Reference: Gerry Anderson TV

Another Gerry Anderson reference: UFO was an early 1970's UK television sci-fi show[9], with UFO being archaically (and now comically) pronounced as "you-foe". According to Evangelion's character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, the characters of Gendo and Fuyutsuki were modeled after UFO's Commander Ed Straker and Colonel Alec Freeman[10].

Reference: Gerry Anderson TV