Morris Ketchum Jessup

Morris Ketchum Jessup was an astronomer, astrophysicist, and author whose short career in UFO research left a disproportionately large mark on the field. His 1955 book The Case for the UFO proposed that unidentified flying objects could be explained through advanced gravitational research – an argument that, whatever its merits, attracted the attention of people inside the United States Navy. Jessup’s subsequent entanglement with the so-called Philadelphia Experiment narrative, the mysterious annotated edition of his book, and his death at age 59 make his case one of the most discussed in UFO history.

He was born on March 20, 1900, in Rockville, Indiana. He studied astronomy at the University of Michigan, where he completed coursework for a doctorate (though the degree was never formally conferred, a point of some dispute). In the 1920s and 1930s, Jessup conducted legitimate astronomical research, including observations of double stars at the Lamont-Hussey Observatory in Bloemfontein, South Africa. He later worked as a photographer, auto parts dealer, and teacher – a winding career path that reflected both the economic realities of the era and his restless intellectual interests.

Background

Jessup turned to writing about UFOs in the mid-1950s, a period of intense public interest in the subject. The Case for the UFO (Citadel Press, 1955) was not a sensational book by the standards of its time. Jessup approached the topic as a scientist, arguing that the propulsion systems described in UFO sightings were consistent with theoretical work on electromagnetism and gravity. He called for serious government-funded research into these phenomena. The book sold modestly but reached a specific and consequential audience.

Sometime in 1955 or 1956, Jessup began receiving letters from a man identifying himself as Carlos Miguel Allende – later revealed to be Carl Meredith Allen of New Kensington, Pennsylvania. Allende’s letters, written in an erratic style with eccentric capitalization and underlining, claimed that the U.S. Navy had conducted a secret experiment in October 1943 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in which the destroyer escort USS Eldridge was rendered invisible – and that crew members were killed, went insane, or became physically embedded in the ship’s structure. Jessup was skeptical of the letters but did not dismiss them entirely.

Then, in 1957, a copy of The Case for the UFO annotated with handwritten marginalia was mailed to the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Washington, D.C. The annotations – written in at least three colors of ink, apparently by multiple authors – referenced secret experiments, advanced propulsion, and insider knowledge of non-human technology. The annotators appeared to be discussing the text among themselves, sometimes agreeing, sometimes arguing.

What Happened

Two ONR officers – Commander George W. Hoover and Captain Sidney Sherby – took an interest in the annotated copy. They arranged for the Varo Manufacturing Company of Garland, Texas (a military contractor) to reproduce approximately 25 to 127 copies of the annotated edition, depending on the source. This reproduction – known as the “Varo Edition” – has become one of the most sought-after documents in UFO history. Copies have sold for thousands of dollars.

Jessup was invited to the ONR to examine the annotated book. According to his own account, he recognized some of the handwriting as matching the Allende letters. The ONR officers reportedly questioned him at length about his research and his correspondence with Allende. The nature and purpose of their interest has never been officially explained.

By 1958, Jessup’s life had deteriorated. His publisher had dropped him. A planned book on the Philadelphia Experiment failed to find a deal. His marriage ended in divorce. He was involved in a serious car accident that left him physically impaired. Friends described him as depressed and financially desperate.

On the evening of April 20, 1959, Jessup was found dead in his car in a park in Dade County, Florida. A hose had been connected from the exhaust pipe to the interior of the vehicle. The Dade County Medical Examiner ruled the death a suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.

What Doesn’t Add Up

The official ruling of suicide is consistent with the known facts of Jessup’s personal circumstances. He was in poor health, financially ruined, and had recently told friends he felt his research had reached a dead end. A suicide note was reported by some early accounts, though the details of its contents – and even its existence – are inconsistent across sources.

The questions raised by UFO researchers are circumstantial:

• The ONR connection. The fact that a branch of the United States Navy took enough interest in an annotated UFO book to commission a reproduction – however informal – is unusual. Commander Hoover, in later years, made public statements suggesting he personally believed in the reality of UFOs and non-human intelligence. Whether the Varo Edition project had any official sanction or was purely a personal initiative of Hoover and Sherby remains unclear.

• Timing. Jessup died less than two years after his ONR meeting. Researchers who believe in a connection argue that Jessup may have learned something at that meeting that made him a security concern. No evidence supports this beyond the temporal proximity.

• Allende’s credibility. Carl Allen was, by all available evidence, an eccentric and unreliable individual. He later recanted his Philadelphia Experiment claims, then un-recanted them. The annotated book may have been his work alone – or it may have involved others. No definitive authorship analysis has been published.

The Skeptical Inquirer addressed the Jessup case in a 2008 article, concluding that the ONR reproduction was informal and unauthorized – not an official intelligence project – and that Jessup’s death was consistent with suicide given his documented personal difficulties.¹

There is no physical evidence of foul play. The case persists in UFO literature because of the ONR connection and because Jessup’s death marked the effective end of the first wave of serious civilian UFO research in the United States.

Key Quotes

“The UFO propulsion problem is basically a problem of gravity – and we know almost nothing about gravity.” – Morris K. Jessup, The Case for the UFO, 1955²

“The Varo Edition was never an official Navy project. It was two guys with an interest in UFOs and access to a contractor’s printing equipment.” – Skeptical Inquirer, 2008¹

“I believe there is a machine intelligence in near space which can interact with the human consciousness.” – Commander George W. Hoover, USN (Ret.), public statement, c. 2007³

Sources

1. Cline, Austin. “The Jessup-Allende Affair.” Skeptical Inquirer, July/August 2008.
2. Jessup, Morris K. The Case for the UFO. Citadel Press, 1955.
3. Hoover, George W. Public statements on UFO phenomena, compiled by researcher John B. Alexander, c. 2007.
4. “Morris K. Jessup.” Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_K._Jessup.
5. Barker, Gray. The Strange Case of Dr. M.K. Jessup. Saucerian Press, 1963.

Footnotes

1. Skeptical Inquirer, July/August 2008. ↩ ↩²

2. Jessup, The Case for the UFO (1955). ↩

3. Commander George W. Hoover, public statements, c. 2007. ↩