---
category: Intelligence Concept
summary: Human Intelligence (HUMINT) refers to intelligence gathered from human sources,
  the discipline in which CIA counterintelligence chief James Jesus Angleton was considered
  most expert.
tags:
- Concept
- Intelligence
---

Human Intelligence (HUMINT) refers to intelligence gathered from human sources. [James Jesus Angleton](/people/james-jesus-angleton/), the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/)'s director of counterintelligence, was known for his forte in HUMINT. However, analysts in the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/)'s Office of National Estimates (ONE) often did not find his HUMINT sources reliable, particularly concerning [Dimona](/places/dimona/) and [Israel](/places/israel/)'s nuclear weapons progress.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 11.