Hector Quintanilla

Quintanilla was born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico and immigrated to the United States at age six with his parents and three brothers in 1929.

In August 1963, Quintanilla was made chief of Project Blue Book, a post he held until the study's termination in January 1970.

He was selected to be the next Project Blue Book Officer by Colonel Eric T. de Jonckheere, 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 physics degree requirement.

Project Blue Book left a legacy of over 12,000 reported UFOs investigated of which 30 percent or over 4,000 cases, were classified as unknown.

Quintanilla left behind six children — Gene, Tessie, Karl, Nancy, Diane, and Bob — and several grandchildren.

Project Blue Book was often harshly criticized[1][2] by those who argued it was not properly investigating UFO reports and was prone to improbable and/or untested post hoc explanations.