Adm. and Madame Hillenkoetter were essentially our grandparents. Mom’s mom (my Nana) was their long-time (many decades) housekeeper, and since Mom’s dad wasn’t around, the Hillenkoetter’s helped to raise Mom alongside their daughter Jane.
His belief in the other-worldly nature of UFOs was something he expressed to family, but not directly to me.
That’s still a wonderful legacy. Something to be proud of!
From Wikipedia:
Perhaps Hillenkoetter’s best-known statement on the subject was in 1960 in a letter to Congress, as reported in The New York Times: “Behind the scenes, high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense.”