Donald R. Schmitt is the former co-director of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, where he served as Director of Special Investigations for ten years. Prior to that, he was a special investigator for the late Dr. J. Allen Hynek and the art director for the International UFO Reporter.
Schmitt graduated from MATC with a degree in Commercial Art and graduated cum laude from Concordia University with a degree in Liberal Arts. He is presently taking graduate courses in Criminal Justice. Schmitt is the author of dozens of articles about UFOs, as well as the co-author of two best-selling books, UFO CRASH AT ROSWELL, Avon 1991, best-selling Witness to Roswell, New Page, NJ, 2007, andThe Truth Abouit the UFO Crash at Roswell, published by M. Evans, 1994. He is also the author of ROSWELL, THE CHRONOLOGICAL PICTORIAL, from Moonset Entertainment Group.
Don has led and organized the three only archaeological dig projects at the actual Roswell crash/debris field. They were conducted in 1989, 2002, and 2006. The second effort became the central theme of their highest rated show up till that time in the 10-year history of the SCI FI Channel – The Roswell Crash: Startling New Evidence. Which also resulted in the book The Roswell Dig Diaries of which he was a contributing author.
Schmitt is an exciting university lecturer and internationally considered one of the best investigators in his field. He has spoken 100′s of times in cities and countries around the globe, most notably, Battelle Institute. He has been interviewed frequently on TV, radio, and in print, including Oprah, Peter Jennings, CBS 48 Hours, Paul Harvey, Larry King Live, Montel Williams, Mancow Muller, Kevin Mathews, Art Bell, George Noory, Shirley Maclaine Show, FOX Good Day LA, NPR, Mutual Broadcasting Network, CNN Investigates, SCI FI Investigates, Disney Channel, the Travel Channel, Sci-Fi Channel, BBC, Learning Channel, Today Show, NBC, ABC News, CBS Morning News, AP, UPI, CNN News, Sonja Live, Jim Bohannen, Morton Downey Jr., Jerry Doyle, Allan Handelman, John Boy and Billie, TIME, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Popular Science, SPIN, BLADE, New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Milwaukee Journal, Albuquerque Journal, Popular Science, and OMNI Magazine.
Mr. Schmitt was an on-set consultant at Paramount Studios on one episode of the popular ROSWELL TV series and was a UFO Consultant to NBC’s Unsolved Mysteries. He also appeared with Sally Kellerman in the pilot episode of “Greetings From the Unknown.”
He had the grand experience of traveling a 31-city speaking tour mainly with actor William Shatner and occasionally other STAR TREK stars in 1994-96 produced by Star Knight Productions. Which led to his being a Guest of Honor in 1996 at Dragon Con held in Atlanta which is the second largest science fiction convention in the world.
Mr. Schmitt also sings in a highly acclaimed choral group which has had engagements at the Milwaukee Rep oratory, Milwaukee Auditorium, Schauer Theater, St. John’s Cathedral, Holy Hill Basilica, and Carrol College. Featured concerts have been with Midland College of Iowa, The Kettle Moraine Symphony, and the Waukesha Symphony performing the works of Handel, Du Brois, Mozart, Beethoven, and Shubert.
The basis of his research and consultation has been the theme of many documentaries including the highly acclaimed UFO Secret: The Roswell Crash, two-time British Academy Award (BAFTA) winner producer, John Purdie’s The Roswell Incident, Roswell, The Real Story, Roswell: Cover-ups and Close Encounters, UFOs: 50 Years of Denial, Award-winning Roswell, The UFO UnCover-up, and hosted the production of The X Chronicles.
He wrote and narrated the audio CD UFO Crash at Roswell, an Audio Documentary, Caroline Records, 1997. He has also produced and co-starred with actor John de Lancie in the live theatrical radio drama Roswell, the Unheard Broadcast, Prosaic Pictures 2000.
By far his greatest achievement was the Golden Globe Best Picture nominated motion picture ROSWELL, which was based on the first book. Besides consulting on the movie, he made a cameo appearance. Presently, he is a contributing writer for UFO Magazine, and on the Board of Directors for the International UFO Research Museum.
