James Oberg

UFO Skeptic

Profile

1. UFO Role: CSICOP Fellow and Manned Space Flight Specialist, Oberg counters many claims made concerning UFOs and the US Space Program.
2. Editor's Choice: "In Search Of Gordon Cooper's UFOs". Article on the problems with the Gordon Cooper UFO story. Original research by Oberg. [Previously unpublished.]
3. Contact
   • Mail: Rt 2 Box 350, Dickinson, TX 77539
   • Email: JamesOberg@aol.com
   • FAX/Phone: 713-337-2838
   • Newsgroups: Often monitors alt.paranet.ufo, alt.alien.visitors, sci.space.policy.
4. Biography
   • Born: Nov. 7, 1944, NYC, NY.
   • Occupation: Manned Spaceflight Operations Specialist (Past, Present, and Future)
   • Education: Per personal correspondence.
     • B.A.-- mathematics (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), Ohio Wesleyan University, 1966, departmental honors in math (orbital rendezvous), honors in Russian.
     • M.S. (plus additional Ph.D. coursework), Applied Mathematics (Astrodynamics), Northwestern University, 1969
     • M.S. Computing Sciences (compiler design), University of New Mexico, 1972.
   • Military Service: US Air Force
     • USAF Squadron Officer School
     • Command and Staff College
     • DoD Computer Institute faculty
     • Married: 1969
     • ChildrenTwo sons (b. 1977, 1984).
   • Languages: English, Russian, French. Medium German and Latin.
5. Works
   • Articles: Author over 400 magazine articles on spaceflight.
   • Books: Author of eight books.
     • Uncovering Soviet Disasters, (Random House)
     • Red Star in Orbit, (Random House)
     • Pioneering Space, (McGraw-Hill)
     • Mission to Mars, (New American Library)
   • Upcoming Books
     • Space Age Folklore
     • Russian Secrets
     • Future of the Russian Space Program
     • Climate Engineering on Earth
6. Positions
   • Opposes most claims regarding astronaut UFO sightings.

Topics

1. Avocation: Expert in Russian Space Technology, Operations, History, and Policy.
2. Professional Honors
   • American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
   • National Space Society
   • British Interplanetary Society
   • Clear Lake Council of Technical Societies
   • Russian Academy of Cosmonautics ( Nov 12, 1993)
3. Sample Specialties
   • Space Station Habitability
   • Role of Man-in-Space
   • Technology Transfer Vulnerabilities/Opportunities
   • Space Hardware and Facilities Assessment
   • Accurate Policy Options Analysis
   • Problems of high-tech complex systems control center operations and decision-making
   • International Cooperation & Competition
   • "Lessons Learned" Overviews
   • Russian military/civil aerospace operations, accidents, historical controversies
   • Divergent, Innovative Alternative Approaches to Complex Technical Problems
   • Technological Defenses Against Biosphere Threats ("Planetary Engineering")
4. Recent consultees on Soviet/Russian spaceflight
   • Commercial, Governmental, Organizational
     • NASA -- (Johnson Space Center, NASA Headquarters, Marshall Spaceflight Center and JPL)
     • Rockwell Space Operations Company
     • National Air and Space Museum Fairchild Space Company (Germantown, MD)
     • TRW Corporation (Redondo Beach) Hamilton Standard
     • McDonnell Douglas Space Station Office (Washington, DC)
     • Office of Technology Assessment (OTA)
     • Government Accounting Office (GAO) National Science Foundation
     • U.S. Army Engineering Center (Fort Leonard Wood, MO)
     • Association of Space Explorers
     • United States Information Agency
     • United Nations Outer Space Affairs Division
     • British Interplanetary Society
     • RAND Corporation
     • International Space Hall of Fame (Alamogordo)
     • Space Commerce Corporation (Houston)
     • Sotheby's of New York
     • George Marshall Institute (Washington,DC)
     • Boston Museum of Science
     • Teledyne Brown Engineering (Colorado Springs)
     • U.S. Library of Congress Federal Research Division
     • Science Applications International Corporation (New York City)
     • AT&T Bell Labs (Whippany, NJ)
   • Television
     • ABC News (including Evening News, Nightline, Good Morning America)
     • CBS News( including 60 Minutes, CBS Evening News, Morning News)
     • CNN News (including News, Crossfire)
     • NBC News (including Evening News)
     • PBS NOVA Russian space miniseries "The Russian Right Stuff" (WGBH
   • Radio
     • Voice of America
     • Radio Free Europe
     • Radio Liberty
     • BBC
     • CBC
     • NPR "As It Happens"
   • Print Media:
     • Most major U.S. newspapers, newsmagazines, wire services.