AARO Historical Record Report Volume 1

41
Project Aquatone/Dragon Lady (1954)
President Eisenhower authorized Project Aquatone to develop the U-2 Dragon Lady, a
high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft to collect intelligence on Soviet nuclear deployments. More
than half of the UFO reports investigated in the 1950s and 1960s were assessed to be U.S.
reconnaissance flights, according to a declassified CIA assessment on reconnaissance aircraft.138
The report noted that UFO reports would spike when the U-2 was in flight, especially from
airline pilots to Air Traffic Control. At that time, commercial flights typically flew below 20,000
feet while the U-2 flew at 60,000 feet. The report noted that when commercial pilots were flying
east to west, with the sun below the horizon, the sunlight would illuminate the U-2.139
WS-117L/CORONA (Late 1956)
In 1956, the USAF initiated the WS-117L satellite reconnaissance program equipped
with a film-return vehicle. Following the launch of Sputnik, the Eisenhower Administration
made this program a high-priority. In February 1958, President Eisenhower decided the CIA
would have the lead role in the program, called “CORONA,” and that it would be jointly
managed alongside the USAF. The CORONA program performed 140 launches between 1959
and 1972, with many returning film from space to the Earth for recovery.140
VZ-9AV Avrocar/Project Silver Bug (1958)
Canada initially led an effort to develop a supersonic, vertical takeoff and landing fighter-
bomber in the early 1950s. A.V. Roe (Avro) Aircraft Limited (later Avro Canada) led the design
for the concept, and this effort yielded the Avrocar, an aircraft with a circular shape that gave it a
stereotypical “flying saucer” appearance.141 Canada pulled its support when the project became
too expensive. The U.S. Army and U.S. USAF took over the project in 1958 when Avro offered
it to the USG, when it became known as “Project Silver Bug.”142 143 Avro built two test vehicles
that were designated as the VZ-9AV Avrocar, but the project was cancelled in December 1961
when the vehicle could not lift more than a few feet off the ground.144 Project Silver Bug was
declassified in 1997.145
Explorer 1 (January 1958)
The United States launched its first satellite, Explorer 1, into space on January 31, 1958.
Explorer 1 carried a cosmic ray detector and was designed, built, and operated by the NASA Jet
Propulsion Laboratory.146
Oxcart/A-12/SR-71 (1958)
President Eisenhower approved this CIA-led program to develop a successor to the U-2
spy plane in 1958, which became fully operational in 1965.147 The U-2’s successor, the A-12
OXCART sustained a speed of Mach 3.2 at 90,000 feet altitude.148 By the time the A-12 was
deployed by the CIA in 1967, CORONA satellites were being used to collect imagery of denied
areas with less provocation than aircraft overflights.149 In 1968, President Johnson ordered the
retirement of the A-12 when it was replaced by the SR-71, which itself was a modified version of
the A-12.150