investigation, Keyhoe became convinced that the flying saucers were real. As their forms, flight maneuvers, speeds and light technology was apparently far ahead of any nation's developments, Keyhoe became convinced that they must be the products of unearthly intelligences, and that the U.S. government was trying to suppress the whole truth about the subject. This conclusion was based especially on the response Keyhoe found when he quizzed various officials about flying saucers. He was told there was nothing to the subject, yet was simultaneously denied access to saucer-related documents.

Keyhoe's article "Flying Saucers Are Real" appeared in the January, 1950 issue of True (published December 26, 1949) and caused a sensation. Though such figures are always difficult to verify, Ruppelt reported that "It is rumored among magazine publishers that Don Keyhoe's article in True was one of the most widely read and widely discussed magazine articles in history." is the 360th day of the year (361st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Capitalizing on the interest, Keyhoe expanded the article into a book, The Flying Saucers Are Real, (1950), which would sell over half a million copies in paperback. He argued that the Air Force knew that flying saucers were extraterrestrial, but downplayed the reports to avoid public panic. In Keyhoe's view, the aliens--wherever their origins or intentions--did not seem hostile, and had likely been surveiling the earth for two hundred years or more, though Keyhoe wrote that their "observation suddenly increased in 1947, following the series of A-bomb explosions in 1945." Dr. Michael D. Swords characterized the book as "a rather sensational but accurate account of the matter." (Swords, p. 100) To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... Michael D. Swords is an American scientist. ...

Keyhoe wrote several more books about UFOs. Flying Saucers From Outer Space (1953) is perhaps the most impressive, being largely based on interviews and official reports vetted by the Air Force. The book included a blurb by Albert M. Chop, the Air Force's press secretary in the Pentagon, who characterized Keyhoe as a "responsible, accurate reporter" and further expressed guarded approval for Keyhoe's arguments in favor of the extraterrestrial hypothesis. Such endorsements only cemented the belief, held by some observers, that the Air Force's mixed messages about UFOs were due to a cover up. Look up blurb in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A press secretary is a senior advisor (usually to a politician) who provides advice on how to deal with the media and, using news management techniques, helps them to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. ... This article is about the United States military building. ... A photograph taken in Passoria, New Jersey, on July 31 1952 The Extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH) is the hypothesis that UFOs are best explained as being creatures from other planets occupying physical spacecraft visiting Earth. ... Look up Cover-up in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Carl Jung argued that Keyhoe's first two books were "based on official material and studiously avoid the wild speculations, naivete or prejudice of other [UFO] publications." (Jung, xiii) Jung redirects here. ...

Others have disagreed with Keyhoe's assessments. In his 1956 book, Air Force Captain Edward J. Ruppelt (the first head of Project Blue Book) wrote, "the Air Force wasn't trying to cover up", and declared that "The problem was tackled with organized confusion". Edward J. Ruppelt (1922 - 1960) was a United States Air Force officer probably best-known for his involvement in Project Blue Book, a formal governmental study of unidentified flying objects. ... Project Blue Book was one of a series of systematic studies of Unidentified flying objects (UFOs) conducted by the United States Air Force. ...

Ruppelt's book indicates that Ruppelt held some dim views of Keyhoe and his early writings; Ruppelt noted that while Keyhoe generally had his facts straight, his interpretation of the facts was another question entirely. He thought Keyhoe often sensationalized material and accused Keyhoe of "mind reading" what he and other officers were thinking. Yet Keyhoe cites conversations with Ruppelt in later books, suggesting that Ruppelt may have occasionally advised Keyhoe.

The NICAP Era

In 1956, Keyhoe cofounded the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). He was one of several prominent professional, military or scientific figures on the board of directors, which lent the group a degree of legitimacy many of the other contemporary "flying saucer clubs" sorely lacked. The National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (or NICAP) was a civilian unidentified flying object research group active in the United States from the 1950s to the 1980s. ...

NICAP founder Thomas Townsend Brown was ousted as director in early 1957 after facing repeated charges of financial ineptitude. Keyhoe replaced him; he was only slightly better at managing NICAP's finances, and the group continued their efforts Thomas Townsend Brown (March 18, 1905 – October 22, 1985) was an American physicist. ...

With Keyhoe in the lead, NICAP pressed hard for Congressional hearings and investigation into UFOs. They scored some attention from the mass media, and the general public (NICAP's membership peaked at about 15,000 during the early and mid 1960s) but only very limited interest from government officials. Popular press redirects here; note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint The Popular Press. Mass media is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically envisioned and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state. ...

However, there was increasing criticism of the Air Force's Project Blue Book. Following a widely publicized wave of UFO reports in 1966, NICAP was among the chorus which called for an independent scientific investigation of UFOs. The Condon Committee was formed with this goal in mind, though it quickly became enmired in infighting and, later, controversy. Keyhoe publicized the so-called "Trick Memo", an embarrassing memorandum written by a Condon Committee coordinator which seemed to suggest that the ostensibly objective and neutral Committee had determined to pursue a debunking operation well before even beginning their studies. Project Blue Book was one of a series of systematic studies of Unidentified flying objects (UFOs) conducted by the United States Air Force. ... Mass-market paperback edition of the Condon Report, published by New York Times/Bantam Books (January, 1969), 965 pages. ... A debunker is a skeptic who pursues dispelling false and unscientific claims. ...

Television appearance

On 22 January 1958 Keyhoe appeared on a CBS live television show the Armstrong Circle Theatre to speak on the topic of UFOs. Keyhoe charged that a U.S. Congressional committee was evaluating evidence that "will absolutely prove that the UFOs are machines under intelligent control". However CBS stopped the audio portion of the live broadcast. Herbert A. Carlborg, CBS Director of Editing stated "this program had been carefully cleared for security reasons".^[3] This article is about the broadcast network. ... Armstrong Circle Theatre was an anthology drama television series which ran from 1950 to 1957 on NBC, and then until 1963 on CBS. It alternated weekly with The U. S. Steel Hour. ...

Ouster and Later Life

NICAPs membership plummeted in the late 1960s, and Keyhoe faced charges of incompetence and authoritarianism. By 1969 Keyhoe turned his focus away from the military and focused on the CIA as the source of the UFO cover up. NICAP's board, headed by Colonel Joseph Bryan III, forced Keyhoe to retire as NICAP chief. Bryan was actually a former covert CIA agent who had served as founder and head of the CIA's psychological warfare division. Under Bryan's leadership, the NICAP disbanded its local and state affiliate groups, and by 1973 it had been completely closed.^[4]

Keyhoe wrote one more UFO book, 1973's Aliens From Space. It promotes "Operation Lure", a scheme to entice extraterrestrials to land; Clark^[5] characterized the proposal as "naive".

Beyond this book, Keyhoe had little contact with ufology as he settled into retirement. (He did, however, speak at a few UFO conferences after his ouster from NICAP). He joined MUFON's board of directors in 1981, but his membership was essentially in name only due to declining health, and he had little to do with the organization. MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network, headquartered in Colorado, is the oldest and largest UFO investigative organization in the United States. ...

Several of Keyhoe's books are now in the public domain and are available online. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

Books

• Flying with Lindbergh, 2003 (reprint), Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 0766142949
• The Flying Saucers Are Real, 2006 (reprint), Cosimo Classics, ISBN 1596058773
• Flying Saucers From Outer Space, 1953, Henry Holt and Company, NY
• The Flying Saucer Conspiracy, 1955, Henry Holt and Company, NY
• Flying Saucers: Top Secret, 1960, G.P. Putnam & Sons, ASIN B000EB427C
• Aliens From Space: The Real Story of Unidentified Flying Objects, 1973, Signet Press, ASIN B000HYOMMG

References

Jerome Clark (1946 - ) is an American researcher and writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other anomalous phenomena; he is also a songwriter of some note. ... Jerome Clark (1946 - ) is an American researcher and writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other anomalous phenomena; he is also a songwriter of some note. ...

Selected bibliography

• The Flying Saucers Are Real (1950)
• Flying Saucers from Outer Space (1953)
• Flying Saucer Conspiracy (1955)
• Flying Saucers: Top Secret (1960)
• Aliens From Space (1973)

Cover of original paperback Donald Keyhoe, in The Flying Saucers Are Real (©1950) investigates numerous encounters between USAF fighters, personnel, and other aircraft, and UFOs between 1947 and 1950. ... Flying Saucers from Outer Space is a 1953 science fiction novel by Donald Keyhoe, about an invasion of Earth from space by aliens in flying saucers. ... Aliens From Space is a (1973) book by Donald Keyhoe that presents alleged evidence that the United States Air Force had secretly engaged in over 3,000 aerial sorties against alien spacecraft. ...

See also

• Condon Report

see Condon Committee ...

External links

• Donald E. Keyhoe Archives
• Works by Donald Keyhoe at Project Gutenberg
• The Flying Saucers are Real by Donald Keyhoe (free ebook.)

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Involvement	Category:Counter-intelligence · Culture · Government Personnel · Government Responses · Organizations · Religions · Ufologist