Photo By Gildas
Bourdais
-Karl Pflock-
Karl Pflock, author, consultant, and UFO researcher, is
the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction. He has written
and ghostwritten several nonfiction books and has been a consulting senior
editor for Arlington House Publishers, editor of Libertarian Review, a
senior editor at the American Enterprise Institute, contributing editor
to Reason, and science columnist for Eternity Science Fiction. His
articles on UFOs have appeared in such journals as Fortean Times, Omni,
the International UFO Reporter, The Anomalist, Fate, the MUFON UFO Journal,
Cuadernos de Ufología (Spain), and the MUFON 1995 International
UFO Symposium Proceedings, and he has made significant contributions to
other U.S. and foreign publications. A popular speaker at UFO and anomalous
phenomena gatherings, he was named 1998 Ufologist of the Year by the National
UFO Conference.
Mr. Pflock's interest in UFOs is virtually lifelong, and
his investigations have left no doubt in his mind UFOs are real.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s he served as a member and chairman of
the National Capital Area [investigations] Subcommittee of the National
Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), then the world's
largest private UFO research organization. He also has carried out independent
research on humanoid/UFO-occupant sightings, allegations of UFO-connected
animal mutilations, and claims of contact with "ufonauts."
An Associate of both the Society for Scientific Exploration
and the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, a Mutual UFO Network (MUFON)
State Section Director, and a member of the Permanent Organizing Committee
of the National UFO Conference, Mr. Pflock currently is pursuing retrospective
research on the landmark Barney and Betty Hill experience (September 1961),
the infamous Florida scoutmaster "saucer attack" case (August 1952; he
contributed an article on this case to UFOs 1947-1997, edited by Hilary
Evans and Dennis Stacy), and the granddaddy of all crashed flying saucer
tales, the Aztec, New Mexico, hoax that spawned Frank Scully's 1950 bestseller
Behind the Flying Saucers (see his "What's Really Behind the Flying Saucers?:
A New Twist on Aztec," The Anomalist, Spring 2000). He also is collaborating
with James W. Moseley, "notorious" editor of the ufology insider news-,
gossip-, and humorzine "Saucer Smear," on Shockingly Close to the Truth!
Moseley's ufological memoirs (forthcoming from Prometheus Books, 2002),
and doing research for a book making a "down-to-earth" case for serious
consideration of the extraterrestrial origin of some UFOs. He is
Contributing Editor of and writes a monthly column for "Smear."
Mr. Pflock began investigating the now legendary Roswell,
New Mexico, "crashed-saucer" incident in July 1992. In 1994, his
"Roswell in Perspective," a book-length monograph presenting the interim
results of his investigation, was published by the Fund for UFO Research.
In June 2001, his definitive Roswell: Inconvenient Facts and the Will to
Believe will be published in the U.S. by Prometheus Books and, later in
the year, in France by O.P. Editions.
Mr. Pflock has appeared frequently on radio and television,
discussing his Roswell findings and his views on the overall UFO mystery
and related subjects. He also has served as an advisor to the producers
of "Unsolved Mysteries," "Sightings," and a Turner Network Television special
on alleged UFO abductions, and has provided similar services for and appears
in a Terra Nova Television home-video/television production for the Reader's
Digest Association, seen on the Discovery and other channels in the U.S.
and abroad.. He was prominently featured in a "Sightings" special on UFOs
and alleged related government cover-ups, seen on the Science Fiction Channel.
Mr. Pflock, a member of the American Aviation Historical
Society and an amateur astronomer, returned to full-time writing and independent
research in 1992 after 11 years of public service, during which he was
a deputy assistant secretary of defense, a senior staff member in the U.S.
House of Representatives, and a strategic planning consultant to the U.S.
Department of Energy.
As Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Deputy Director)
for Operational Test and Evaluation (1985-89), Mr. Pflock guided development
and implementation of Department of Defense policy
governing weapons systems and equipment testing. He also managed
congressional, media, and public affairs for the Operational Test and Evaluation
office. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the Defense
Outstanding Public Service Medal and the Defense Superior Achievement Award.
In the House of Representatives, Mr. Pflock was Special
Assistant for Defense, Space, and Science and Technology to
then-Congressman Ken Kramer (1983-85), a ranking member of the House
Committee on Armed Services. Earlier (1981-83), he served then-Congressman
Jack Kemp as a senior staff member of the House Republican Conference,
directing legislative research and analysis support for all Republican
members of the House.
As Senior Strategic Planner with BDM International (1989-92),
Mr. Pflock led the contractor team providing comprehensive planning and
technical support for development of the Department of Energy's nuclear
weapons complex environmental restoration and waste management strategic
plan and the department-wide plan for waste minimization. He also
provided strategic planning and international market analysis services
to the chief executive officer and senior management of Ford Motor Company
and conducted strategic analyses for several leading aerospace firms.
A cum laude graduate of San José State University
(BA, philosophy and political science, 1964), Mr. Pflock served in reserve
components of the Marine Corps and Air Force (1960-66) and with the Central
Intelligence Agency (1966-72). He and his wife Mary Martinek reside
in Placitas, New Mexico.