French scientist Mr. L at Wright-Patterson

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Contents 5
French scientist Mr. L at Wright-Patterson
US National Park Service marker for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
US National Park Service marker for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Photo: Pi3.124 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Date1959
TopicsBeings & bodies (topic), Bases & Area 51 (topic)
PeopleLeonard Stringfield, J. Allen Hynek
TestimonyShellenberger testimony, p. 62
Year1959 in UFO history
Timeline1959 on the UAP Timeline
Sources6

French scientist Mr. L at Wright-Patterson — A French scientist claims he was asked to work at Wright-Patterson on recovered material.

"Mr. L" is one of Leonard Stringfield's anonymous sources: a French scientist who reportedly said that in 1959 he was invited to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for three months to work on recovered material of unusual origin. His identity was never revealed and his account hasn't been confirmed.

The story appeared in Stringfield's crash-retrieval papers from 1978. The testimony also cites correspondence from Project Blue Book's science consultant J. Allen Hynek, held in the Blue Book files, as related background, though it doesn't name Mr. L.

Foreign scientists did occasionally work on U.S. defence research in the Cold War, and Wright-Patterson housed laboratories that analysed foreign materials and technology. But no record shows a French scientist studying crash debris there. The account remains a single, unnamed claim.

In the testimony

The 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio received its first C-17 Globemaster III Jan. 21,2010. The aircraft is on loan from…
The 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio received its first C-17 Globemaster III Jan. 21,2010. The aircraft is on loan from… Photo: United States Air Force · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

The testimony cites: Retrievals of the Third Kind presented at MUFON 1978, Leon Stringfield, p165.

People and topics

USGS digital orthophoto of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio
USGS digital orthophoto of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio Photo: United States Geological Survey (USGS) · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
  • Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — The Ohio air base that housed Project Blue Book and is linked to the Hangar 18 legend.
  • Leonard Stringfield — Former Air Force intelligence officer and NICAP researcher who collected anonymous crash-retrieval accounts from 1978 to 1994.
  • Crash retrieval — The alleged recovery of crashed non-human craft by governments.
  • Project Blue Book — The Air Force's public UFO investigation from 1952 until its closure in December 1969.
  • J. Allen Hynek — Astronomer and Air Force UFO consultant from 1948 to 1969 who later founded the Center for UFO Studies.

On the Timeline

Illustration of a jet meeting an unknown object
Illustration: a jet meeting an unknown object. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

See every 1959 event on the UAP Timeline →

References

Further reading

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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