The Psychological Strategy Board commissioned Menzel to advocate for skepticism concerning the reality of UFOs. He authored or co-authored three popular books to debunk UFOs: "Flying Saucers - Myth - Truth - History" (1953), "The World of Flying Saucers" (1963, co-authored with Lyle G Boyd), and "The UFO Enigma" (1977, co-authored with Ernest H. Taves). All of Menzel's UFO books argued that UFOs are nothing more than misidentification of prosaic phenomena such as stars, clouds and airplanes; or the result of people seeing unusual atmospheric phenomena they were unfamiliar with. He was among the first prominent scientists to offer an opinion on the matter. One of Menzel's earliest public involvements in UFO matters was his appearance on a radio documentary directed and narrated by Edward R. Murrow in mid-1950. (Swords, 98)