William Tompkins and the Douglas documents
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 4
| Date | 1 March 1955 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Beings & bodies (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Government programs (topic) |
| People | William Tompkins |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 53 |
| Year | 1955 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1955 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 6 |
William Tompkins and the Douglas documents — Documents from engineer William Tompkins suggest Douglas studied unconventional propulsion.
William Mills Tompkins (1923–2017) worked as a draftsman and engineer at Douglas Aircraft from 1950 and later at other aerospace firms. In his self-published 2015 memoir Selected by Extraterrestrials, he claimed that during the Second World War he had helped the Navy pass on intelligence about German "anti-gravity" craft, and that at Douglas he was part of a secret think tank designing spacecraft for a Navy space program based on alien technology.
To support his story, Tompkins shared some Douglas-era papers about advanced propulsion and space studies, which have been reproduced online. These show that Douglas engineers in the 1950s were studying futuristic concepts, like many aerospace firms in the early space age. In that limited sense they overlap with documented work such as the company's 1954–55 "Unconventional Propulsion Schemes" study.
The documents don't show anything about extraterrestrials. Researchers who have looked at the Douglas study papers note that Tompkins doesn't appear in them, and no independent records support his larger claims. His story became popular in "secret space program" circles in the late 2010s, but it rests on his own late-life recollections.
People and topics
- William Tompkins — Douglas Aircraft draftsman who claimed late in life that he worked on a secret space program.
- McDonnell Douglas — The aerospace company that ran several quiet studies of UFOs and propulsion.
- U.S. Navy — The U.S. naval service, whose pilots reported the UAP encounters revealed in 2017.
- Anti-gravity — The idea of cancelling or controlling gravity for propulsion.
On the Timeline
- Mrs. G and the Wright-Patterson catalogue (1955) — A Wright-Patterson worker reportedly said she catalogued about 1,000 incoming UAP items.
- Tompkins's secret space program claims (1 March 1955) — Tompkins also describes alleged secret underground bases tied to a hidden space program.
See every 1955 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Tompkins collection file — Anomaly Archives · anomalyarchives.org · archived copy
- Tompkins's Douglas documents — Biblioteca Pleyades · bibliotecapleyades.net · archived copy
- bibliotecapleyades.net · bibliotecapleyades.net · archived copy
- bibliotecapleyades.net · bibliotecapleyades.net · archived copy
- bibliotecapleyades.net · bibliotecapleyades.net · archived copy
- bibliotecapleyades.net · bibliotecapleyades.net · archived copy
Further reading
- Operation Paperclip — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
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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