[3] At Northwestern University he started Ph.D. work in Mathematics, but was called to active duty by the United States Air Force in 1970.

This culminated in planning the orbit for the STS-88 mission,[6] the first International Space Station (ISS) assembly flight.

[8] As a journalist, Oberg writes for several publications, mostly online; he was previously a space correspondent or commentator for UPI, ABC News and currently MSNBC,[4] often in an on-air role.

[5] Oberg is also a space consultant and on-air commentator to NBC News, Discovery Canada and the BBC.

Also in 1991, Oberg launched a battle for official recognition of Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr. (1935–1967) as a United States astronaut;[10] the United States Air Force officially recognized Lawrence in January 1997, six years after Oberg had begun his campaign.

"[13][14] Oberg writes that Moon landing conspiracy theories are fueled by resentment of American culture by some countries.

Oberg says that belief in the conspiracy is not the fault of the hoaxists, but rather of educators and people (including NASA) who should provide information to the public.

According to Oberg, North Korea "showed everything but the important things"[18] and did not manage to demonstrate peaceful intent.

James Oberg often writes about alleged UFO sightings, giving scientific explanations to seemingly extraterrestrial phenomena, or otherwise debunking them as hoaxes.

Oberg suggested that it might be an invitation to a future disaster and proposed it to be put in a compartment accessible only from outside, after landing.

[3][4][5] He has a conversant knowledge of Russian, French and Latin, and has some familiarity with German, Swedish, Spanish, Kazakh and Japanese.