Roscoe Henry Hillenkoetter
(Born May 8 1897 - Died
June 18 1982)
He was the third director
of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States, serving from May
1, 1947 to October 7, 1950.
He was serving as director
of the CIA at the time that North Korea invaded South Korea (June 25, 1950)
Prior to joining the Central Intelligence Agency Captain
Hillenkoetter served as the commanding officer of the USS Missouri. In 1946
he was a Rear Admiral. In late 1950 (after
his retirement from the C.I.A. - he was unfairly blamed for the C.I.A.'s
mishandling of the North Korean attack) - He was then
the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Cruiser Fleet. In 1956 he was a Vice Admiral
Inspector General. He was a Naval Commander and Intelligence officer and
as such was on the US Naval Investigations committee for Aerial Phenomena.
This was during the 1950's.
In 1960 he made a few startling
public statements on the UFO situation - statements that he has become remembered
by.
"Behind the scenes,
high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about UFOs. But through
official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown
flying objects are nonsense."
"The U.S. Air Force
has constantly misled the public about UFO's. I urge congressional action
to reduce the danger from secrecy."
New York Times - February
28th 1960 - Click link above to view actual article from New York Times
Archive - See my link for "fair use" on home page
