OKLAHOM PIONEER UFO INVESTIGATOR: HAYDEN COOPER HEWES

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Hayden Cooper Hewes (1943-2017) was a pioneer in Oklahoma in the desire to link science with a new phenomenon and an avid supporter of the need for information to be gathered and then openly shared among researchers.  

His letters and reports can be found sprinkled throughout the files of Project Blue Book and the notable publications of the day covering the broad field of things outside the realm of accepted reality.  His interest began early and while still in high school, Hewes had already shown a vivid intellect and a keen enthusiasm as a self-starter.  A graduate of Oklahoma City’s Northwest Classen in 1962, he was a long-time employee of TG&Y and Office Depot and an entrepreneurial businessman.

Widely known for his interest in UFOs and the paranormal, Hewes was well respected for his commitment to the study of the subjects, and his willingness to do hands on and in-depth research. As a result, he published several books and magazine articles on the subject. He was a popular speaker in person, on TV, and via the radio. 

In 1965, the then 22 year old Hewes was head of a loose amalgamation of scientists, reporters, and interested people exploring the idea of Unidentified Flying Saucers (UFO’s) through the “Intergalactic Investigations of Oklahoma Unidentified Flying Objects” or IIOUFO. This was a group that was his brainchild in 1957 while attending the University of Oklahoma and studying aerospace engineering.

Always curious, he maintained involvement in numerous subjects. He was popular speaker on a host of topics. Later in life he switched some hats and in later life was a local talent agent and taught classes on modeling and the paranormal. He was the owner of The Hayden C. Hewes Agency, Inc., in Oklahoma City.  

He was clearly from an early age avidly interested not only in the unexplained but it the processes needed to verify and explain those very things.  This became evident when he became more widely known during and after the 1965 UFO Flap.

In the newspapers and journals, he was listed as founder and Director of the Interplanetary (some sources say Intergalactic) Investigations of Unidentified Flying Objects (or IIUFO in 1965), a group headquartered in Oklahoma City but with 5,000 members in some 42 states and 28 countries. The 1965-66 issues of the journal of this group use the "interplanetary." 

He was also founder and director of the International Unidentified Flying Object Bureau (IUFOB). He also headed up The International Association for Investigation of the Unexplained (IAIU) which may have developed around 1966, The Sasquatch Investigations of Mid-America, (SIMA) since 1976. He later served as Vice president for the New Age Center for Psychic Research, (NACPR) 1968-1978 and the Institute of Parenting Stress Index, (IPSI), 1975-1977.

His writings on the subject of UFO include his well-respected publication, Interplanetary Intelligence Report, the official publication of the IIUFO.  His “The Truth About Flying Saucers”, Interplanetary intelligence Report, September 1965 (1:3) is a sought after but rare text.  With well-known author Brad Stiger he wrote Inside Heaven’s Gate: The UFO Cult Leaders Tell Their Story (1997) and the UFO Missionaries Extraordinary (1976), and his articles appeared in the Official UFO Magazine (December 1966) and many other publications.

He attended the University of Oklahoma and explored there aeronautical engineering. He returned to the campus in the early 1970's as a guest presenter and speaker on the subject of UFO's. In the early seventies he visualized a UFO Conference in Oklahoma City to which research stars came to shine. The guest speakers and panelists included eyewitnesses, local researchers and notables that included nuclear physicist Stanton T. Friedman. 

Nuclear Physicist-Lecturer Stanton T. Friedman received his BSc. and MSc. Degrees in physics from the University of Chicago in 1955 and 1956. He was employed for 14 years as a nuclear physicist by such companies as GE, GM, Westinghouse, TRW Systems, Aerojet General Nucleonics, and McDonnell Douglas working in such highly advanced, classified, eventually cancelled programs as nuclear aircraft, fission and fusion rockets, and various compact nuclear powerplants for space and terrestrial applications. Guest speakers of both substance and qualifications added to these events. 

An active and inquiring mind, he was constantly finding new ways to explore new and old issues, facing a multitude of challenging tasks and questions with fervor.

In addition, Hewes served as advisor to several Roger Hight Productions, (1976-1978, 20-20 segment, 1974). Talent coordinator Real People, (1975), That's Incredible, (1976), Unsolved Mysteries, (1992) and served as a Co-host to a television series on Station KAUT-43, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In addition, Hewes has been listed as a noteworthy Research association administrator by Marquis Who's Who and had memberships in the Authors Guild and the Authors League of America.

No work attempting to discuss unidentified flying objects in Oklahoma could ignore the contributions of this unique individual. His drive, vision, flexibility of imagination, courage, and commitment to discovering and applying scientific processes to the study of the unknown are significant and should be lauded.

---- compiled by Marilyn A. Hudson

Note: Obituary : Hayden Cooper Hewes - Oklahoma City Cremation  .Photo of Hewes alone is credited to the following sources, and used here under fair use for educational purposes, Wood, Tony. [Photograph 2012.201.B0258.0175], photograph, July 24, 1965;  (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc371448/: accessed December 14, 2021), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society. https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc371448/m1/1/med_res/