Britton Chance (1913-2010) was a biochemist and biophysicist as well as a pioneer in the field of biomedical optics. Chance received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1940 and his Ph.D. in Biology and Physiology from Cambridge University in 1942. Over the course of his nearly eight decade career, Chance was dedicated to the application and transfer of basic scientific research and technology to clinical medicine. The Britton Chance Papers contain correspondence, research notes, experimental data, publication materials, and photographs stemming from Chance's life as a biochemist, biophysicist, and yachtsman. The collection is broken up into fifteen series that document every aspect of his scientific work.

An electrical engineer and senior editor for Aviation Week and Space Technology, Philip Klass began investigating UFOs in 1966 after participating in a panel discussion on the subject for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). From that time forward Klass has investigated UFO sightings in an effort to find a credible prosaic explanation, and became one of the most widely recognized UFO "debunkers." A founding member of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), serving on the Executive Council and the UFO subcommittee, Klass has authored seven books and numerous articles on UFOs, including the Skeptics UFO Newsletter in 1989. In the early 1970s, he became interested in space based weapons, and began collecting material related to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) for a possible book. The Klass Collection relate to his forty-plus years of investigating UFO sightings, and includes correspondence with many of the leading UFOlogists, both pro and con. The collection contains case files, subject files, and correspondence. In addition, Klass' SDI material is included.