James E. McDonald

Atmospheric Physicist

Atmospheric physicist who argued that a small percentage of UFO reports represented unexplained scientific phenomena deserving serious investigation. James E. McDonald (1920–1971) was an American atmospheric physicist and meteorologist at the University of Arizona, renowned for his research in cloud physics and weather modification through cloud seeding. He served as an associate director at the Institute for Atmospheric Physics and was a respected member of the National Academy of Sciences panel on weather and climate modification. McDonald is also a pivotal figure in ufology, having campaigned in the 1960s to expand scientific scrutiny of UFOs and promoting the extraterrestrial hypothesis as a plausible explanation. He critically analyzed Project Blue Book files, testified before Congress in 1968, and wrote detailed rebuttals to the Condon Committee report, arguing that the scientific community had ignored extraordinary phenomena