National Photographic Interpretation Center
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🏢 Organization
Contents 6
| Type | Organization |
|---|---|
| Also known as | NPIC |
| On the Timeline | 2 events, 1962–1994 |
The National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC) was a U.S. government centre for analysing aerial and satellite photographs, run by the CIA from 1961 until it was merged into a new mapping and imagery agency in 1996. It is best known for discovering Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962.[1]
History
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorised NPIC shortly before leaving office in January 1961, as a joint project of the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency within the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology. Its main job was imagery analysis. Arthur C. Lundahl, who led CIA photo-interpretation work from 1953, directed the centre until 1973.[1][2]
Cuban Missile Crisis
In October 1962 NPIC analysts studying photographs from U-2 spy planes found that the Soviet Union was installing missiles in Cuba. They briefed U.S. leaders throughout the crisis, and some of their images were shown to the United Nations Security Council by Ambassador Adlai Stevenson on 25 October 1962. Film from Corona reconnaissance satellites was also analysed at the centre.[1]
Later history
On 1 October 1996 NPIC's mission was merged with the Defense Mapping Agency and other offices into the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, renamed the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in 2003.[1]
Condon Committee
According to a 1997 CIA history, in February 1967 NPIC agreed to give the University of Colorado UFO study led by Edward Condon informal technical advice on analysing UFO photographs, on condition that its help was not identified as CIA work. Condon and four committee members visited NPIC on 20 February 1967, where Lundahl insisted on that condition, and in May 1967 the committee returned to review NPIC's analysis of UFO photographs from Zanesville, Ohio, which showed them to be a hoax. The committee's 1969 report did not mention the CIA's help.[3]
On the UAP Timeline
- Gun-camera films sent to the CIA claim (1962) — Researcher Richard Hall says jet gun-camera UAP films were routinely sent to the CIA.
- Arthur Lundahl and presidential briefings (1994) — Researcher Grant Cameron says the CIA's Arthur Lundahl may have briefed presidents on UAP.
References
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Jan. 18, 1961: National Photographic Interpretation Center", National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (archived) · web.archive.org · archived copy
- Gerald K. Haines, "CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947–90", Studies in Intelligence (1997) · sgp.fas.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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