Philip J. Klass

Philip Julian Klass (November 8, 1919 - August 9, 2005) was an American aviation electronics engineer turned magazine editor (of Aviation Week & Space Technology) and prominent skeptical Ufologist who initially proposed that UFOs could be plasma or ball lightning, as detailed in his 1968 book UFOs — Identified, before later abandoning this hypothesis in favour of reference to known atmospheric phenomena or simply discrediting them as hoaxes.

Selected Bibliography


Klass was the long-time editor of Aviation Week & Space Technology, serving in that role for thirty-four years (from 1952), and also published the Skeptics UFO Newsletter.

Ufo Curse
From Saucer Smear for 10 Oct. 1983: "THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF PHILIP J. KLASS To ufologists who publicly criticize me ... or who even think unkind thoughts about me in private, I do hereby leave and bequeath: THE UFO CURSE  No matter how long you live, you will never know any more about UFOs than you know today. You will never know any more about what UFOs really are, or where they come from. You will never know any more about what the U.S. Government really knows about UFOs than you know today. As you lie on your own death-bed you will be as mystified about UFOs as you are today. And you will remember this curse."