# Is "The UFO Experience" by J. Allen Hynek a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The UFO Experience by J. Allen Hynek (Henry Regnery, 1972) is identified by: The true first edition of The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry by J. The 1972 Henry Regnery hardcover is the true first; the later Ballantine mass-market paperback and subsequent reissues follow it.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first edition of The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry by J. Allen Hynek was published by Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, in 1972, with no statement of a later printing on the copyright page
- The book collates xii, 276 pages
- In it Hynek — the astronomer who served as scientific consultant to the US Air Force's Project Blue Book — set out his now-famous classification of sightings, including the 'close encounter' categories
- The first-issue dust jacket should retain its original printed price on the flap (price present rather than clipped)
- Publisher imprint reads Henry Regnery
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | J. Allen Hynek |
| Publisher | Henry Regnery |
| Year | 1972 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first edition of The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry by J. Allen Hynek was published by Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, in… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The true first edition of The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry by J. Allen Hynek was published by Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, in 1972, with no statement of a later printing on the copyright page. The book collates xii, 276 pages. In it Hynek — the astronomer who served as scientific consultant to the US Air Force's Project Blue Book — set out his now-famous classification of sightings, including the 'close encounter' categories. The first-issue dust jacket should retain its original printed price on the flap (price present rather than clipped).

## Is this the true first?
The 1972 Henry Regnery hardcover is the true first; the later Ballantine mass-market paperback and subsequent reissues follow it.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings and the Ballantine paperback reprint the text but are not the first edition and are far less collectible; watch for third-printing hardcovers in blue cloth without the priced first-issue jacket. Use the 1972 Regnery imprint, the absence of a later-printing statement, and the priced jacket to be certain — see book-club edition vs. first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The UFO Experience* by J. Allen Hynek a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-ufo-experience
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.