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Book Reviews
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Firestorm:
Dr. James E. McDonald's Fight for UFO Science
by Ann Druffel (Brian Crissy editor)
(Paperback. Wildflower Press. 2003)
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Ann Druffel’s monumental (609-page) biography, FIRESTORM, relates the story of James McDonald, preeminent atmospheric physicist at the University of Arizona, and the first prominent scientist to suggest that UFOs could be from an extra-terrestrial source.
The title of the book comes from McDonald’s role in forwarding a leaked memo (suggesting that a government cover-up was in play) from the Condon Committee (a government investigative body focused on UFOs) to the press (Look magazine). This set off a firestorm of accusations by Condon against McDonald and led to repercussions throughout the scientific community. Ms. Druffel masterfully develops this constellation of characters and the period of history in which it is placed.
The book provides some important historical reminders that public reports of UFOs by military personnel in the 1950s could lead to imprisonment and fine and that there were active government protocols for ridiculing members of the public who had UFO sightings.
Elsewhere in the text, FIRESTORM describes McDonald’s outrage at Dr. J. Allen Hynek whom he felt thwarted the scientific study of UFOlogy. Hynek withheld important UFO-related documents from the public and scientific community and Hynek’s initial dismissal of the ET hypothesis led to a general chilling of scientific research. (Dr. Hynek later turned around and supported the ET hypothesis.)
Some description of NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon) in FIRESTORM may be off-point to the biography but is none-the-less interesting and informative of government play in UFO organizations.
I find I was most drawn to Ms. Druffel’s descriptions, sprinkled throughout the text, of what I call "the type," by which I mean those characteristics I find so often in UFO researchers. She describes how, when McDonald "discovered that the question of UFOs was being neglected by science and government alike, his innate sense of fairness was offended. He felt the public had the right to know." We learn of his sincere, dogged and intense style; his appreciation of others interested in UFOs (but also his own inner drive propelling him forward, independent of others); his voracious reading on the subject and large collection of UFO files. We also learn of his humanity in general — his interest in civil rights, the Viet Nam War and environmental activism. (McDonald may have been decades ahead of his time, not only in the area of UFOs, but also in his warning of the depletion of the ozone layer).
McDonald died tragically by his own hand, (conspiracy theorists may relax, evidence from the book largely suggests that it was not foul play) but FIRESTORM reveals that he played a critical role at the highest levels of academic science and government in establishing a second scientific opinion in regard to the UFO enigma.
FIRESTORM should appeal to both UFO-skeptic and -believer alike, and I found it a compulsive read that I did not want to end. Ms. Druffel has made an immense contribution to UFOlogy, and I only hope she may find time to explore some of the other characters, both military and civilian, involved in UFOs in this time period.
Paul Kirsch lives and works in Santa Barbara.
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