Donald Menzel
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person
Contents 5
| Type | Person |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Donald H. Menzel, Donald Howard Menzel |
Donald Howard Menzel (11 April 1901 – 14 December 1976) was an American astronomer and astrophysicist who directed the Harvard College Observatory and was the most prominent scientific skeptic of UFOs in the 1950s and 1960s.[1]
Scientific career
Menzel worked on the Sun's chromosphere, the chemistry of stars, the atmosphere of Mars and gaseous nebulae. He spent most of his career at Harvard, becoming acting director of the Harvard College Observatory in 1952 and director from 1954 to 1966.[1]
Second World War
During the war Menzel was commissioned as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. He headed an intelligence division whose work included breaking enemy codes, and he also worked with the Navy on how radio waves travel.[1]
UFO skepticism
Menzel wrote three books arguing that UFO reports had ordinary explanations: Flying Saucers (1953), The World of Flying Saucers (1963, with Lyle G. Boyd) and The UFO Enigma (1977, with Ernest H. Taves, published after his death). He argued that haze and temperature inversions could make stars and planets appear to move or change colour, and said that a "flying saucer" he himself saw in 1955 was a mirage of the star Sirius. In 1968 he told the House Committee on Science and Astronautics that all UFO sightings have natural explanations.[1]
Majestic 12
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In the 1980s, the disputed "Majestic 12" documents listed Menzel among twelve "designated members" of a supposed secret group set up to study a crashed saucer. The documents are widely regarded as fakes.[2]
References
- Donald Howard Menzel — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Majestic 12 — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · 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.
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