Curtis Peebles: Difference between revisions
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A native of [[San Diego, California]], Peebles developed an enthusiastic interest in airplanes, rockets, and America's space program as a teenager.<ref>(https://history.nasa.gov/nltr31-3.pdf)</ref> In 1985, he graduated from [[California State University, Long Beach]] with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] in history.<ref>(https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)</ref> |
A native of [[San Diego, California]], Peebles developed an enthusiastic interest in airplanes, rockets, and America's space program as a teenager.<ref>(https://history.nasa.gov/nltr31-3.pdf)</ref> In 1985, he graduated from [[California State University, Long Beach]] with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] in history.<ref>(https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)</ref> |
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Peebles was probably best known as a leading [[skeptic]] of [[UFO]] sightings and incidents, and he was interviewed for several television documentaries dealing with UFOs. He appeared in the [[A&E Network]]'s 1997 documentary "''Where Are All the UFOs?''", and on the [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]] documentaries "''Unsolved History: Area 51''" |
Peebles was probably best known as a leading [[skeptic]] of [[UFO]] sightings and incidents, and he was interviewed for several television documentaries dealing with UFOs. He appeared in the [[A&E Network]]'s 1997 documentary "''Where Are All the UFOs?''", on the syndicated series ''UFO Diaries'', and on the [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]] documentaries "''Unsolved History: Area 51''", "''Roswell: The Final Declassification''", and ''[[History's Mysteries]].'' In his 1994 book ''Watch the Skies!'', a critical history of the UFO phenomenon, Peebles wrote that: "I am a skeptic. I believe [[flying saucer]] reports are misinterpretations of conventional objects, phenomena, and experiences. I do not believe the evidence indicates the [[Earth]] is under massive surveillance by disk-shaped alien spaceships." However, Peebles added that "these [UFO] conclusions are those of the author; readers [of this book] are encouraged to make up their own minds." ''[[Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries]]'' wrote in its review of ''Watch the Skies!'' that "this chronicle of the flying saucer myth is well written and provides fair balance to a very controversial topic," while ''[[Library Journal]]'' wrote that "Peebles has compiled a splendid history of this modern myth...He gives a history of practically every major UFO case since 1947, along with a discussion of the investigation and the probable correct explanation."<ref>(https://www.buffalolib.org/vufind/Record/795606/Reviews)</ref> |
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In addition to his UFO research, Peebles also wrote a dozen books and over 40 magazine articles dealing with a variety of aerial phenomena and aerospace history.<ref>(https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)</ref> His articles were published in such periodicals as ''[[Spaceflight (magazine)|Spaceflight]]'' and ''Space Education Magazine.''<ref>(https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)</ref> Among his books were ''The Corona Project: America's First Spy Satellites'', ''Dark Eagles: A History of Top Secret U.S. Aircraft Programs'', ''From Runway to Orbit: Recollections of a NASA Engineer'', and a series of oral histories from flight personnel at NASA's [[Armstrong Flight Research Center]]. His final book, ''Probing the Sky: Selected NACA Research Airplanes and Their Contributions to Flight'', was published in 2014.<ref>(https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)</ref> He worked as an aerospace historian for the Smithsonian Institution in the 1990s, and from 2000 to 2013 he was a researcher and aerospace historian for the Dryden Flight Research Center (today the Armstrong Flight Research Center). He was a Fellow of the [[British Interplanetary Society]], and a member of the Flight Test Historical Foundation.<ref>(https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)</ref> |
In addition to his UFO research, Peebles also wrote a dozen books and over 40 magazine articles dealing with a variety of aerial phenomena and aerospace history.<ref>(https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)</ref> His articles were published in such periodicals as ''[[Spaceflight (magazine)|Spaceflight]]'' and ''Space Education Magazine.''<ref>(https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)</ref> Among his books were ''The Corona Project: America's First Spy Satellites'', ''Dark Eagles: A History of Top Secret U.S. Aircraft Programs'', ''From Runway to Orbit: Recollections of a NASA Engineer'', and a series of oral histories from flight personnel at NASA's [[Armstrong Flight Research Center]]. His final book, ''Probing the Sky: Selected NACA Research Airplanes and Their Contributions to Flight'', was published in 2014.<ref>(https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)</ref> He worked as an aerospace historian for the Smithsonian Institution in the 1990s, and from 2000 to 2013 he was a researcher and aerospace historian for the Dryden Flight Research Center (today the Armstrong Flight Research Center). He was a Fellow of the [[British Interplanetary Society]], and a member of the Flight Test Historical Foundation.<ref>(https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)</ref> |
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Revision as of 16:59, 9 June 2018
Curtis Peebles (May 4, 1955 - June 25, 2017) was an aerospace historian for the Smithsonian Institution, a researcher and historian for the Dryden Flight Research Center, and the author of several books dealing with aviation and aerial phenomena.[1]
A native of San Diego, California, Peebles developed an enthusiastic interest in airplanes, rockets, and America's space program as a teenager.[2] In 1985, he graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a Bachelor of Arts in history.[3]
Peebles was probably best known as a leading skeptic of UFO sightings and incidents, and he was interviewed for several television documentaries dealing with UFOs. He appeared in the A&E Network's 1997 documentary "Where Are All the UFOs?", on the syndicated series UFO Diaries, and on the History Channel documentaries "Unsolved History: Area 51", "Roswell: The Final Declassification", and History's Mysteries. In his 1994 book Watch the Skies!, a critical history of the UFO phenomenon, Peebles wrote that: "I am a skeptic. I believe flying saucer reports are misinterpretations of conventional objects, phenomena, and experiences. I do not believe the evidence indicates the Earth is under massive surveillance by disk-shaped alien spaceships." However, Peebles added that "these [UFO] conclusions are those of the author; readers [of this book] are encouraged to make up their own minds." Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries wrote in its review of Watch the Skies! that "this chronicle of the flying saucer myth is well written and provides fair balance to a very controversial topic," while Library Journal wrote that "Peebles has compiled a splendid history of this modern myth...He gives a history of practically every major UFO case since 1947, along with a discussion of the investigation and the probable correct explanation."[4]
In addition to his UFO research, Peebles also wrote a dozen books and over 40 magazine articles dealing with a variety of aerial phenomena and aerospace history.[5] His articles were published in such periodicals as Spaceflight and Space Education Magazine.[6] Among his books were The Corona Project: America's First Spy Satellites, Dark Eagles: A History of Top Secret U.S. Aircraft Programs, From Runway to Orbit: Recollections of a NASA Engineer, and a series of oral histories from flight personnel at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center. His final book, Probing the Sky: Selected NACA Research Airplanes and Their Contributions to Flight, was published in 2014.[7] He worked as an aerospace historian for the Smithsonian Institution in the 1990s, and from 2000 to 2013 he was a researcher and aerospace historian for the Dryden Flight Research Center (today the Armstrong Flight Research Center). He was a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society, and a member of the Flight Test Historical Foundation.[8]
In August 2013, Peebles was diagnosed with irreversible memory loss.[9] He died on June 25, 2017 at the age of 62.[10]
Books by Peebles
- Watch the Skies! A Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth, 1994. Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1-56098-343-4
- Asteroids: a History, 2001, Smithsonian Institution Press, ISBN 1-56098-982-3 (or 2000, ISBN 1-56098-389-2).
- Twilight Warriors: Covert Air Operations Against the USSR, 2005, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 1-59114-660-7
- The Moby Dick Project: Reconnaissance Balloons over Russia, 1991, Smithsonian Books, ISBN 1-56098-025-7
- Dark Eagles: A History of Top Secret U.S. Aircraft Programs, 1997. ISBN 0-89141-623-4
- Shadow Flights ISBN 0-89141-700-1
- Guardians: Strategic Reconnaissance Satellites ISBN 0-89141-284-0
- Battle for Space ISBN 0-8253-0160-2
- High Frontier: The U.S. Air Force and the Military Space Program, 1997. ISBN 0-16-048945-8
- The Corona Project: America's First Spy Satellites, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-688-4.
- Flying Without Wings: NASA Lifting Bodies and the Birth of the Space Shuttle (Smithsonian History of Aviation and Spaceflight) (with Milton O. Thompson), 1999 ISBN 0-947554-78-5
References
- ^ (https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)
- ^ (https://history.nasa.gov/nltr31-3.pdf)
- ^ (https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)
- ^ (https://www.buffalolib.org/vufind/Record/795606/Reviews)
- ^ (https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)
- ^ (https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)
- ^ (https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)
- ^ (https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)
- ^ (https://history.nasa.gov/nltr31-3.pdf)
- ^ (https://history.nasa.gov/nltr34-3.pdf)
External links
