Walter N. Webb

Walter N. Webb (born 1934) is an American astronomer and pioneering UFO investigator. A graduate in Biology from Mount Union College (1954), he worked under J. Allen Hynek in the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Satellite Tracking Program (1957-1958). He spent 32 years at Boston's Charles Hayden Planetarium as senior lecturer, assistant director, and operations manager until retirement. Webb headed the Massachusetts NICAP Unit #1, served as astronomy consultant to UFO groups, and was a member of MUFON and CUFOS. A UFO witness in 1951, he was the first investigator of the 1961 Betty and Barney Hill abduction case for NICAP. He meticulously investigated the 1968 Buff Ledge dual-witness abduction, documented in his 1994 book 'Encounter at Buff Ledge: A UFO Case History' (CUFOS). In 1994, CUFOS named him its first Senior Research Associate; by 1995, he was chief consultant for a U.S. UFO coalition, leading rapid-response investigations. Webb concluded that core UFO reports suggest extraterrestrial origins.