Dan Kimball

Dan A. Kimball served as the 47th United States Secretary of the Navy from 1951 to 1953 under President Harry S. Truman. An American businessman and government official born in 1896 and died in 1978, he oversaw naval operations during the early Cold War era when high-altitude U-2 spy plane tests inadvertently triggered a surge in UFO reports. These sightings, often from pilots and ground observers mistaking the U-2 for unidentified flying objects, contributed significantly to the Air Force's establishment and expansion of Project Blue Book, the official UFO investigation program based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. As Navy Secretary, Kimball's tenure coincided with this pivotal period in UAP history, though no direct personal involvement in UFO research or testimony is documented.