Allan Hendry (born 1950) is an American astronomer and ufologist. UFO historian Jerome Clark calls him "one of the most skilled investigators in the history of UFO research."[1] He was the main investigator for the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) in the 1970s.
Hendry was hired for CUFOS by the organization's founder, J. Allen Hynek, who was seeking a full-time investigator with scientific expertise and an open-minded attitude, and who was neither a debunker nor a "UFO believer".
As the chief investigator for CUFOS during most of the 1970s, Hendry personally investigated over 1000 UFO reports. He was able to find mundane explanations for the vast majority of UFO cases, but he also judged a small percentage of cases to be unexplained. One of the most famous "unexplained" cases he investigated was the Val Johnson Incident in 1979, in which a deputy sheriff in Minnesota experienced a "collision" with an unknown object which damaged his patrol car and left him temporarily unconscious. Hendry was the primary ufologist to investigate the case; in 1980 he debated the incident with well-known UFO debunker Philip Klass at a symposium held at the Smithsonian Institution.
He was reluctant to speculate as to origins of the unexplained cases, and argued they might be explainable with further data, leading some researchers to label Hendry a "closet skeptic".[1] At the same time, a few noted skeptics and debunkers who had praised Hendry's scientific rigor subjected him to strong criticism for his conclusion that a handful of well-documented UFO reports seemed to defy analysis, and might represent genuine anomalies. Hendry suggested that the criticism from both camps were little more than ad hominem attacks, since they typically paid little or no attention to the substance of his research.
The UFO Handbookedit
Hendry's magnum opus was The UFO Handbook,[2] a guide for other UFO investigators. In the book, Hendry castigates many mainstream scientists for what he sees as their neglecting UFO studies, but he also had strong criticism for many amateur UFO investigators, who he thought did the subject more harm than good. Clark characterized Hendry's appraisal of ufology in general as "deeply pessimistic", concluding that the subject was all but paralyzed by infighting, a lack of cooperation and standardization, and dubious claims. The UFO Handbook even earned the praise of arch-skeptic Philip J. Klass, who in a review published in The Skeptical Inquirer described the book as "one of the most significant and useful books on the subject ever published."[3] In an undated PBS interview (sometime after 1994, based on publication dates of a few cited books), Klass again recommends Hendry's book, calling it "Once [sic] of the best."[4]
In a 1978 presentation at Walsh College, Hendry said "Maybe I'm the most skeptical of the people at the center. I'm in this thing to get an answer to the UFO question, whatever it is. If it's sociological, fine. If it's extra-terrestial [sic], fine. But I know there's no blanket explanation at this time. I've never seen a UFO and that's probably a good thing, because people might question my motives if I were personally involved."[5] His presentation also included information on identifying flying objects.
In the early 1980s CUFOS experienced some financial difficulties, and as a result the organization could no longer afford a full-time researcher. In addition, Hendry had come to the conclusion that the methodologies used to study UFOs were ultimately frustrating, inconclusive and futile. As a result, Hendry left CUFOS and has largely avoided further involvement in UFO studies.
^Hendry, Allan (August 1979). The UFO Handbook: A Guide to Investigating, Evaluating and Reporting UFO Sightings. Doubleday. ISBN978-0-385-14348-6.
^Clark, Jerome. . Archived from the original on February 4, 2012.
^. Ask the Scientists. PBS. Archived from the original on 2012-11-06. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
^Facinelli, Paul (13 October 1978). "UFO man has facts, but no 'explanation'". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
April 15, 2024
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This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Allan Hendry news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s notability guideline for biographies Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Allan Hendry news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Allan Hendry born 1950 is an American astronomer and ufologist UFO historian Jerome Clark calls him one of the most skilled investigators in the history of UFO research 1 He was the main investigator for the Center for UFO Studies CUFOS in the 1970s Allan HendryBorn1950NationalityAmericanAlma materUniversity of Michigan B AKnown forThe UFO HandbookScientific careerFieldsAstronomy Contents 1 Education and career 2 UFO research 3 The UFO Handbook 4 See also 5 ReferencesEducation and career editHendry earned a B A in astronomy from the University of Michigan in 1972 UFO research editHendry was hired for CUFOS by the organization s founder J Allen Hynek who was seeking a full time investigator with scientific expertise and an open minded attitude and who was neither a debunker nor a UFO believer As the chief investigator for CUFOS during most of the 1970s Hendry personally investigated over 1000 UFO reports He was able to find mundane explanations for the vast majority of UFO cases but he also judged a small percentage of cases to be unexplained One of the most famous unexplained cases he investigated was the Val Johnson Incident in 1979 in which a deputy sheriff in Minnesota experienced a collision with an unknown object which damaged his patrol car and left him temporarily unconscious Hendry was the primary ufologist to investigate the case in 1980 he debated the incident with well known UFO debunker Philip Klass at a symposium held at the Smithsonian Institution He was reluctant to speculate as to origins of the unexplained cases and argued they might be explainable with further data leading some researchers to label Hendry a closet skeptic 1 At the same time a few noted skeptics and debunkers who had praised Hendry s scientific rigor subjected him to strong criticism for his conclusion that a handful of well documented UFO reports seemed to defy analysis and might represent genuine anomalies Hendry suggested that the criticism from both camps were little more than ad hominem attacks since they typically paid little or no attention to the substance of his research The UFO Handbook editHendry s magnum opus was The UFO Handbook 2 a guide for other UFO investigators In the book Hendry castigates many mainstream scientists for what he sees as their neglecting UFO studies but he also had strong criticism for many amateur UFO investigators who he thought did the subject more harm than good Clark characterized Hendry s appraisal of ufology in general as deeply pessimistic concluding that the subject was all but paralyzed by infighting a lack of cooperation and standardization and dubious claims The UFO Handbook even earned the praise of arch skeptic Philip J Klass who in a review published in The Skeptical Inquirer described the book as one of the most significant and useful books on the subject ever published 3 In an undated PBS interview sometime after 1994 based on publication dates of a few cited books Klass again recommends Hendry s book calling it Once sic of the best 4 In a 1978 presentation at Walsh College Hendry said Maybe I m the most skeptical of the people at the center I m in this thing to get an answer to the UFO question whatever it is If it s sociological fine If it s extra terrestial sic fine But I know there s no blanket explanation at this time I ve never seen a UFO and that s probably a good thing because people might question my motives if I were personally involved 5 His presentation also included information on identifying flying objects In the early 1980s CUFOS experienced some financial difficulties and as a result the organization could no longer afford a full time researcher In addition Hendry had come to the conclusion that the methodologies used to study UFOs were ultimately frustrating inconclusive and futile As a result Hendry left CUFOS and has largely avoided further involvement in UFO studies See also editIdentified flying objectReferences edit a b Clark Jerome 1998 The UFO Encyclopedia Vol 1 A K 2nd ed Omnigraphics Inc ISBN 0 7808 0097 4 page 481 Hendry Allan August 1979 The UFO Handbook A Guide to Investigating Evaluating and Reporting UFO Sightings Doubleday ISBN 978 0 385 14348 6 Clark Jerome Phil Klass vs The UFO Promoters Archived from the original on February 4 2012 Philip Klass Q amp A Ask the Scientists PBS Archived from the original on 2012 11 06 Retrieved 2017 08 24 Facinelli Paul 13 October 1978 UFO man has facts but no explanation Akron Beacon Journal Retrieved 16 November 2018 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Allan Hendry amp oldid 1170993717, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
