J. Allen Hynek

“I came to a gradual realization that the UFO problem was not as simple as I had first thought.”

“The UFO subject is a sort of cosmic Watergate.”

“Close encounters of the third kind is a contact, a contact with a UFO, a contact with occupants of that UFO.”

“A few good sightings a year can be worth more than hundreds of poor ones.”

“Ridicule is not a part of the scientific method and the public should not be taught that it is.”

“I have begun to feel that there is a tendency in 20th Century science to forget that there will be a 21st Century science.”

“For the first time in my life, I have been stumped.”

“When the long awaited solution to the UFO problem comes, I believe that it will prove to be not merely the next small step in the march of science but a mighty and totally unexpected quantum leap.”

“To me, it seems utterly ridiculous that we should be the only intelligent life in the universe.”

“Each wave of sightings adds to the accumulation of reports which defy analysis by present methods.”

“I had started out as an outright 'debunker,' taking great delight in finding a natural explanation for a reported UFO.”

“We are dealing with a hitherto unrecognized phenomenon.”