What Happened to James Coulter?

                                                            By Bob Koford, 2026

Premise: after reading the details surrounding the secret mission to Venezuela, in 1948 (mostly in the diaries of both Admiral Hillenkoetter and his Deputy, General Wright), I now think that one of those mentioned in the files, Mr. James W. Coulter, might have been murdered. It is my opinion of course, but his “heart attack” came at a very unique moment.

In November of 1948, on orders from the National Security Council, via NSC 29, 3 individuals were chosen (its not entirely clear from which agency -most liklely from the CIA) for temporary assignment to the State Department. They were being sent to Venezuela, where they were to inspect the oil production facilities there in order to ascertain whether or not these facilities were secure. There had been some tense Intelligence assessments regarding these and a few other facilities. Having access to them was extremely vital to our national Security strategy. After the initial trip to Venezuela, by the three experts in security and the oil business, (Reuben E. Peterson, James W. Coulter and Paul L. Hopper) which wrapped up in December, 1948, they submitted their report to the National Security Council, who had it by January, 1949. In it, they reported all was well, and the refineries were secure.

The Venezuelan Ambassador wrote to the State Department to thank them and let them know that the visit was successful.

Quoting from the report by the Ambassador in Venezuela, TOP SECRET No. 56 to the State Department: “...The assistance of the oil companies in arranging the field survey was requested and was in all cases readily granted, including the British directed Shell Caribbean

Petroleum Company and its affiliates.”

We know that at least one of these companies was a Shell Patroleum Company, which had a major United States office in New Orleans, La. This might be an important clue, because the deadly serious part of the story began after their return to Washinfton, D. C. The survey team’s report had been submitted to the CIA and the NSC declaring the: “all is well” but Admiral Hillenkoetter, never-the-less, received a message from the NSC asking that Mr. Coulter be sent back to Venezuela, but this time with the head of Internal Security, Colonel Sheffield Edwards. Colonel Edwards had apparently, specifically asked for this. Maybe Colonel Edwards felt that he had been undermined by the first trip, since he wasn’t invited at that time? Who knows, but Coulter agreed to it and the return trip was in late January or early February, 1949.

It was on the plane ride to Venezuela, with Mr. James W. Coulter and Colonel Sheffield Edwards, when one Mr. C. D. Cline, from New Orleans, made them both privy to some very, very sensitive information. Mr. Coulter seems to have taken custody of the information packet and book, and once he and Colonel Edwards confired together, it was decided that they should turn around, and head back to Washington D. C. The information given to them by C. D. Cline, of New Orleans, which later began to be referred to as “the secret Venezuelan information”, had to be shown to Admiral Hillenkoetter, right away!

The DCIA was made aware by “someone” in the agency that this information was incoming, and he eagerly awaited the delivery of it, which he considered to be for his “Eyes Only”.

Obviously Mr. Cline’s info packet had been returned to him by Mr. Coulter, on the plane, because it was Mr. C. D. Cline that was in possession of it upon their return to Washington. It had been decided by Colonel Edwards that Mr. Cline should drop off the information at the front desk of a cleared CIA Hotel. From there, a CIA courier would pick it up and bring it to the Admiral. After a short while, the bundle of information was indeed dropped off at the designated Hotel, by Mr. C. D. Cline, of New Orleans.

When head of the CIA’s Office of Operations (OO), Mr. George Carey, heard about the information, he offered to pick it up on the way to work, the next day. Unfortunately for Mr. Carey, he was blindsided by another automobile, while enroute. So severely injured was he that he had to be taken to the hospital -with two broken legs. An official courier was later sent and he picked up the items from the Hotel front desk. Admiral Hillenkoetter eagerly awaited the arrival of this package of important information. Unfortunately for the Admiral, newly appointed head of CIA’s Office of Operations/Contact Branch (CIA/OO/CB) Lyman Kirkpatrick, decided that he would intercept the package himself. Keep in mind, this is a Top Secret/Eyes Only packet of Intelligence meant for Hillenkoetter!

When the Director found out what Kirkpatrick had done he was furious! He sent an immediate order to Mr. Kirkpatrick to get that info to the Director directly! The Admiral had the information...or rather...what he assumed to be all the information, by the next morning. The information itself was described in a few different ways, during this period of time: “the secret Venezuelan information”, “the package”, the “book”, and the “envelope and book”. Admiral Hillenkoetter had a few meetings, with Mr. Coulter, where they discussed the “secret Venezuelan information” through the month of February, and into early March. On March 17, 1949, he secretly met DCIA Hillenkoetter in his office again. They spoke for some time, and then Mr. James W. Coulter left.

The next day, Admiral Hillenkoetter was informed that Mr. Coulter had “...died of a heart attack”. Things were never the same for Admiral Hillenkoetter.

During the time period that the DCI and Mr. Coulter had been discussing the “secret Venezuelan information” issue, through February and March, Hillenkoetter was also fighting a war with the United States Army/General Staff Corps‘s Intelligence Division, over their continuing efforts to keep the Admiral from certain sensitive official Army Intelligence information. The issue at the heart of it all was the General Staff’s Top Secret Control for METRIC materials, which they would NOT share with the Admiral.

Army ID’s TSC Officer, at the time, for METRIC and COSMIC was Major John Whalen. He would only exchange this TSC material with a courier from the CIA and one CIA Officer. Over his ensuing years the Admiral haggled back and forth with Army ID to get this changed. Even the members of the Intelligence Advisory Committee were not privy to Top Secret METRIC or Top Secret COSMIC. By late 1950, the Admiral had achieved partial reading into METRIC, and the agreement to have a Top Secret Control Officer, in the CIA was put into action. The incoming DCI, General Walter B. Smith, would have a TSC Officer in the CIA, for both METRIC and COSMIC. That person was Mr. R. Jack Smith.

If you look up METRIC and COSMIC today, you will be directed to NATO’s historical page. There you will see that both METRIC and COSMIC are simply early iterations of ways to handle information about the creation of what would be NATO. Why would the Army need to keep information pertaining to NATO from Hillenkoetter? Was the paranoia and odd behavior in the CIA, regarding the sensitive information given to Mr. Coulter and Colonel Edwards by Mr. C. D. Cline of New Orleans and which seemed to lead to the death of Mr. James Coulter, in any way connected with the information being concealed by Army Intelligence within METRIC? What WAS the “secret Venezuelan information” dealing with, anyway? These two major sources of stress for the Admiral, METRIC and the mysterious death of JAMES COULTER, were occurring simultaneously.

Was James Coulter “given” a heart attack? The timing of his death and the mystery surrounding the whole “secret Venezuelan” information is just too much of a coinicidence to just simply ignore it. How the heck could Lyman Kirkpatrick have been allowed to intercept a private or eyes only package of information intended for Admiral Hillenkoetter? Plus, the Admirtal had just recently signed on to the promotion of Lyman B. Kirkpatrick to the position of head of Contact Branch at the CIA’s Office of Operations. Why did Colonel Edwards get tossed into the story like he did? We know that at that time a secret program existed, within the CIA, to explore ways to alter someone’s memories and even possibly programming someone for a task. It concentrated on erasing someone’s memory “selectively”.

Under Hillenkoetter the mind altering program was called BLUEBIRD. When the Admiral left, it was Colonel Sheffield Edwards, GSC, who took over with Project: ARTICHOKE. [Technical Services Staff (TSS) located within the Office of Technical Services (OTS) described in CIA files as being another sort of “Manhattan Project”].

It sure looks to me like Coulter was taken out by someone who didn’t like that he was continuing to discuss “it” with DCI Hillenkoetter. What ever “it” was, it warranted the intervention by an outside “force’. It had to be someone connected to those who blocked the “package” from the Admiral. One of those, by inferrence, would have been Lyman Kirkpatrick, as he was the one who physically intercepted the information before Hillinkoetter could get it. Could Coulter have been given the ARTICHOKE treatment and died in the process? Maybe some shock therapy, perhaps? This seems like a huge, defining moment in Hillenkoetter’s time as Director. Based on historical material, by the time Hillenkoetter left office, being replaced by General Smith, he was beside himself with stress. He wanted “out”.

Based on the published history of the Central Intelligence Group (1946/CIG) and how the Army’s Intelligence organizations were warey of trusting them, it appears to me that the Office of Operations (OO) became the crossover, for secret control. There are examples noted where Army Office of Special Operations and CIA Office of Special Operations were working together and it seems it is the most obvious place where opposition to Hillenkoetter, from within the Army, would be echoed within the CIA -that is, from CIA/ OO...specifically, in this case, the CIA/OO/Contact Branch (CB). I really don’t see how Lyman Kirckpatrick had the authority to intercept Hillenkoetter’s business. With Mr. Coulter ending up dead, I think I have every right to be asking these questions!

It is mentioned in the Admiral’s diary that he felt bad that Mr. Cline did not get his property returned to him as promised by the Admiral. There was a delay because when the Admiral turned over the material to the courier, for return to Mr. C. D. Cline, he did not receive it. I assume it was Lyman Kirkpatrick, again. Whoever was responsible, they probably caught hell once Mr. Cline complained to the DCIA.

Imagine what stress DCI Hillenkoetter was under, at this time, knowing that at any moment, someone from Army ID or individuals who didn’t care for him located within CIA/OSO and/or a Colonel within Secret Internal Affairs, might just launch a plot to “over-throw” him.

I can present another example:

Admiral Hillenkoetter took his responsibilties seriously, as DCIA. He had clearly presented himself, at early Intelligence Advisory Board meetings and in early meetings of the future NSC, that he did not want to create another “...gestopo”!

As DCI, he had a clear responsibilty to create and maintain a study and reports group intended to keep track of Communist influence, and more imporatntly, their INTENTIONS in the immediate time period. To fulfill this requirement, the Admiral created the “Check List”. It was a beginning..not perfect, but a good start. Unfortunately, then ‘acting” Director of Army ID, General Alex Bolling, did not agree and wanted HIS version of the idea of a SOVIET INTENTIONS reporting group to replace Hillenkoetter’s “Check List”. Bolling and his supporters referred to his as the “Watch Committee.”

It did not take very long before the Watch Committee was also handling Unconventional Aircraft reports. I think an argument could be made that the Watch Committee had always been intended to handle “UFO” reports of a National Security interest, in a certain capacity. That is, anything requiring thought of “intent” was on the table.

I don’t really think Admiral Hillenkoetter’s “Check List” was a mistake, or severly flawed, in the way that General Bolling described to the members in the IAC at one of their meetings. I feel that General Bolling rushed his ideas through because he disliked/distrusted Admiral Hillenkoetter. Still, the Watch Committee worked, and it took hold and spawned the Indications Committee which morphed into the CIA’s Ofiice of National Estimates (ONE) and the National Indications Center (NIC). Myself and other reseachers have seen many documents showing the connection between the Watch Committee and UFOs. That doesn’t mean more than it does, that is, it just stands to reason that it would be involved at some point.

There are many other examples, showing the tension and disagreements between DCIA Hillenkoetter and Army Intelligence. But the METRIC battle was hot, behind the scenes, right before Forrestal fell ill. While Secretary Forrestal was in Bethesda, Admiral Hillenkoetter continued the dialogue with General Bolling about setting up a COSMIC and METRIC registry within CIA. A week after Mr. Forrestal died (22 May 1949), the Admiral was again discussing the METRIC issue with General Bolling. The way this particular letter ends, you’d have thought that the issue was finally resolved. Nope, and that had been the problem all along. That is one of the things bringing on the complaints. General Bolling always appeared authentic and reasonably surprised when confronted about some of these complaints. He would be quick to say he’d “get on it’ ...but it would never appear to have been the case. There are documents dealing with the same issue during General Walter B. Smith’s tenure, as well.

As I mentioned previously, any present day conversation on METRIC and/or COSMIC would almost certainly be dealing with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), whose terms of use are Secret, Top Secret and COSMIC secret. But I will take this moment to restate the two big problems I have with leaving it at that:

1. The METRIC and COSMIC materials handling procedures I am discussing were both Top Secret Army Intelligence sub-programs; Top Secret: COSMIC and Top Secret: METRIC, complete with a Top Secret Control Officer (TSCO): Major John Whalen.

2. Why would those secretly planning and coordinating with allies and their ideas, for a European Protection Plan, need to keep everything about it from the Director of Central Intelligence? More was known about Project: RUSTY (Army OSO/NAZIs in South America) than Top Secret: METRIC.

The original METRIC and COSMIC, mentioned in the files, were both Army ID Top Secret programs. Information about both of them were held in the most guarded way imaginable. They were the most sensitive programs in Army Intellgence, and they didn’t want to share this info with anyone outside of their “special” chain of command. This included the head of Intelligence, the DCIA. If it is just about the creation of NATO, how does that make any sense AT ALL? You mean to tell me Hillenkoetter was kept out of “the loop” via the coming North Atlantic Treaty and its details? I don’t think I can be made to believe that!