Carroll H. Bolender

Brigadier General Carroll H. Bolender was a United States Air Force officer who played a pivotal role in UFO investigations during the late 1960s. Achieving the rank of brigadier general in 1965, he previously served as Program Manager for Lunar Excursion Module Operations in the Apollo program, reporting to Samuel C. Phillips. On October 20, 1969, Bolender authored a crucial memo outlining the closure of Project Blue Book, revealing that reports of unidentified flying objects potentially affecting national security were handled via JANAP 146 or Air Force Manual 55-11, bypassing Blue Book entirely. This disclosure contradicted official USAF claims that no UFOs posed security threats and that investigations ended in 1969, exposing ongoing classified channels. Bolender retired from the Air Force in 1972.