Howard McCoy
| Howard M. McCoy | |
| Born | Dec. 4, 1907, Kane, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Died | Oct. 12, 1976, Bethesda, Maryland |
| Rank | Colonel, U.S. Air Force |
| Education | U.S. Military Academy (1930); Caltech (aeronautical engineering) |
| Service | Air Corps / Army Air Forces / U.S. Air Force, 1930–1954 |
| Known for | |
| Role | Chief of Intelligence, Air Materiel Command (Oct. 1947 – Aug. 1949) |
| Related | Project Sign, Air Materiel Command |
| Government officialHistorical | |
Howard Monroe McCoy (1907–1976) was a career Air Corps and Air Force officer and engineer who, as a colonel, led the intelligence staff of the Air Materiel Command (AMC) at Wright Field, Ohio, from October 1947 until August 1949. That is the organization where the military’s first flying-disc studies were run, and the record of his tenure was released in 2026 as part of PURSUE Release 07.[1]
Career
McCoy graduated from West Point in 1930 and trained as a pilot at March and Kelly Fields. He spent much of the 1930s and early 1940s in engineering and test work at Wright Field, studying aeronautical engineering at Caltech twice and serving as chief of the Materiel Division’s propeller laboratory in 1942–1944. In 1944–1945 he held technical-services posts in Europe, then returned to Wright Field in October 1945 as chief of the Analysis and Air Documents divisions of the Air Technical Service Command’s intelligence section (T-2).[1]
From December 1946 he was Deputy Commanding General for Intelligence (T-2) at AMC, and from October 15, 1947, chief of the AMC Intelligence Department. His efficiency reports, written by Lt. Gen. Nathan F. Twining and Lt. Gen. Benjamin W. Chidlaw, describe a job aimed at preventing “technological surprise from any source,” exploiting foreign intelligence and setting security policy. General Order 66 of August 8, 1949, replaced him with Col. Harold E. Watson.[1]
After AMC, McCoy attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (1949–1950), served as an air technical intelligence officer assigned to the Central Intelligence Agency (1950–1951), directed the Department of Defense’s Physical Security Equipment Agency (1951–1954) and retired on August 31, 1954. In a 1954 statement he said he had also managed the Science Survey Office, an AMC laboratory for classified security and investigative equipment.[1]
Connection to UFO history
Project Sign, the Air Force’s first formal UFO investigation, began in early 1948 within AMC’s intelligence organization, the chain McCoy headed. Histories of the period therefore often name him as the officer in charge when Sign began. His personnel file, released as DOW-UAP-D180, confirms his position and tenure but contains no mention of Sign, flying discs or any sighting, so it does not show what role, if any, he played in the UFO work.[1]
See also
- Howard McCoy personnel record (PURSUE files)
- Air Materiel Command
- Project Sign
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
- Project Sign and early military UFO studies (1947–1949)
- PURSUE Release 07 overview
References
- ^ U.S. Department of War (2026). PURSUE Release 07 (Oct. 23, 2026): DOW-UAP-D180, Final Personnel Record for McCoy, Howard M., U.S. Air Force (1954). war.gov/ufo.