Alfred Loedding
Encyclopedia
Alfred C. Loedding was an American aeronautics
engineer.
A 1930 graduate of the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aeronautics, Loedding worked with the pioneering Bellanca Aircraft Company until 1938, when he became a civilian engineer for the U.S. Air Force at Wright Field, later Wright-Patterson Air Base. One of his specialties was low-aspect design aircraft, such as flying wing
s or flying disk designs, including a 1948 patent registered with the U.S. Patent Office.
In the summer of 1947, hundreds of unidentified flying object
reports earned considerable mainstream publicity, and were taken seriously by the U.S. military. Due to his expertise in low-aspect aircraft design—similar to the "flying disk" or "flying saucer" shape of many reported UFOs—Loedding became the focus of early informal Air Force UFO reports, serving as liaison between The Pentagon
and Air Force officers Howard M. McCoy and William R. Clingerman.
From 1948 to 1949, Loedding was a member of Project Sign
, the formal UFO investigative arm of the Air Force. Loedding investigated many UFO reports and interviewed witnesses; Michael D. Swords
described Loedding as part of "probably the most talented group to work on UFOs until the air force ended its investigation in 1969."
Loedding and most of Project Sign's personnel eventually came to favor the extraterrestrial hypothesis
(ETH) as the most likely explanation for UFOs. Loedding contributed substantially to Estimate of the Situation
which argued in favor of the ETH, and which was ultimately rejected by high-ranking Air Force personnel before Sign was dissolved and replaced with Project Grudge
.
Aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of airflight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft and rocketry within the atmosphere...
engineer.
A 1930 graduate of the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aeronautics, Loedding worked with the pioneering Bellanca Aircraft Company until 1938, when he became a civilian engineer for the U.S. Air Force at Wright Field, later Wright-Patterson Air Base. One of his specialties was low-aspect design aircraft, such as flying wing
Flying wing
A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft which has no definite fuselage, with most of the crew, payload and equipment being housed inside the main wing structure....
s or flying disk designs, including a 1948 patent registered with the U.S. Patent Office.
In the summer of 1947, hundreds of unidentified flying object
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
reports earned considerable mainstream publicity, and were taken seriously by the U.S. military. Due to his expertise in low-aspect aircraft design—similar to the "flying disk" or "flying saucer" shape of many reported UFOs—Loedding became the focus of early informal Air Force UFO reports, serving as liaison between The Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
and Air Force officers Howard M. McCoy and William R. Clingerman.
From 1948 to 1949, Loedding was a member of Project Sign
Project Sign
Project Sign was an official U.S. government study of unidentified flying objects undertaken by the United States Air Force and active for most of 1948....
, the formal UFO investigative arm of the Air Force. Loedding investigated many UFO reports and interviewed witnesses; Michael D. Swords
Michael D. Swords
Michael D. Swords is an American scientist.In 1962 Swords graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.S.. He studied biochemistry at Iowa State University , and at Case Western Reserve University Michael D. Swords is an American scientist.In 1962 Swords graduated from the University of...
described Loedding as part of "probably the most talented group to work on UFOs until the air force ended its investigation in 1969."
Loedding and most of Project Sign's personnel eventually came to favor the extraterrestrial hypothesis
Extraterrestrial hypothesis
The extraterrestrial hypothesis is the hypothesis that some unidentified flying objects are best explained as being extraterrestrial life or non-human aliens from other planets occupying physical spacecraft visiting Earth.-Etymology:...
(ETH) as the most likely explanation for UFOs. Loedding contributed substantially to Estimate of the Situation
Estimate of the Situation
The Estimate of the Situation was a document supposedly written in 1948 by the personnel of United States Air Force's Project Sign -including the project’s director, Captain Robert R. Sneider - which explained their reasons for concluding that the extraterrestrial hypothesis was the best...
which argued in favor of the ETH, and which was ultimately rejected by high-ranking Air Force personnel before Sign was dissolved and replaced with Project Grudge
Project Grudge
Project Grudge was a short-lived project by the U.S. Air Force to investigate unidentified flying objects . Grudge succeeded Project Sign in February, 1949, and was then followed by Project Blue Book. The project formally ended in December 1949, but actually continued on in a very minimal capacity...
.