Barry H. Downing is Pastor Emeritus of Northminster Presbyterian Church, Endwell, New York, where he retired in 2001 after serving as pastor for 34 years.  He served interim pastoral positions in Ithaca and Binghamton, and with his wife Eleanor helping in worship leadership, he most recently served as Interim Pastor of Conklin Presbyterian Church, Conklin, New York.   He held several positions at the denominational level, including serving as Moderator of the Presbytery of Susquehanna Valley twice.

Downing earned a bachelor’s degree from Hartwick College in 1960, where he majored in physics, a divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1963, and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1966, where he specialized in the relation between science and religion.  His dissertation was entitled, Eschatological Implications of the Understanding of Time and Space in the Thought of Isaac Newton.

He published The Bible and Flying Saucers in 1968, which has been reprinted several times in the United States and England, as well as being published in Italian in 2012.  He has argued that biblical events, like the Parting of the Red Sea, and the resurrection of Jesus, may be UFO related events.   In 1972, he became a theological consultant to the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), and has addressed several symposiums, as well as publishing frequently in the MUFON UFO Journal.      He has also served on the national board of directors of the Fund for UFO Research (FUFOR).   

He contributed several articles to The Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters, edited by Ronald D. Story, as well as publishing in Flying Saucer Review, UFO Magazine, and Ancient Astronauts Magazine.   

He is listed in Who’s Who In Theology and Science, as well as in Wikipedia, the internet encyclopedia.     Downing was featured in the 2010 AOL News article by Lee Speigel, “Close Encounters of the Sacred Kind.”  He was filmed for the History Channel production “UFOs In the Bible,” and has appeared in several of the History Channel production series “Ancient Aliens.”