Alfred Loedding

Alfred Loedding (ca. 1907-?) was an American aeronautical engineer and a pioneering UFO investigator for the U.S. Air Force. A 1930 graduate of the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aeronautics, he worked at Bellanca Aircraft until 1938, then as a civilian engineer at Wright Field, specializing in low-aspect-ratio designs like flying wings and disks, for which he held a 1948 patent. Amid the 1947 flying saucer wave, his expertise made him a key liaison on early UFO reports. From 1948-1949, he served on Project Sign, investigating cases like the Chiles-Whitted incident and interviewing witnesses. Loedding authored the 'Estimate of the Situation,' concluding UFOs might represent extraterrestrial visitation, though rejected amid panic fears. Described as part of the most talented early UFO team, he later speculated disks could be 'space animals.' No major publications beyond internal reports; a 1978 book details his story.