Lawrence J. Tacker

Lt. Col. Lawrence J. Tacker served as a key U.S. Air Force spokesperson and investigator for Project Blue Book, the military's official UFO inquiry from 1952 to 1969, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. In 1959, he authored a letter confirming analysis of photos from a Bucks County, Pennsylvania, sighting, attributing it to U.S. Air Force photo flares from a planned mission. Tacker co-starred in a Department of Defense video with Maj. Hector Quintanilla Jr., explaining Blue Book's efforts to identify UFO reports, which totaled 12,618 cases, 701 unexplained. In 1960, he published Flying Saucers and the U.S. Air Force, the Air Force-endorsed account detailing investigations and countering sensational claims, foreworded by Gen. Thomas D. White. His work emphasized rational explanations amid public fascination.