Dean McDonald

James E. McDonald (1920-1971) was an American physicist and professor of meteorology at the University of Arizona. A specialist in cloud physics, he became a leading UFO researcher after a 1954 personal sighting in Arizona, joining NICAP and investigating reports from the late 1950s. He criticized Project Blue Book for mishandling evidence and the 1969 Condon Report as superficial, advocating for serious scientific study. Funded by the Office of Naval Research, he examined Blue Book files and spoke at the 1969 AAAS symposium with his influential 'Science in Default' lecture, highlighting unexplained cases. McDonald hypothesized UFOs as extraterrestrial probes, testified before Congress, addressed the UN in 1967, and investigated cases in the US, Australia (1967 Westall), and elsewhere, producing extensive papers, interviews, and an unpublished book outline. His efforts faced opposition from skeptics like Philip Klass and the Air Force. He died by suicide in 1971.