Howard M. McCoy

Colonel Howard M. McCoy was a pivotal U.S. Air Force intelligence officer deeply involved in early UFO investigations. During World War II, he directed Operation Lusty, exploiting captured German aircraft and technology, and later tracked Foo Fighters and 1946 Ghost Rockets. At Wright Field from 1946-1949 as Chief of Intelligence for Air Materiel Command, he likely drafted the September 1947 Twining Memo, affirming UFOs as real phenomena beyond illusion or fiction, after consulting General Nathan Twining. In October 1948, he queried the CIA on UFO origins, probing possible domestic projects versus foreign threats. At a secret 1948 Project Blue Book advisory meeting, McCoy stated the military had recovered no flying saucers, expressing eagerness for such a find. His nuclear intelligence ties fueled speculation on UFO links to classified experiments, though he debunked crash retrievals like Roswell.