Billy Cox: Retro Friday: a blast from the past

Before blowing the whistle on America's illegal covert Cold War activities, Victor Marchetti was a 14-year CIA veteran ultimately promoted to executive assistant to The Agency's Deputy Director. After resigning in 1969, he wrote two exposes -- 1971's The Rope Dancer, and The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence in 1974. The latter, which the federal government attempted to ban from publication, was among the many slings and arrows contributing to the formation of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearings in 1975.

In 1979, Marchetti stoked yet another controversy by providing a rare if not largely speculative glimpse into the mindset of The Agency's uneasy relationship with The Great Taboo. Titled "How the CIA Views the UFO Phenomenon," Marchetti's magazine piece took a cautious approach. "The topic was rarely discussed at internal meetings," he wrote. "It seemed to fall into the category of 'very sensitive activities,' e.g., drug and mind-control operations, domestic spying, and other illegal actions. People simply did not talk about the UFO phenomenon."