Martin Marietta engineer's papers (1965)

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Contents 7
Martin Marietta engineer's papers (1965)
Dr. J. Allen Hynek (left) and Dr. Jacques Vallée (right).
Dr. J. Allen Hynek (left) and Dr. Jacques Vallée (right). Photo: United States Government · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Date17 May 1965
PeopleJacques Vallée, J. Allen Hynek
TestimonyShellenberger testimony, p. 67
Year1965 in UFO history
Timeline1965 on the UAP Timeline
Sources6

According to Jacques Vallée's journals, on 17 May 1965 an engineer from the aerospace company Martin Marietta visited him and became upset when someone present saw papers the engineer was not supposed to show. Vallée noted rumours that many aerospace companies were running their own secret UFO studies.[1]

The follow-up

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

On 23 July 1966 Vallée recorded that the observatory where he worked had received a letter from the same secretive engineer asking for its "twenty best cases", a request recently made by a mysterious group of scientists from Wright Field. Vallée wondered whether the man worked for an intelligence agency or for the secret study McDonnell Douglas was rumoured to be starting.[1]

Context

Jacques Vallée 2024
Jacques Vallée 2024 Photo: Cmichel67 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Vallée then worked with J. Allen Hynek at Northwestern University's Dearborn Observatory. Other journal entries describe interest in UFOs at McDonnell Douglas, where engineer Robert Wood later ran a company-funded study, and at Douglas Aircraft in the 1950s.[1][2]

Assessment

Illustration of official papers and files
Illustration: official papers and files. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

The engineer is not named, and no Martin Marietta document about a UFO study has surfaced.[1]

People and topics

Illustration of an open book about flying saucers
Illustration: an open book about flying saucers. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.
  • Jacques Vallée — Computer scientist and astronomer, author of the Forbidden Science journals and a central figure in UFO research.
  • Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
  • 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.
  • Forbidden Science — Jacques Vallée's published journals.
  • McDonnell Douglas — The aerospace company that ran several quiet studies of UFOs and propulsion.

On the Timeline

Illustration of a military base at night
Illustration: a military base at night. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

See every 1965 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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