Hector Quintanilla

From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person

Contents 3
Hector Quintanilla
Illustration of an open book about flying saucers
Illustration: an open book about flying saucers. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.
TypePerson
Also known asQuintanilla
On the Timeline1 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

A view of part of Socorro, New Mexico. Aerial photograph, taken from an RV-6A aircraft flown out of Socorro's airport.
A view of part of Socorro, New Mexico. Aerial photograph, taken from an RV-6A aircraft flown out of Socorro's airport. Photo: Jimwmurphy · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

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

California Institute of Technology President Harold Brown
California Institute of Technology President Harold Brown Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

References

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.

Discuss the article: missing sources, mistakes, or what should be added.

No discussion yet.

BrowseFeedArticlesTimelineOfficial filesMapTonight’s SkyStatsFavorites