Hector Quintanilla
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person
Contents 3
| Type | Person |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Quintanilla |
| On the Timeline | 1 event, 1966 |
Hector Quintanilla (1923–1998) was a U.S. Air Force major and later lieutenant colonel who was the last head of Project Blue Book, from 1963 until it closed in 1969.
Blue Book under Quintanilla

Quintanilla took a skeptical approach and was criticised by researchers, including J. Allen Hynek, for explaining cases too quickly. At the April 1966 House hearing, records indicate Blue Book told Congress there were no unexplained radar cases, a statement researchers say was contradicted by its own files. He oversaw the Socorro case and the 1966 Michigan sightings. He wrote a memoir, UFOs: An Air Force Dilemma, published after his death.
On the UAP Timeline

- House Armed Services Committee UFO hearing (1966) (5 April 1966) — The Blue Book chief tells Congress there are no unexplained radar cases, contradicted by records.
References
- House Armed Services hearing on UFOs, 5 April 1966 — GovInfo · govinfo.gov · archived copy
- Gerald Ford pushes congressional UFO hearings, 1966 — The Black Vault · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- Flying saucers and swamp gas — Bentley Historical Library · bentley.umich.edu · archived copy
- Condon Committee — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- 1966 UFO hearing transcript (PDF) — Internet Archive · ia600402.us.archive.org · archived copy
- Hector Quintanilla's Blue Book memoir 'UFOs: An Air Force Dilemma' (PDF) · ufologie.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- UFOs in Congress in the 1960s — Podcast UFO · podcastufo.com · archived copy
- White House file: Armed Services UFO hearing, 1966 — LBJ Library · discoverlbj.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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