Donald Edward Keyhoe was an American Marine Corps naval aviator, writer of aviation articles and stories in a variety of publications, and tour manager of aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh.
29 Facts About Donald Keyhoe
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Donald Keyhoe eventually returned to active duty, but the injury gave Keyhoe persistent trouble, and, as a result, he resigned from the Marines in 1923.
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Donald Keyhoe then worked for the National Geodetic Survey and US Department of Commerce.
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In 1927, Donald Keyhoe managed a coast-to-coast tour by Charles Lindbergh.
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Donald Keyhoe returned to active duty during World War II in a Naval Aviation Training Division before retiring again at the rank of major.
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Donald Keyhoe wrote a number of air adventure stories for Flying Aces, and other magazines, and created two larger-than-life superheroes in this genre.
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Donald Keyhoe's existence has been perpetuated beyond Keyhoe's stories as a minor member of the Wold Newton universe.
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Donald Keyhoe was a freelancer for Saturday Evening Post, The Nation, and Reader's Digest.
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Donald Keyhoe began to follow the subject with some interest, though he was initially skeptical of any extraordinary answer to the UFO question.
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Donald Keyhoe was told there was nothing to the subject, yet was simultaneously denied access to saucer-related documents.
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Donald Keyhoe's article "Flying Saucers Are Real" appeared in the January 1950 issue of True and caused a sensation.
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Donald Keyhoe argued that the Air Force knew that flying saucers were extraterrestrial, but downplayed the reports to avoid public panic.
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In 1955, Donald Keyhoe authored The Flying Saucer Conspiracy, which pointedly accused elements of United States government of engaging in a conspiracy to cover up knowledge of flying saucers.
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In 1956, Donald Keyhoe cofounded the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena.
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Donald Keyhoe was one of several prominent professional, military or scientific figures on the board of directors, which lent the group a degree of legitimacy many of the other contemporary "flying saucer clubs" sorely lacked.
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Donald Keyhoe replaced him; he was only slightly better at managing NICAP's finances, and the organization often faced financial shortfalls and crises throughout Donald Keyhoe's twelve years as director.
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Donald Keyhoe publicized the so-called "Trick Memo", an embarrassing memorandum written by the Condon Committee coordinator which seemed to suggest that the ostensibly objective and neutral committee had determined to pursue a debunking operation well before even beginning their studies.
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On January 22,1958, Donald Keyhoe appeared on a CBS live television show the Armstrong Circle Theatre to speak on the topic of UFOs.
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Donald Keyhoe charged that a US Congressional committee was evaluating evidence that "will absolutely prove that the UFOs are machines under intelligent control".
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On March 8,1958, Donald Keyhoe appeared on The Mike Wallace Interview on ABC and spoke about flying saucers, contactees and the details of the Armstrong Circle Theatre censorship, which he blamed on the Air Force rather than CBS.
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In 1967, Donald Keyhoe appeared as himself on the May 23 episode of To Tell the Truth, receiving three of four possible votes.
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Donald Keyhoe was portrayed by actor Adam Greydon Reid in an episode of the television series Project Blue Book.
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NICAP's membership plummeted in the late 1960s, and Donald Keyhoe was blamed by critics within NICAP for the organization's decline.
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Additionally, The UFO Investigator, the organization's newsletter, which was edited and published by Donald Keyhoe, gradually moved from being delivered on a reliable monthly basis in the mid-1960s to an increasingly erratic and unreliable delivery schedule, which angered many NICAP subscribers.
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In 1969 Donald Keyhoe turned his focus away from the military and focused on the CIA as the source of the UFO cover up.
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In December 1969, in what was described as a "stormy meeting", the board forced Donald Keyhoe to retire as NICAP chief.
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In 1973, Donald Keyhoe wrote his final book about UFOs, Aliens from Space.
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Beyond this book, Donald Keyhoe had little contact with ufology as he settled into retirement.
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Several of Donald Keyhoe's books are now in the public domain and are available online.