Cisco Grove Incident -- J. Allen Hynek and the CE Classification System
Cisco Grove Incident -- J. Allen Hynek and the CE Classification System
J. Allen Hynek
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Josef Allen Hynek |
| Born | May 1, 1910; Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | April 27, 1986; Scottsdale, Arizona; age 75 |
| Education | Ph.D. in astrophysics, University of Chicago (1935) |
| Academic positions | Chair of the astronomy department, Northwestern University (1956-1960; 1965-1973); Ohio State University earlier |
| Air Force role | Scientific consultant to Project Sign (1948), Project Grudge (1949-1952), and Project Blue Book (1952-1969); his assignment was to provide scientific evaluation of UFO reports |
| Key publications | The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry (1972); The Hynek UFO Report (1977); co-founder of the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS, 1973) |
| Evolution | Initially a skeptic who provided conventional explanations for many Blue Book cases; over his tenure became increasingly convinced that a genuine phenomenon was being inadequately investigated; by the 1970s he was the leading credentialed scientific advocate for serious UFO research |
| Close Encounter classification | Developed the close encounter classification system, most fully described in The UFO Experience (1972); the phrase "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was popularized by Steven Spielberg's 1977 film of that name |
The Close Encounter Classification System
Hynek's classification system categorizes UFO encounters by distance and nature of observation:
- Nocturnal Lights: Anomalous lights observed at night; no daylight sighting
- Daylight Discs: Unusual objects seen during daylight
- Radar Cases: UFOs detected by radar (with or without visual confirmation)
- Close Encounters of the First Kind (CE-1): Close visual observation of a craft with no physical effects
- Close Encounters of the Second Kind (CE-2): Close observation that leaves physical evidence (landing traces, electromagnetic effects, physical effects on witnesses)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (CE-3): Close observation of a craft and associated entities or occupants
The Cisco Grove Case as CE-3
The Cisco Grove Incident is definitively a CE-3: Donald Shrum observed not only the craft but multiple entities (humanoids and robots) associated with it, at close range, over an extended period. The case's specific additional features -- the physical interaction (white vapor, arrow impacts), the 12-hour duration, the secondary aerial corroboration -- make it one of the most extensively documented CE-3 cases of the 1960s.
Hynek's later work, particularly his writing after Blue Book's closure, specifically identified cases of this type -- entity encounters with physically credible witnesses -- as among the most analytically important in the UFO case record, despite being among the most difficult to investigate conventionally.
