James Oberg
James Oberg | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, United States | November 7, 1944
Nationality | American |
Education | Ohio Wesleyan University, B.A. mathematics, 1966; Northwestern University, M.S. applied mathematics (astrodynamics), 1969; |
Occupation(s) | Journalist, historian, author |
Spouse | Alcestis (married 1969–present) |
Children | 2 |
Awards | See #Awards |
Website | www |
James Edward Oberg (born November 7, 1944) is an American space
Early life and education
James Oberg was born in New York City on November 7, 1944.[3]
He received a B.A. in Mathematics from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1966, a M.S. in applied mathematics (astrodynamics) from Northwestern University in 1969 (where he was also a NASA Trainee[4]) and a M.S. in computer science from University of New Mexico in 1972.[3]
US Air Force
At Northwestern University he started Ph.D. work in Mathematics, but was called to active duty by the United States Air Force in 1970.[5] There he worked with modeling laser and nuclear weapons[5] and in the years 1972–1975, while working in the Department of Defense Computer Institute, he helped design and test ARPANET, ancestor of the Internet.[6]
NASA
After service in the
During the 1990s, he was involved in NASA studies of the
He has often been called to testify before the US Congress on the Russian space program.[7]
In 1997 he voluntarily resigned from NASA and started a full-time free-lance career.[8] Currently he works as a consultant in spaceflight operations and safety and as a space journalist.[8]
Author and journalist
As a journalist, Oberg writes for several publications, mostly online; he was previously a space correspondent or commentator for UPI, ABC News and currently MSNBC,[4] often in an on-air role. He is a Fellow of the skeptical organization CSICOP[3] and a consultant to its magazine Skeptical Inquirer.
He has written more than a thousand magazine and newspaper articles,[3][4] including such magazines as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Scientific American, OMNI, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, New Scientist, IEEE Spectrum, Air Force Magazine, Star and Sky, etc.[5]
Oberg is also a space consultant and on-air commentator to
In December 1990,
In 1999, Oberg wrote Space Power Theory, sponsored by United States military[11] as a part of an official campaign in changing perceptions of space warfare, specifically deployment and use of weapons in outer space, and its political implications.[11] "In Oberg's view, space is not an extension of air warfare but is unique in itself."[11]
James Oberg is an author of ten books[3] in addition to several technical NASA publications.[12]
He also wrote encyclopedia articles on space exploration in the World Book Encyclopedia, Britannica yearbook, Grolier and Academic American Encyclopedia.[3]
Moon landing conspiracies
Oberg was commissioned by NASA to write a rebuttal of Apollo Moon landing conspiracy theories. However, NASA dropped the project after ABC's World News Tonight program ran a story about it, claiming it was beneath NASA's dignity to respond to Moon landing denialists claims.[13] Oberg has said that he still intends to pursue the project, "depending on successfully arranging new funding sources."[13][14]
Oberg writes that Moon landing conspiracy theories are fueled by resentment of American culture by some countries. He gives the example of Cuba, where he claims many school teachers say the landing was a fraud.[13][15] But besides this, the new wave of conspiracy theorists appear to use alternative publication methods to publicize their claims.
Oberg says that belief in the conspiracy is not the fault of the hoaxists, but rather of educators and people (including NASA) who should provide information to the public.[13] NASA does not, in Oberg's opinion, provide an adequate reaction to the theorists' claims.
North Korean satellite launch inspection
In April 2012 Oberg traveled to North Korea as an NBC space consultant[16] to observe the launching of the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 satellite and determine whether it is a military launch. Together with a team of journalists[17] he inspected the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, the Unha rocket and the satellite. According to Oberg, North Korea "showed everything but the important things"[18] and did not manage to demonstrate peaceful intent.
UFO investigation
James Oberg often writes about alleged UFO sightings, giving scientific explanations to seemingly extraterrestrial phenomena, or otherwise debunking them as hoaxes.
Oberg categorized UFO sightings (excluding those identified as hoaxes) into one of three groups:[19][20][21]
- Super-High Plumes – rocket or missile plumes, especially lit by the Sun on a dark sky;
- Space "Dandruff" – ice flakes, fragments of insulation, etc. flying alongside a space vehicle, especially seen by backward-facing cameras;
- Twilight Shadowing – objects that move from shadow into sunlight in space appear as if coming from behind the clouds or from beyond the edge of the Earth.
List of UFO explanations
Date | Phenomenon | Explanation |
---|---|---|
February 20, 1962 | Mercury capsule saw three objects following and then overtaking the capsule
|
Small space debris – "snowflakes"[22] |
May 24, 1962 | Scott Carpenter in Mercury-Atlas 7 photographs "a saucer" | Tracking balloon ejected from the capsule[22] |
May 30, 1962 | X-15 pilot Joe Walton photographed five discs | Complete fabrication by ufologists; pilot's actual name was Joseph A. Walker[22]
|
July 17, 1962 | X-15 pilot Robert Michael White photographed objects close to the plane | Small objects, probably ice flakes from fuel tanks[22] |
October 3, 1962 | Walter Schirra on Mercury-Atlas 8 reported large glowing objects over the Indian Ocean
|
Lightning-lit cloud masses, misquotations[22] |
May 16, 1963 | Gordon Cooper on Mercury-Atlas 9 reports a greenish UFO and other mysterious sightings | Fabrications, misquotations[22] |
March 8, 1964 | Russian cosmonauts on Voskhod 2 report an UFO while entering Earth's atmosphere | Probably man-made satellite[22] |
October 12, 1964 | Three Russian cosmonauts report being surrounded by fast moving discs | Complete fabrication[22] |
June 3, 1965 | Gemini 4 UFOs | Exaggerations and misquotations by ufologists[22] |
December 4, 1965 | Frank Borman and Jim Lovell on Gemini 7 photographed two oval-shaped UFOs | Complete fabrication[22] |
December 9, 1965 | Kecksburg UFO incident | Kosmos 96 satellite, explanation later disproved[23] |
July 18, 1966 | John Young and Michael Collins on Gemini 10 photographed a large cylindrical object accompanied by two smaller | Fabrication – no photos were taken, astronauts reported bright fragments near their spacecraft, probably pieces of the booster of some other satellite[22] |
September 12, 1966 | Richard F. Gordon, Jr. and Pete Conrad on Gemini 11 report and photograph a yellow-orange UFO
|
A satellite[22] |
November 11, 1966 | Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin on Gemini 12 report 4 UFOs linked in a row | Discarded trash bags; misquotations[22] |
December 21, 1968 | Frank Borman and Jim Lovell on Apollo 8 report a "bogie" (an unidentified object) | Misplaced quotations, pieces of debris associated with separation from the booster rocket[22] |
May 1969 | Apollo 10 'space music' | Radio interference between the Command Module and the Lunar Module landing vehicles[24] |
July 1969 | Apollo 11 UFO incidents | Complete fabrication of photos and transcripts; all data available to the public[25] |
November 14, 1969 | Richard Gordon on Apollo 12 report a UFO preceding them on the path to the Moon
|
Misunderstood the meaning of conversation with ground control; reflection of the Moon[22] |
September 20, 1973 | Skylab 3 UFO Photographs | Space debris[26] |
February 12, 1980 | UFO observed over the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile | Kosmos 1164 launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome[27] |
June 14, 1980 | UFO over Russia and then South America | Kosmos 1188 satellite launch[27] |
October 31, 1981 | UFO over Argentina and Chile | Kosmos 1317 satellite launch[27] |
September 7, 1984 | UFO observed in eastern Europe | |
January 1989; March 1989 | Phobos 2 spacecraft photographs mysterious structures on the surface of Mars | Shadow of Phobos moon elongated due to slow acquisition of the image by scanning radiometer[31][32] |
November 5, 1990 | UFO observed by airline crews | Re-entry of the Proton-K rocket carrying Gorizont 33 satellite across France and Germany[33] |
September 15, 1991 | STS-48: several objects appearing | Ice particles hit by a thruster plume[34][35][36] |
January 28, 1994 | UFO observed by airline crews | Launch of Progress M-21 spacecraft[33]
|
December 2, 1996 | STS-80 unusual phenomena | Nearby sunlit debris[37] |
December 1998 | Black Knight " or "Phantom Satellite"
|
Insulation blanket dropped by astronauts[38][39][40] |
Russian pistol aboard ISS
James Oberg wrote several articles as a publicity campaign to remove guns from the ISS.. The gun was only carried by Russian members of the ISS. Oberg suggested that it might be an invitation to a future disaster and proposed it to be put in a compartment accessible only from outside, after landing.
In 2014 Oberg asked Samantha Cristoforetti, an Italian ISS astronaut, about the pistol and she admitted the gun is removed from the list, or more precisely, it is still on the official list of kit contents, but the committee meets before every mission to review the list and vote to remove the pistol for the specific flight.[43]
Private life
Oberg has been married since 1969 and lives with his wife Alcestis in Dickinson, Texas. He has two grown sons (born 1977 and 1984).[3][4][5]
He has a conversant knowledge of
Awards and memberships
- First place in Goddard National Space Award (twice)[5]
- 1st and 2nd place awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors (May 2000)[5]
- The winner of the New Scientist award: Cutty Sark Whisky essay on UFO[44]
- Fellow of the skeptical organization the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry[3]
- Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society[3][4]
- Fellow of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics[3] (the first foreign member[4])
- Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics[3]
Bibliography
Popular publications
- Oberg, James; Edmondson, Harold (1979). Famous Spaceships of Fact and Fantasy. Kalmbach Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0890245392.
- Oberg, James (1981). New Earths: Restructuring Earth and Other Planets. Foreword by ISBN 978-0-452-00623-2.
- Oberg, James (1981). Red Star in Orbit. Foreword by ISBN 978-0-394-51429-1.
- Oberg, James (1982). Mission to Mars: Plans and Concepts for the First Manned Landing. Foreword by ISBN 978-0-81170-432-8.
- Oberg, James (1982). UFO's and Outer Space Mysteries: A Sympathetic Skeptic's Report. Norfolk, VA: Donning Company Publishers. ISBN 978-0-89865-102-7.
- Oberg, James (1984). The New Race for Space: The U.S. and Russia Leap to the Challenge for Unlimited Rewards. Foreword by ISBN 978-0-8117-2177-6.
- Oberg, James; Oberg, Alcestis R. (1986). Pioneering Space: Living on the Next Frontier. Foreword by ISBN 978-0-07-048039-1.
- Oberg, James (1988). Uncovering Soviet Disasters: Exploring the Limits of Glasnost. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-394-56095-3.
- Oberg, James; Sullivan, Brian R. (1999). Space Power Theory. Introductions by Colin S. Gray and Howell M. Estes III. Colorado Springs, CO: US Air Force Academy. OCLC 41145918.
- Oberg, James (2001). Star-Crossed Orbits: Inside the U.S.-Russian Space Alliance. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07137-425-5.
- Oberg, James (2017). It's vital to verify the harmlessness of North Korea's next satellite. Texas: TheSpaceReview.
Other books
- The Mars Conquest
- Red Stars in Orbit
Technical materials for NASA
- Space Shuttle Mission Control Center: Overview of Information and Decision Flows (for McDonnell Douglas);
- Rendezvous and Proximity Operations Handbook;
- History of Orbital Rendezvous;
- Flight Data File: Crew Procedures, STS-32 LDEF Retrieval;
- Console Handbook, Rendezvous Guidance and Procedures Officer;
- Training Guide, Rendezvous Guidance and Procedures Handbook
References
- ^ Oberg, James (April 1994). "Soviet Saucers". Omni. General Media, Inc. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
- ^ Sterling, Bruce. "Catscan 14: 'Memories of the Space Age'". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on 2009-10-04.
Oberg is a recognized Soviet Space expert, sometime NOVA host on PBS, special consultant to the Sotheby's auction house for Soviet space memorabilia, and the author of the definitive tome Red Star in Orbit (Random House 1981).
Catscan archive homepage here. Archived 2009-10-04 at the Wayback Machine - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oberg, James. "U.S./Russian Aerospace Consultancies". JamesOberg.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2016-08-01.
- ^ a b c d e f g Oberg, James. "Profile". JamesOberg.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
- ^ a b c d e f g Oberg, James. "Journalism". JamesOberg.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
- ^ a b c Oberg, James. "Aerospace Career Specialities". JamesOberg.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
- ^ "Testimony of James Oberg". In Space Today. Houston Space Society. October 7, 1998. Archived from the original on May 5, 1999. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
- ^ a b Oberg, James. "FAQ". JamesOberg.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
- ^ "NOVA : Past Television Programs : Season 18: January–December 1991 : PBS". PBS Online. Boston, MA: WGBH. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-57356-246-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-275-96295-1.
- ^ a b Oberg, James. "Books – NASA". JamesOberg.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-28. Retrieved 2016-08-03.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59102-715-7.
- ^ Whitehouse, David (November 8, 2002). "Nasa pulls Moon hoax book". BBC News. London. Archived from the original on February 3, 2009. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- SandinistaNicaragua and Angola).
- ^ Oberg, James (2012-04-27). "What we learned from North Korea's rocket no-show". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2016-09-28. Retrieved 2016-08-25.
- ^ Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3#Media coverage
- ^ Oberg, James (2012-12-03). "Using "rocket science" to understand North Korea's space and missile efforts". The Space Review. Archived from the original on 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
- ^ Giaimo, Cara (6 June 2016). "How One Man Has Explained Almost Every Internet UFO Theory". Atlas Obscura. Archived from the original on 2016-08-04. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
- ^ Pavlou, George (2016-06-08). "Former NASA Employee Explains Almost Every UFO Sighting". The LAD bible. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
- ^ Didymus, Johnthomas (8 June 2016). "UFOs debunked? Former NASA employee James Oberg explains away ufo sighting claims". INQUISITR. Archived from the original on 2016-08-07. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
- ^ Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. Archivedfrom the original on 2016-06-09.
- ^ Kecksburg UFO incident#Kosmos 96
- ^ Radford, Ben (2016-02-23). "Explaining Apollo 10 Astronauts 'Space Music'". Seeker. Archived from the original on 2016-07-26. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
- ISBN 978-0-89865-102-7. Archivedfrom the original on 2014-08-11.
- ^ Oberg, James (2011-12-21). "Skylab 3 UFO photos". The UFO Skeptic's Page. Robert Sheaffer. Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
- ^ a b c Oberg, James (January 1983). "Giant UFO Over Two Continents". FATE. Archived from the original on 2017-04-04. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
- ^ Oberg, James. "The Black Box Approach To UFO Perceptions". The Debunker's Domain. Robert Sheaffer. Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
- ^ Oberg, James. "The Minsk UFO Case: Misperception and Exaggeration". www.csicop.org. The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on 2016-09-19. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
- ^ Oberg, James (January 2009). "The Minsk UFO Case: Misperception and Exaggeration". Skeptical Inquirer. 33 (1).
- ^ Oberg, Jim. "The Strange Case of Fobos-2" (PDF). JamesOberg.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
- ^ Oberg, Jim. "The Strange Case of Fobos-2". Space.com. Archived from the original on 2010-05-03.
- ^ a b Oberg, James. "Case studies in pilot misperceptions of UFOs". James Oberg: Insights. 'Science' of Ufology. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
- ^ Oberg, James. "STS-48". JamesOberg.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-28. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
- ^ "STS-48: Debunking Kasher's Five "Can't-Be-Ice" Proofs" (PDF). JamesOberg.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-24. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
- ^ Oberg, James. "NASA STS-48 "UFO" VIDEO". The Debunker's Domain. Robert Sheaffer. Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
- ^ Farrell, Mike. "NASA STS-80 Debunked?". Best UFO Resources. Archived from the original on 2016-06-04. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
- ^ Oberg, James. "Phantom satellite? What IS it? What ISN'T it? WHY the confusion?" (PDF). The UFO Skeptic's Page. Robert Sheaffer. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
- ^ Oberg, James. "Phantom satellite? What IS it? What ISN'T it? WHY the confusion?" (PDF). JamesOberg.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-01-20. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
- ^ Dunning, Brian (2013-06-04). "Skeptoid #365: The Black Knight Satellite". Skeptoid. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
- ^ Oberg, James (12 February 2008). "Russia has the corner on guns in space". NBC news. Archived from the original on 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
- ^ Oberg, James. "The Russian Gun at the International Space Station". JamesOberg.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
- ^ Oberg, James (13 November 2014). "How I Stopped Cosmonauts From Carrying Guns". IEEE Spectrum. Archived from the original on 2016-04-15. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
- ^ Oberg, James (1979-10-11). "The failure of the 'science' of UFOlogy". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
- ^ Oberg, James. "Books". JamesOberg.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
External links