Philip J. Klass, 85, an aviation journalist who investigated UFO sightings and wrote books debunking reports of visits from outer space, died Aug. 9 at a nursing facility in Cocoa, Fla. He had cancer.
Mr. Klass lived in Washington for more than 50 years before moving to Merritt Island, Fla., in 2003.
He had retired as senior avionics editor of Aviation Week & Space Technology in 1986 but continued to contribute to the magazine for a number of years. He is credited with coining the term "avionics," a blending of aviation and electronics. His work, which included one of the first books about spy satellite technology, "Secret Sentries in Space" (1971), won him honors in the field of aeronautical journalism and engineering.
