Frank Allyn Edwards
(August 4, 1908 – June 23, 1967). Frank Edwards served on the original NICAP Board of Governors. He was an American writer and broadcaster, and one of the pioneers in radio. He hosted a radio show broadcast across the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. After WWII, the Mutual Broadcasting System hired Edwards to host a nationwide news and opinion program sponsored by the American Federation of Labor. Edwards' program was a success, and became nationally popular. In 1948, Edwards received an advance copy of "Flying Saucers Are Real," a magazine article written by retired U.S. Marine Corps Major Donald E. keyhoe. Though already interested in the UFO reports that had earned widespread publicity since 1947, Edwards was captivated by Keyhoe's claims that the U.S. military knew the saucers were actually extraterrestrial spaceships. Edwards began mentioning UFOs on his radio program, and wrote several books on the subject. He was dismissed from the radio program in 1954, for reasons that remain uncertain. His interest in UFOs was believed to be a factor, but Edwards's editor and friend Rory Stuart wrote, "[AFL President] George Meany insisted that Frank Edwards not mention any [competing labor union] CIO labor leaders on his program. He flatly refused and was fired." In spite of thousands of letters in protest of his dismissal, Edwards was not reinstated.