Close Encounters Man

The wildly entertaining and eye-opening biography of J. Allen Hynek, the astronomer who invented the concept of "e,Close Encounters"e, with alien life, inspired Steven Spielbergs blockbuster classic science fiction epic film, and made a nation want to believe in UFOs.In June 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold looked out his cockpit window and saw a group of nine silvery crescents weaving between the peaks of the Cascade Mountains at an estimated 1,200 miles an hour. The media, the military, and the scientific communityled by J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer hired by the Air Forcedebunked this and many other Unidentified Flying Object sightings reported across the country. But after years of denials, Hynek made a shocking pronouncement: UFOs are real.Thirty years after his death, Hyneks agonizing transformation from skepticism to true believer remains one of the great misunderstood stories of science. In this definitive biography, Mark O'Connell reveals for the first time how Hyneks work both as a celebrated astronomer and as the U. S. Air Forces go-to UFO expert for nearly twenty years stretched the boundaries of modern science, laid the groundwork for acceptance of the possibility of UFOs, and was the basis of the hit film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. With unprecedented access to Hyneks personal and professional files, OConnell smashes conventional wisdom to reveal the intriguing man and scientist beneath the legend. Tracing Hyneks career, O'Connell examines Hyneks often-ignored work as a professional astronomer to create a complete portrait of a groundbreaking enthusiast who became an American cult icon and transformed the way we see our world and our universe.