Summary

The first Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (May 1947-October 1950), serving during the same period in which the modern UAP investigation apparatus was established - Project Sign was formed in December 1947, months after Hillenkoetter's CIA appointment. After retiring from the Navy in 1957, he joined the Board of Governors of NICAP alongside Donald Keyhoe, becoming the highest-credentialed official to openly associate with a civilian UAP advocacy organization. In 1960, a congressional letter attributed to him was published by the New York Times stating that high-ranking Air Force officers were 'soberly concerned' about UAPs but that 'official secrecy and ridicule' were preventing honest public engagement. He is the most institutionally credentialed figure to have publicly advocated for UAP transparency prior to the 2017 disclosure era.

Roles

• -First Director, Central Intelligence Agency (May 1947 - October 1950)
• -Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (retired)
• -Member, Board of Governors, National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP, 1957-1962)

Organizations

Education

• -B.S., United States Naval Academy, Annapolis (1919)
• -Postgraduate study, Naval War College

Early Career

• -Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1919, beginning a career that would include assignments in naval intelligence, attache duty, and command of naval vessels
• -Served as Naval Attache to the American embassies in Paris and Vichy France during World War II, developing extensive intelligence tradecraft and foreign liaison relationships
• -Commanded the USS Missouri briefly; served as Inspector General of the Navy before his CIA appointment
• -Was personally selected by President Harry Truman to serve as the first Director of Central Intelligence when the CIA was established under the National Security Act of 1947

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