Arthur C. Lundahl

Who was Arthur C. Lundahl?

Arthur Charles Lundahl was the key organizer of the US post-World War II imagery intelligence, and an aerial-photography expert whose detection of missile installations in Cuba in 1962 led to the Cuban missile crisis.

He founded the Central Intelligence Agency's National Photographic Interpretation Center, now part of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Analyzing reconnaissance films, he briefed Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy as well as the nation's top military and diplomatic officials. Mr. Lundahl provided critical intelligence on the arms race and many other international crises, including those involving the Suez Canal; Quemoy and Matsu, islands controlled by Taiwan; Tibet; Lebanon, and Laos. Geology and Photography