July 17, 2009
It is with great sadness that we too report the passing of one of Ufology's icons; Richard (Dick) Hall succumbed to Cancer on July 17, 2009, he was 78 years old.
Richard Harris Hall was born on December 25, 1930, in Hartford, Connecticut; in 1949, realizing that war was forthcoming, he spent two years with the newly borne Air Force, followed by six years in the Air Force Reserve.
Richard read Donald Keyhoe's The Flying Saucers Are Real (1950) while serving in the U.S. Air Force. After his service he took different jobs and moved around a bit, until landing at Tulane University, (New Orleans) in 1954. He initially majored in mathematics and then switched to philosophy.
While attending Tulane University (from which he attained a B.A. in 1958), Dick edited a small UFO bulletin called Satellite. He also co-edited with Brazilian lawyer Dr. Jos'e Escobar Far'ia, the UFO Critical Bulletin during late fifties and early sixties.
From 1958 to 1968 he was secretary of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), which Keyhoe directed. That was the time where Dick was busy preparing monthly The UFO Investigator, which was NICAP's bulletin.
In 1993 through 1998 Dick would serve as Chairman of the Fund for UFO Research; he was prolific writer, who authored a few books, some which are considered hallmarks to Ufological research, e.g., with his latest endeavor being UFO Evidence, The UFO Evidence, Volume II: A Thirty-year Report, Uninvited Guests, with his latest endeavor being The Journal of UFO History, a monthly periodical detailing the annals of Ufology.
On December 6, 2004, UAPSG member Milton W. Hourcade visited Richard Hall in Maryland, where they enjoyed a nice conversation and quite gently Hall allowed Hourcade to see some of his files to check some data requested from Spain by UAPSG member Vicente-Juan Bellester Olmos.
Richard Hall sustained the ETH and above all was an extraordinary compiler of data related to UFO reports from official and private sources.
His dedication throughout the vast part of his life, his seriousness dealing with the issue, and the fruits of his work, will be remembered forever.
(based on obits by Jerome Clark, Frank Warren and personal information)
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