1972 in UFO history
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 📅 Year
Contents 5
| Year | 1972 |
|---|---|
| Events | 5 |
| Decade | 1970s |
| Topics | Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Government programs (topic), Congress & law (topic), Propulsion & physics (topic) |
| Timeline | 1972 on the UAP Timeline |
1972 in UFO history — the UAP Timeline records 5 events in 1972, mostly about secrecy & cover-up and government programs. People named in these events include Harold Puthoff, Jacques Vallée, J. Allen Hynek, Franklin Mead, Ingo Swann.
Overview
In 1972 J. Allen Hynek, the astronomer who had been the Air Force's scientific adviser on UFOs, published The UFO Experience. Hynek pioneered the "close encounter" classification system.[1] The timeline reports that in the May 1972 book he wrote that Blue Book had been a "cover up" and that the problem had been "glossed over." He said he had felt his hands were tied and suspected Blue Book was a front for a more classified investigation.[2][3] See Hynek's The UFO Experience.
The same year saw the start of U.S. government-funded psychic research. In June artist and psychic Ingo Swann met physicist Harold Puthoff at the Stanford Research Institute and took part in a magnetometer experiment. Three months later, according to the timeline, the CIA gave SRI a $50,000 contract.[3] Puthoff and Russell Targ are credited with coining the term "remote viewing," which Swann had suggested in December 1971. Government interest in the work later grew into the Stargate Project.[4]
The timeline's other 1972 entries concern secret studies. In June an Air Force report on Project Outgrowth, edited by Franklin Mead at the Rocket Propulsion Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base, devoted a chapter to antigravity.[3] On 7 October Puthoff told Jacques Vallée that a former NSA colleague had said a "fresh study" of UFOs was secretly under way.[3] On 28 October NSA official Howell McConnell told Vallée he had heard that an office at Wright-Patterson kept secretly analysing UFOs after Blue Book ended and confiscated evidence.[3]
Events
- Hynek's The UFO Experience (May 1972) — Blue Book adviser J. Allen Hynek writes that Blue Book was a cover-up and the problem was glossed over.
- Project Outgrowth (June 1972) — An Air Force propulsion lab report, Project Outgrowth, examines advanced propulsion ideas.
- Ingo Swann's magnetometer test (1972) (June 1972) — Ingo Swann's remote-viewing test with SRI leads to a CIA contract months later.
- Puthoff's report of a new secret study (1972) (7 October 1972) — Hal Puthoff tells Vallée a former NSA colleague said a new secret UAP study was underway.
- Howell McConnell and post-Blue Book analysis (28 October 1972) — An NSA official tells Vallée a Wright-Patterson office kept secretly analyzing UAP after Blue Book.
People
- Harold Puthoff — Physicist who co-founded the SRI remote-viewing research and later worked on AAWSAP and To The Stars Academy.
- Jacques Vallée — Computer scientist and astronomer, author of the Forbidden Science journals and a central figure in UFO research.
- J. Allen Hynek — Astronomer and Air Force UFO consultant from 1948 to 1969 who later founded the Center for UFO Studies.
- Franklin Mead — Air Force propulsion engineer who edited Project Outgrowth and commissioned advanced propulsion studies.
- Ingo Swann — Artist and psychic whose tests at SRI led to the government's remote-viewing program.
- Pat Price — Remote viewer at SRI who described four alleged alien bases in 1973.
- Howell McConnell — NSA official who told Jacques Vallée of continued UFO analysis at Wright-Patterson.
Nearby years
1971 in UFO history · 1973 in UFO history
References
- Interdimensional hypothesis — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- UAP timeline published with Michael Shellenberger's 2024 congressional testimony, entry for May 1972 · oversight.house.gov
- UAP timeline (Shellenberger testimony), entries for May (continued) to 28 October 1972 · oversight.house.gov
- Remote viewing — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
Facts in this article are drawn in part from the Wikipedia articles “Interdimensional hypothesis”, “Remote viewing”, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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