Professor Lewis Swift

Professor Lewis Swift (1820-1913) was an American astronomer of Canadian birth, renowned for his discoveries of multiple comets and nebulae. He served as director of the Warner Observatory in Rochester, New York, and later founded the Swift Observatory. While not directly involved in modern UAP/UFO research or military/government UFO programs, Swift documented unusual celestial phenomena in the late 19th century, including a mysterious 'luminous body' observed on July 31, 1879, which moved erratically across the sky, resembling early UFO reports. No notable publications or testimony specifically on UAP exist from him; his work focused on conventional astronomy. Key achievements include discovering 13 comets and contributing to nebular catalogs. He died in 1913, predating organized UFO studies.