Hynek's Close Encounter Classification: From CE I–III to CE4–5 and the UAP Era
To the point
J. Allen Hynek created a concise, observational framework that classifies UFO reports into distant sightings and close encounters (CE I–CE III), later expanded by Jacques Vallée to CE4 and CE5 and popularized by Steven Spielberg, which has become a foundational tool for organizing cases and guiding serious inquiry even as the term UAP enters official discourse.
