William F Raborn
William Francis Raborn Jr. (1905–1990) was a Vice Admiral in the United States Navy who served as Director of Central Intelligence (1965–1966) and is best known for directing the development of the Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile program — one of the most significant weapons systems of the Cold War.
| Role | Vice Admiral, US Navy; Director of Central Intelligence; Polaris program director |
|---|
Polaris Program
Raborn's leadership of the Polaris Fleet Ballistic Missile program in the late 1950s and early 1960s produced the US Navy's first submarine-launched nuclear deterrent. The program required unprecedented advances in deep-ocean engineering, missile guidance, and submarine technology. Navy chief scientist John Piña Craven stated he was ordered to carry out the Deep Submergent Systems Project — a program to drastically increase deep-ocean engineering and operational depth — in part to satisfy Project Sand Dollar, which allegedly cataloged every item of US national security interest resting on the seafloor tagged for retrieval. Raborn's oversight of Polaris placed him at the nexus of these ocean-floor programs.
Board Memberships
After retiring from government service, Raborn served on the boards of both Wackenhut Corporation and SAIC — two private firms deeply associated with classified defense and intelligence programs. His presence on the Wackenhut board alongside Bobby Ray Inman and Frank Carlucci is cited by UAP researchers as evidence of the interconnected network of senior defense and intelligence officials embedded in the private security infrastructure surrounding UFO legacy program facilities.