Strange Seeings

Remembering Stanton T Friedman

Remembering Stanton T Friedman

Unfortunately fate has a way of taking much-admired people from us. For me the untimely death of Steve Jobs was a very good example. In ufology the death of the great ufologist and scientist Stanton T Friedman was a huge blow. More than anyone else he had lent some credibility to a subject often placed by the media and the public alongside yetis, bigfoot, seances and ghostly apparitions.

Unlike all other 'supernatural' things ufology has at its core a theoretical possibility of truth. If it is somehow possible to travel faster than light - and some scientists think it might be - then the claims and potential of ufology have to be taken seriously.

Stanton Friedman possessed the knowledge and intelligence to realise this. Unlike so many of his scientific peers he also possessed the bravery to be willing to put his name and reputation behind the serious study of UFOs. His death in 2019, aged 84, dealt a serious blow to ufology.

Stanton gained a BSc in Physics in 1955 and an MSc in Nuclear Physics in 1956. He then worked on nuclear energy programmes for various household companies and the aerospace industry. His classified projects at McDonnel-Douglas included nuclear-powered aircraft, fission and fusion rockets, and small nuclear reactors for spacecraft.

In 1958 Stanton became interested in UFOS and in 1970 began the serious research of UFOs. He wrote many papers and books on the subject. He travelled the world and acquired a reputation as THE UFO expert. He appeared often on television and was unflappable in his enthusiasm for the subject of UFOs and the truthiness of the data he had collected. He testified before the US Congress and the United Nations.

Even such publications as the conservative British newspaper the Daily Telegraph had to admit their respect for his scientific credentials., while dismissing the subject of UFOs.

As a defence industry insider Stanton may have caught the essence of some of the black projects worked on by fellow physicists and McDonnel Douglas itself, which produced prototypes for stealth aircraft. In interviews he hinted that he had learned the inside ways of the military industrial complex. In this world projects and information are compartmentalised so scientists, engineers and workers in one compartment know nothing about the work of the other compartments. That way if someone talks, they can only damage one compartment. However in practice it seems that personnel in these projects do gossip and rumours do consequently spread. If Stanton had heard in the rumour-mill that 'all this talk about UFOs is nonsense' it is difficult to believe that he would have devoted almost five decades of his life to researching and writing abut them. I suspect he heard whispers from his fellow defence-employed physicists that UFOs were anything but nonsense.

In the 1970s Stanton was the first ufologist to investigate the Roswell Incident of 1947, and in the 1990s he was one of the first to declare his belief in the authenticity of many of the leaked 'Majestic 12' documents of a secret US government organisation to investigate UFOs. However as a man of integrity he was quick to point out that some of the 'MJ12' documents were indeed fake.

Integrity was something Stanton possessed in abundance. Perhaps it was this integrity which drove him to question received teachings about UFOs. Whenever new evidence appeared he would be sure to comment on it, and be asked to comment by both mainstream and alternative media outlets.

There is currently no one to replace Stanton Friedman. Dr Steven Greer does a pretty good job as an educated, ex-mainstream advocate for ufology and disclosure, but he does not quite lead ufology in the way Stanton did. We can only hope that someone will step in, as we need a 'lead physicist' to take up the challenge.