Encino, California - Thursday, March 13, 2008

To anyone who studies the Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) phenomenon, the name Dr. J. Allen Hynek is well known. An astrophysicist who worked with Ohio State University, Harvard University, and later Northwestern University, Dr. Hynek was best known for his work as a consultant for the United States military during their study of UFOs.

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Ultimately known as Project Blue Book, the U.S. Air Force began an official investigation into the aerial unknowns in 1947. Their investigation lasted about 22 years, wherein they enlisted the help of Dr. Hynek as a consultant during their study.

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He began as a skeptic, and would find explanations for the thousands of cases the Air Force scrutinized (and later concluded were all explainable). But his beliefs would not last long. Possibly due to the evidence he saw, the bureaucratic red tape, or maybe because of a personal experience, Dr. Hynek changed his stance on UFOs, and would devote his life to exploring the phenomenon.

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He went on to create the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), which still exists today. In November of 1978, Dr. Hynek presented a statement to the United Nations General Assembly in hopes to bring worldwide attention to the topic.

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Around the same time, Dr. Hynek continued his consulting work – but not with the U.S. military. Rather, with Steven Spielberg on Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

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Dr. Hynek’s life, work and dedication to the topic motivated a small, but influential group of scientists to take the topic seriously.

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Dr. Hynek’s life was dedicated not only to the study of UFOs, but to the study of science, and the advancement of what we know about our universe. Much of his career highlights are about his UFO study, but Dr. Hynek also played a massive role in understanding the cosmos.

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As stated in recently declassified papers, Dr. Hynek worked under several contracts with the U.S. military, and authored numerous papers on the study of the universe, the cosmos, and understanding the need for studying it.

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The Black Vault website has released a batch of ten research papers, eight of which are part of Dr. Hynek’s “Fluctuations of Starlight and Skylight” study. Never before released publicly, the documents offer a rare glimpse into the work and studies of Dr. Hynek.

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The following documents have been released, and are available for download

Fluctuations of Starlight and Skylight #1-8

The Need For Basic Sky Studies

Research in Space Science