Arthur Charles Lundahl KBE (1 April 1915 – June 22, 1992) was a forerunner of American Cold War imagery intelligence (IMINT) and aerial reconnaissance known for his discovery of Soviet missile installations in Cuba in 1962 which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was responsible for establishing the Central Intelligence Agency's National Photographic Interpretation Center, a forerunner of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and led the photointerpretation section of the U-2 reconnaissance program. Analyzing reconnaissance films, he briefed presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy as well as the nation's top military and diplomatic officials. Lundahl provided critical intelligence on the arms race and many other international crises, including the Suez Crisis; Quemoy and Matsu, islands controlled by Taiwan; Tibet; Lebanon, and Laos.
Early career
Born in Chicago, he trained in geology at the University of Chicago, obtaining a bachelor's degree in 1939 and a master's degree there in 1942.
Early in his career, he combined his academic training as a geologist with his hobby as a photographer, and became expert in interpreting details of pictures and distinguishing natural features from manmade construction. He developed his new skills during World War II while serving in the Navy, studying aerial photographs of targets in Japan and the Aleutian and Kuril islands.
Postwar
After the war ended, he became "Chief Engineer" of the Photogrammetry Division of the Naval Photographic Interpretation Center (the original NPIC, which subsequently became known as the Naval Reconnaissance Technical Support Center - NRTSC). In 1953, he moved to the CIA, to lead the "Photographic Interpretation Division (PID), manage both general photointerpretation and then the products, in the late fifties, of the U-2 program. In 1954 he served as President of the American Society of Photogrammetry (ASP).
NPIC and the U-2
In that effort, he combined photo interpretation, automatic data processing, photogrammetry, graphic arts, communications, collateral research, and technical analysis into the NPIC. According to his associate, Dino Brugioni, on July 4, 1956, using the U-2 aircraft, and within two months, the NPIC could put to rest the political accusation of a "bomber gap".
Next, the U-2 was used tactically to keep US policymakers informed on the Suez Crisis of 1956. Other U-2 missions analyzed by NPIC included flyovers of Tibet, the offshore islands of the PRC, and Lebanon. Overflights of the USSR continued until a U-2 was shot down in May 1960.
Unidentified Flying Objects
CIA documents indicate that the agency monitored the UFO situation starting in 1952. Lundahl's first meeting with a study group was in 1967.
Lundahl meets with Air Force contract team
In 1967, the Air Force issued a contract, to the University of Colorado, for the study of unidentified flying objects. BG Edward B. Giller, USAF, was the contract monitor, Dr. Thomas Rachford was the senior Air Force Scientist on the project, and the principal investigator from the University was Dr. E.U. Condon.
"On 20 February 1967 at 0915 Dr. Condon and four members of his investigative team visited NPIC. With Dr. Condon were Dr. Richard Love, University of Colorado, Dr. David Saunders, University of Colorado, Dr. William Price, Executive Director of APRST, and Dr. Rachford, USAF. The purpose of this visit was to familiarize Dr. Condon and members of his team with selected photogrammetric and photographic analysis capabilities of NPIC. Lundahl met with investigators of UFO reports ."
The meeting was allowed to discuss classified material through the SECRET level. NPIC established ground rules:
In summary,
Condon and the same group met again in May 1967 at NPIC to hear an analysis of UFO photographs taken at Zanesville, Ohio. The analysis debunked that sighting. The committee was again impressed with the technical work performed, and Condon remarked that for the first time a scientific analysis of a UFO would stand up to investigation.
Discussion of UFO's with Jacque Vallée
On an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, computer scientist Jacque Vallée recounted a conversation he had with Lundahl about a piece of strange metal which had been shot off an UFO during a 1952 sighting over Washington, D.C.