John F. Schuessler
- Life status
- Confirmed deceased
- Profession
- Aerospace engineer
- Also recorded as
- John Frederick Schuessler · John Schuessler
- Born
- 27 May 1933 · attributed: according to Horan & McConaty Funeral Service and Cremation, not independently verified
- Age
- 93 · as reported by Horan & McConaty Funeral Service and Cremation (attributed), at the recorded event
- Died
- 11 July 2026 · known to the day
- Fields
- Not classified yet: categories await the owner’s taxonomy review
- Organisations
- Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), co-founder (1969); International Director 2000–2006; International Director Emeritus · attributed, from 1969
McDonnell Douglas, engineer; later Director of Engineering and Director of Operations (per his MUFON history page) · attributed - Works
- None catalogued yet
In plain words
Aerospace engineer. Directly involved in UFO research for more than five decades as a MUFON founder, investigator, state director and International Director.
Biography
John F. Schuessler (John Frederick Schuessler), aerospace engineer and MUFON co-founder, is the person described by the MUFON obituary and the Horan & McConaty obituary; both give the same date of death.
Born on May 27, 1933 in Jacksonville, Illinois, according to the funeral-home obituary. Attributed
The funeral-home obituary gives his age as 93. Attributed
Died on July 11, 2026 (MUFON obituary and funeral-home obituary agree).
Died at his home in Denver, Colorado, according to the funeral-home obituary; the MUFON obituary says only "at home". Attributed
MUFON states that he "passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones"; the funeral-home obituary says he died "in his home surrounded by family". Neither gives a cause. Attributed
Aerospace engineer.
Worked at McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in St. Louis, later McDonnell Douglas and then Boeing, from which he retired in 1998; his own MUFON history page says he led design engineering and space operations teams on Mercury, Gemini, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station and became Director of Engineering and later Director of Operations. Attributed
Served as an engineer and draftsman in the Navy until 1963, achieving the rank of Chief Petty Officer, according to the funeral-home obituary. Attributed
Received a degree in engineering from the University of Illinois and a master's degree in Futures Studies from the University of Houston, Clear Lake in 1981, according to the funeral-home obituary. Attributed
Received the NASA Public Service Award for his work designing and building the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, according to the funeral-home obituary. Attributed
His MUFON history page says he was Program Manager for the design, development and construction of the NASA Neutral Buoyancy Facility and received the NASA Public Service Medal (the funeral home calls it an Award). Attributed
Co-founded MUFON in 1969 with Walt Andrus, according to MUFON and the funeral-home obituary; his own history page calls him "one of the founding members". Attributed
Selected as MUFON International Director in 2000 when Walt Andrus retired, and retired from the post in November 2006; MUFON later called him International Director Emeritus. Attributed
Directly involved in UFO research for more than five decades as a MUFON founder, investigator, state director and International Director.
Co-authored a book on the Cash-Landrum UFO incident, with a foreword by Bob Pratt, according to the MUFON obituary (title given there as "The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident"; year not stated). Attributed
Not established
- Not establishedNo reviewed source states a medical cause of death. Not established in the reviewed sources; MUFON obituary (12 Jul 2026), Horan & McConaty obituary and MUFON history page read in full on 2026-11-06; none states a cause of death.; checked 6 Nov 2026.
- Not establishedNo reviewed source states a manner of death. Not established in the reviewed sources; MUFON obituary (12 Jul 2026), Horan & McConaty obituary and MUFON history page read in full on 2026-11-06; none states a manner of death.; checked 6 Nov 2026.
- Not establishedNo reviewed source says whether an official determination of cause or manner was made. Not established in the reviewed sources; MUFON obituary (12 Jul 2026), Horan & McConaty obituary and MUFON history page read in full on 2026-11-06; none mentions a coroner, medical examiner or other determination.; checked 6 Nov 2026.
Connection to UAP research
Directly involved in UFO research for more than five decades as a MUFON founder, investigator, state director and International Director.
Works
No works catalogued in the approved record yet. Works mentioned in sources appear as attributed statements in the biography.
Timeline
Events and cases
No case file is published for this person. Recorded life events are in the timeline above; a case is opened only with its own evidence and review.
Sources
- MUFON Co-Founder John Schuessler Has Passed! (opens in a new tab)MUFON (Mutual UFO Network), 2026 · Organisation website · read
- John Frederick Schuessler Obituary (opens in a new tab)Horan & McConaty Funeral Service and Cremation · Funeral-home obituary · read
- A Brief History of Mufon (opens in a new tab)MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) · Organisation website · readAuthor: John F. Schuessler, Former International Director [2000 - 2006]