William Tompkins
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person
Contents 4
| Type | Person |
|---|---|
| Also known as | William Mills Tompkins, Tompkins |
| On the Timeline | 3 events, 1955 |
William Tompkins (1923–2017) was an American aerospace engineer and draftsman who worked for Douglas Aircraft from the 1950s and later for TRW and other companies on missiles and space programs.
Claims
In his 2015 book Selected by Extraterrestrials, published when he was over 90, Tompkins claimed that during World War II he worked for a Navy intelligence effort that debriefed spies returning from Nazi Germany with information about German flying saucers and alien contact. He said Douglas Aircraft later ran a secret "think tank" designing huge spacecraft for a Navy space fleet, and that "Nordic" aliens worked inside the company.
Assessment
Tompkins's Navy service and aerospace career are documented, but there is no evidence for his claims about alien contact and secret space fleets. His story became central to the "secret space program" movement.
On the UAP Timeline

- Douglas Aircraft unconventional propulsion study (1955) — An aerospace executive claims he worked in a UAP group at Douglas Aircraft from 1955.
- William Tompkins and the Douglas documents (1 March 1955) — Documents from engineer William Tompkins suggest Douglas studied unconventional propulsion.
- Tompkins's secret space program claims (1 March 1955) — Tompkins also describes alleged secret underground bases tied to a hidden space program.
References
- Documents from the 1955 Douglas propulsion study — UFOs Scientific Research · ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com · archived copy
- Wolfgang Klemperer — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Aerospace industry interest in saucers — Sign Historical Group · project1947.com · archived copy
- Tompkins collection file — Anomaly Archives · anomalyarchives.org · archived copy
- Tompkins's Douglas documents — Biblioteca Pleyades · bibliotecapleyades.net · 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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