Leonard Stringfield was born in 1920. He was director of CRIFO (Civilian Research, Interplanetary Flying Objects) - one of the world's largest research groups during the mid-'50s, and publisher of its newsletter, ORBIT (1953-1957).

He also worked in cooperation with the United States Air Force (1953-1957), investigating and reporting UFO activity, having been assigned a special code number for reporting to the Air Defense Command in Columbus, Ohio.

For over 30 years, Stringfield served in several of the major UFO organizations in a public relations capacity. From 1957 to 1970, he was public relations adviser with the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). Later on, he was Director of Public Relations and a board member of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). He was also a regional investigator for the Center for UFO Studies, directed by Dr. J. Allen Hynek.

Stringfield was an executive with DuBois Chemicals, an international manufacturer. Stringfield retired in 1981 as Director of Public Relations and Marketing Services for DuBois Chemicals, a division of Chemed Corp., after 31 years of service with the company.

From 1967-1968, he served as Early Warning Coordinator for the University of Colarado UFO Project, screening UFO reports for possible scientific study.

Stringfield was also an advisor to Sir Eric Gairy, former Prime Minister of Grenada, 1977-78, during his efforts to establish a UFO research agency within the framework of the United Nations.

Stringfield passed away in 1994, leaving a string of fascinating publications behind, one of which is UFO Crash Retrievals: Status Report I: Retrievals of the Third Kind, based on a talk Stringfield gave at a MUFON convention in 1978.

This is the start of Stringfield's influential seven-part UFO Crash Retrieval Status Report series, in which he lays the groundwork for the theories that made him famous.