Hector Quintanilla
Encyclopedia
Hector Quintanilla JR. was a United States Air Force
(USAF) Lt Colonel best known as the last chief officer of Project Blue Book
, the USAF's official unidentified flying object
investigative arm.
He received a physics degree from St. Mary University in 1950. He decided to pursue a military career and was offered a commission of Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force in 1951. In 1954 he was C.O of unit 6910 Security Group in Landsberg, Bavaria. He was an officer in the United States Air Force Security Service. His wife, Eleanor, joined him on this tour. His troops had been trained in San Antonio and had enjoyed Mexican food. They stated that his beautiful wife invited them to a Mexican Christmas dinner in 1954. In 1960 Quintanilla later served at Griffis AFB, Rome, New York.
He headed Project Blue Book
from 1963 until its closure in 1970. Project Blue Book was started in 1952. The USAF announced Project Blue Book's closing on December 17, 1969 and officially closed it on January 30, 1970. He succeeded Lt. Col. Robert Friend. He was selected to be the next Project Blue Book Officer by Colonel Eric T Joncheere, who explained to Quintanilla that he was looking to fill the position with a man with a degree in physics, with maturity, drive, and a man who was cool under pressure. Quintanilla shook his head and felt he only met the degree requirement. Col Joncheere told Quintanilla to take the job for a few weeks and report to him. Quintanilla felt he was offered the job due to his reluctance to take several other job offers in the escalating Vietnam War
. Project Blue Book left a legacy of over 12,0000 reported UFO's investigated of which 30 percent or over 4,000 cases, were classified as unknown causes.
Lt Col Quintanilla retired in San Antonio after Project Blue Book was closed. Sometime afterwards he was injured in a golfing cart accident. He sustained a head injury that affected him in later years. He died May 18, 1998 in San Antonio, Texas
. Quintanilla left behind six children (Gene,Tessie,Karl,Nancy,Diane and Bob)and several grand children.
Project Blue Book was often harshly criticized by those who argued he was not properly investigating UFO reports and was prone to improbable and/or untested post hoc
explanations. After Blue Book folded, Quintanilla wrote a memoir, unpublished during his life and publicized in the '90s by the National Institute of Discovery Science, which explained Quintanilla's perspective on Blue Book and UFOs.
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
(USAF) Lt Colonel best known as the last chief officer of Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book was one of a series of systematic studies of unidentified flying objects conducted by the United States Air Force. Started in 1952, it was the second revival of such a study...
, the USAF's official unidentified flying object
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
investigative arm.
Biography
Born in Monterrey Nuevo, León, Mexico in 1923, Hector Quintanilla Jr. emigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1929 as a young boy (Quintanilla had three brothers). He and his family crossed the Gateway To The Americas International Bridge in Laredo Texas. He was 6 years old at the time. His family made their home in west side San Antonio around the Laredo and Martin street neighborhoods. His family could only afford a $1.25 a week shack with a dirt floor. Hector and his brothers did not mind because they mostly wore their shoes on Sundays to go to church. He was selling newspapers for the San Antonio Express and San Antonio Light mornings and evenings by age seven. He would peddle his papers around the Baptist Medical Hospital area. Quintanilla also built a shoe box to shine shoes. He decided to offer shoe shine service as well, due to the reluctance of some customers to let go of 2 cents for a newspaper during hard (depression) times. He would wake up at 4:30 A.M. to begin and organize his paper route. He was a student at Hawthorne Jr. High and graduated from Brackenridge High School in San Antonio in 1942. A friend later helped him get a part time job with the U.S. Post Office. He was enrolled in St. Mary University as a freshman when he received his draft notice. He was drafted in 1943 and honorably discharged in 1945. Quintanilla served in the South Pacific Theater in the 13th Air Force, 72nd Squadron, as a bombardier.He received a physics degree from St. Mary University in 1950. He decided to pursue a military career and was offered a commission of Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force in 1951. In 1954 he was C.O of unit 6910 Security Group in Landsberg, Bavaria. He was an officer in the United States Air Force Security Service. His wife, Eleanor, joined him on this tour. His troops had been trained in San Antonio and had enjoyed Mexican food. They stated that his beautiful wife invited them to a Mexican Christmas dinner in 1954. In 1960 Quintanilla later served at Griffis AFB, Rome, New York.
He headed Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book was one of a series of systematic studies of unidentified flying objects conducted by the United States Air Force. Started in 1952, it was the second revival of such a study...
from 1963 until its closure in 1970. Project Blue Book was started in 1952. The USAF announced Project Blue Book's closing on December 17, 1969 and officially closed it on January 30, 1970. He succeeded Lt. Col. Robert Friend. He was selected to be the next Project Blue Book Officer by Colonel Eric T Joncheere, who explained to Quintanilla that he was looking to fill the position with a man with a degree in physics, with maturity, drive, and a man who was cool under pressure. Quintanilla shook his head and felt he only met the degree requirement. Col Joncheere told Quintanilla to take the job for a few weeks and report to him. Quintanilla felt he was offered the job due to his reluctance to take several other job offers in the escalating Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Project Blue Book left a legacy of over 12,0000 reported UFO's investigated of which 30 percent or over 4,000 cases, were classified as unknown causes.
Lt Col Quintanilla retired in San Antonio after Project Blue Book was closed. Sometime afterwards he was injured in a golfing cart accident. He sustained a head injury that affected him in later years. He died May 18, 1998 in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
. Quintanilla left behind six children (Gene,Tessie,Karl,Nancy,Diane and Bob)and several grand children.
Project Blue Book was often harshly criticized by those who argued he was not properly investigating UFO reports and was prone to improbable and/or untested post hoc
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Post hoc ergo propter hoc, Latin for "after this, therefore because of this," is a logical fallacy that states, "Since that event followed this one, that event must have been caused by this one." It is often shortened to simply post hoc and is also sometimes referred to as false cause,...
explanations. After Blue Book folded, Quintanilla wrote a memoir, unpublished during his life and publicized in the '90s by the National Institute of Discovery Science, which explained Quintanilla's perspective on Blue Book and UFOs.
See also
- Project Blue BookProject Blue BookProject Blue Book was one of a series of systematic studies of unidentified flying objects conducted by the United States Air Force. Started in 1952, it was the second revival of such a study...
- National Institute of Discovery Science