Major Donald Keyhoe, USMC Ret.

Source: Richard Hall's website "www.hallrichard.com/keyhoe.htm".  Richard Hall was a long time associate of Keyhoe at NICAP and has also published important works pertaining to the study of UFOs. He assisted my investigation by providing me access to the Donald Keyhoe archives, where I located correspondence between Donald Keyhoe, and Lt. Moncla's mother, Yvonne Beridon Moncla, and Lt. Moncla's brother-in-law, J.D. Koctar.

At the time of the Kinross Incident, Donald Keyhoe was one of the most knowledgeable and well connected of the UFO investigators in the USA. He had recently written a major book on the UFO phenomenom, "The Flying Saucers are Real", and was still immersed in the political battles being fought over USAF policy with respect to how to address the UFO issue with the American public.

Without Donald Keyhoe's focus on the Kinross Incident in his book, "The Flying Saucer Conspiracy", it is likely that only a few people would be acquainted with any of the puzzling circumstances behind the disappearance of Moncla and Wilson in their F-89.

Donald Keyhoe was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, on June 20, 1897. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland where he graduated with a B.S. degree in 1920 and earned a sommission as 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He became a naval aviator, flying balloons and airplanes. Keyhoe commanded a flight of seaplanes supplying the U.S. base in Guam, where he crashed during a night flight. He retired from active duty and began a freelance writing career.

He worked as editor of the Coast and Geodetic Survey publications. Keyhoe managed Floyd Bennett's national tour after he flew over the North Pole on May 6, 1926. He was also assigned as an aide to Colonel Charles Lindbergh, after Lindbergh flew the "Spirit of Saint Louis" in tthe first solo flight over the Atlantic Ocean. Through his tour with Lindbergh, he made many nationwide contacts, which would help him in his later research into UFO phenomena.

During World War II, he was recalled to active duty and served in the Naval Training Division at the Pentagon.

When the first post-war reports of UFOs were widely reported in 1947, Keyhoe was sceptical, but investigated the phenomena for True magazine. Through his further investigations, he became convinced that UFOs originated from outer space and that the US Air Force was covering up what they knew of the truth.

His article "Flying Saucers Are Real" was published in True magazine in January 1950. The article saused a sensation, and was expanded into a paperback book by Keyhoe. He wrote several books on UFOs, all of which are considered classics in the study of UFOlogy. In 1957. he Keyhoe became Director of the newly formed National Investigations Committee on Aerial Pheonomena (NICAP). As director of NICAP, he encouraged the US Congree to conduct hearings into unexplained UFO incidents. He is considered by many UFOlogists, to be one of the most important influences in the study of UFOs.