Spiky, beeping Sputnik took the world by storm in late 1957 when Soviet rockets flung it into orbit during the global science collaboration called the International Geo-physical Year (IGY). Humanity looked to the skies with awe and doubt as U.S. and Soviet space programs launched a handful of satellites during the 18-month IGY. Back on […]

Part 2In his 1972 book, “The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry,” Dr. J. Allen Hynek introduced two divisions of UFO reports: those seen from a distance and those seen close-up – his now-famous Close Encounters classification system. Reports from a distance include UFOs seen at night (“Nocturnal Lights”), during the day (“Daylight Discs”) and on […]

Northwestern University has long held the open secret that one of its most popular astronomy professors was also a world renowned seeker of … unidentified flying objects. That’s right: UFOs. Space ships. Flying saucers.  Extraterrestrials. Little green men. Evanston’s own Big Ten school had perhaps the first “ufologist” on staff, or at least the first […]

One thing astronomer Mike Seeds remembers about the winter of 1957-58 in Danville, Ill. It was cold. He and some fellow astronomy club members spent much of that winter outside, watching for satellites that were scheduled to launch during the International Geophysical Year (IGY).  And this could be done only at night, when everyone else […]