Allan Hendry
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person
Contents 5
| Type | Person |
|---|
Allan Hendry (born 1950) is an American ufologist who was the chief investigator for J. Allen Hynek's Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) in the late 1970s. His 1979 book The UFO Handbook showed how most UFO reports turn out to have ordinary explanations, and it was praised by both UFO researchers and skeptics.[1][2]
Background
Hendry studied astronomy at the University of Michigan, graduating in 1972. Philip J. Klass describes it as a minor subject.[1][2] He became interested in UFOs in 1972 after meeting Hynek. He wrote material on UFOs for him and proposed a newsletter for CUFOS. In 1976 Hynek hired him to edit that newsletter, the International UFO Reporter, and to serve as chief investigator; Hendry gave up work as a commercial artist to take the job.[2] Hynek was looking for a full-time investigator with scientific training who was neither a debunker nor a believer.[1]
Investigations
.png)
Over about 15 months, from mid-1976 to late 1977, Hendry personally investigated 1,307 UFO reports. He found ordinary explanations, such as weather balloons, hot-air balloons and meteor fireballs, for all but 8.6 percent of them.[2] His share of unexplained cases fell as he gained experience, to about 5 percent in early 1978.[2] He wrote that eyewitness descriptions could be badly distorted by the emotional climate around UFOs, and that some puzzling reports were solved only by luck.[2] Among the cases he judged unexplained was the 1979 Val Johnson incident in Minnesota. He debated that case with Klass at a 1980 symposium at the Smithsonian Institution.[1]
The UFO Handbook
The UFO Handbook: A Guide to Investigating, Evaluating and Reporting UFO Sightings was published by Doubleday in 1979 with a foreword by Hynek.[2] Hynek wrote that Hendry had challenged some of the instinctive conclusions of experienced investigators, including his own.[2] The book criticised mainstream scientists for neglecting UFOs, but it was also harsh on amateur investigators. UFO historian Jerome Clark called its view of the field deeply pessimistic.[1]
Klass, reviewing it in the Skeptical Inquirer, called it one of the most significant and useful books on the subject ever published, and especially valuable to would-be investigators.[2] Clark has called Hendry one of the most skilled investigators in the history of UFO research.[1] Some UFO researchers called him a "closet skeptic", while some skeptics criticised him for concluding that a few cases might be genuine anomalies. Hendry said both kinds of criticism ignored the substance of his work.[1]
Departure
In the early 1980s CUFOS could no longer afford a full-time investigator. Hendry had also concluded that the methods used to study UFOs were frustrating and inconclusive. He left CUFOS and has largely stayed out of UFO research since.[1]
References
- Allan Hendry — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Philip J. Klass, review of The UFO Handbook, Skeptical Inquirer vol. 4 no. 2 (Winter 1979–80) · centerforinquiry.s3.amazonaws.com · archived copy
This page was last edited on 31 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.
No discussion yet.