Stanton T. Friedman Dies

In Stanton Friedman's New York Times obituary of May 21, 2019, his appearance in popular culture was noted. Below is my remembrance of Stan that appeared on May 14, 2019.

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American physicist and flying saucer investigator/author Stanton T. Friedman living in Canada, has died.  Friedman was returning from a speaking engagement in Columbus, Ohio, when he died suddenly at the Toronto Pearson Airport on Monday night, May 13, 2019, according to his family.

Stan's last photographs were taken of him at George Noory's Live Stage Show, at the Lincoln Theater in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday, May 11, 2019. Here are pictured (l to r, above): Stan, Tom Danheiser, Mary Ann Winkowski, George Noory, Lori Wagner, and Jim Harold.  (Coast to Coast AM Courtesy Photo).

An individual picture of Stan was shared by Jim Harold.

The Lincoln Theatre in Columbus, Ohio, syncs with the #Lincoln and #Columbus name games in Fortean literature. The Lincoln Theatre opened on November 26, 1928 as the Ogden Theatre. It was designed in the Egyptian Revival style, renamed the Lincoln in 1939 and continued operating as a movie theater through the 1960s. It has become a performance venue since then. The Lincoln Theatre is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Stanton Friedman's last playbill, sadly.

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Stanton T. Friedman with Loren Coleman (l) and Tim Binnall (r) shared good times, at the talks during the 2015, Nova Scotia conference.

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Stanton T. Friedman was a dual citizen of the USA and Canada and lived in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, just across the Maine border from the USA.

Kathleen Marden, a co-author and friend, who first reported widely that on June 30, 2014, Stan had a heart attack, was one of those who confirmed Stan's death of May 13, 2019, as did his family and reporter Tim Binnall. Stan was 84 years old; his birthday is July 29, 1934.

Friedman formerly called himself "The Flying Saucer Physicist," because of his degrees in nuclear physics and his work on nuclear projects, according to separate ufo encyclopedia authors Ronald Story and Jerome Clark.

A word about the terms "UFO" versus "flying saucer": Friedman has consistently favored the use of the term "flying saucer" in his work, saying "Flying saucers are, by definition, unidentified flying objects, but very few unidentified flying objects are flying saucers. I am interested in the latter, not the former."

Stan with me at the International Cryptozoology Museum in 2014.

Because Stan was a prolific speaker at UFO-related conferences, his biography is well-known to most in the field. I've been a speaker at several conferences where Stan was a speaker too.  At a Nova Scotia conference in 2015, I drove my car from Maine, and because Stan was without a vehicle, I became his personal driver for the weekend. I got to hear Stan's stories during many drives, and many meals we shared. The conversations, believe it or not, were not about "flying saucers." Every one was about his family.

Stan Friedman grew up in Linden, New Jersey, and married twice. He first married Susie Virginia Porter; he divorced her in April 1974. He adopted three children with his first wife and had one daughter with his second wife, Marilyn. His story was about adoption and re-discovery. Stan's private stories were of love and connections. Perhaps someday a book will be written of that part of his life.

Paul Kimball introduced his uncle to the audience at a conference in Nova Scotia.

Stan Friedman relocated to Marilyn's native New Brunswick in the early 1980s. Stan's nephew is UFO film & television writer, producer, director, and author Paul Kimball. Along with Marilyn, Stan leaves behind his daughters Rachel and Melissa (David Parsons), a grandson, James Kenneth (Luzelle Carranza Aquino) and a great grandson, James. He was predeceased by two sons, Sean and James Leo. 

Stanton Friedman drawing by Nick Shev.

Nuclear physicist-author-lecturer Stanton T. Friedman received his BSc. and MSc. degrees in physics from the University of Chicago in 1955 and 1956.  To put himself through college, Stan worked as a waiter in the Catskills. It was there in the “Borscht Belt” that, as he would say, he "first laid eyes on a lobster and danced with debutantes."

Stan was employed for 14 years as a nuclear physicist by such companies as GE, GM, Westinghouse, TRW Systems, Aerojet General Nucleonics, and McDonnell-Douglas working in such highly advanced, classified, eventually cancelled programs as nuclear aircraft, fission and fusion rockets, and various compact nuclear power-plants for space and terrestrial applications.

Stan became interested in UFOs in 1958, and since 1967, he lectured about them at more than 600 colleges and 100 professional groups across the United States, Canada, and worldwide, in addition to various nuclear consulting efforts. He published more than 90 UFO papers and appeared on hundreds of radio and TV programs including on Larry King in 1997, 2007 and twice in 2008, and many documentaries. He was the original civilian investigator of the Roswell Incident and co-authored Crash at Corona: The Definitive Study of the Roswell Incident. TOP SECRET/MAJIC his controversial book about the Majestic 12 group, established in 1947 to deal with alien technology, was published in 1996 and went through 6 printings. An expanded new edition was published in 2005.

In 2016, Fact Fiction and Flying Saucers by Stanton T. Friedman and Kathleen Marden, was published.

Stan was presented with a Lifetime UFO Achievement Award in Leeds, England, in 2002, by UFO Magazine of the UK. He co-authored with Kathleen Marden (Betty Hill’s Niece) of a book in 2007: Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience. His book Flying Saucers and Science was published in June 2008 and went into several printings. His Science Was Wrong with Kathleen Marden, was published in June 2010.

Stanton Friedman, one of the leading authorities on UFOs, was pictured taking part in a parade in McMinnville, Oregon, in 2013. His work was also celebrated in New Brunswick, and the City of Fredericton declared Aug. 27, 2007, Stanton Friedman Day. On July 2, 2010, he was inducted into the Roswell UFO Hall of Fame.

Stan provided written testimony to Congressional Hearings, appeared twice at the UN, and was a pioneer in many aspects of ufology including Roswell, Majestic 12, The Betty Hill- Marjorie Fish star map work, analysis of the Delphos, Kansas, physical trace case, crashed saucers, flying saucer technology, and challenges to the S.E.T.I. (which he characterized as "Silly Effort To Investigate") cultists.

Stan T. Friedman had spoken at more MUFON Symposia than any other individual. Over the years, he lectured in 10 provinces, 50 states, and 19 countries.

The world of "flying saucers" and ufology thought has lost a giant. 

All who meet him were touched by his magic and enthusiasm.

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Some photos of Stan with more friends and colleagues: Deborah and Audrey Starborn Hewins, Kathleen Marden, Allison Jorlin, and Greg Bishop.

Stan Friedman's last interview at the Roswell UFO Festival served to be prophetic. He talks of being tired, and the lose of tolerance he has for so many connections between his speaking engagements and getting back to Canada. It will be recalled, it was at his Toronto airport connection from Columbus to back home where he died.

BTW, some remembrances have credited Stan with "founding the Roswell UFO Museum." Praise for Stanton T. Friedman has been out-of-this-world, deservedly. But he was not the founder of the Roswell NM UFO Museum. That honor goes to Glenn Dennis (March 24, 1925 – April 28, 2015), who was a eyewitness to the 1947 Roswell UFO incident. The Museum opened in Sept 1991.

A public visitation will be held at the York Funeral Home on Friday, May 17, 2019 from 4-8pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the International UFO Museum & Research centre in Roswell, New Mexico.