Documents / FOIA release
This is a CIA History Staff monograph by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach, published in Washington in 1992 and approved for release in 2011. It covers the CIA's manned overhead reconnaissance program from 1954 to 1974, which developed and flew the U-2 and the A-12 OXCART. It traces the U-2's development, the overflights of the Soviet Union, the downing of Francis Gary Powers on 1 May 1960, and later operations. One section is titled U-2s, UFOs, and Operation BLUE BOOK.
“The Advance”26 pages
Five Detachment G pilots and planes were ferried to n the Philippines to conduct an operation nown NT-Eng the period 3 to 18 January 1961, these U-2s made Se OFORN Chapter 221 005653421 UNCLASSIFIED Detachment G Missions Over Laos and North Vietnam In the aftermath of the Powers loss, both of the overseas U-2 detach- ments returned to the United States and their aircraft and personnel were incorporated into Detachment G at Edwards Air Force Base in California. This detachment was now responsible for providing cover- age in Asia, and its first mission came in Laos. After the neutralist Laotian Government of Souvanna Phouma collapsed in early December 1960, reports began circulating that leftist antigovernment forces were using Soviet arms. Then on 30 December, a new Laotian Government appealed for UN aid against what it said was an invasion from North Vietnam and possibly Communist China. Alarmed over the possibility of the civil war expanding because of the introduction of foreign troops, the Eisenhower administration ordered Detachment G to gather more information on the events in Southeast Asia. seven flights over Laos and North Vietnam. To search for the reported foreign troops, these missions concentrated on the lines of communi- cations leading into Laos from North Vietnam and China. In addition, the U-2s scanned North Vietnamese airfields for Soviet aircraft to determine the magnitude of the airdrop operation alle aedly supporting the Pathet Lao troops. NP1C sent photointerpreters to to obtain an immediate readou o of each mission. The photography did not substantiate the Laotian claims, and on 26 January the Laotian Government retracted its charges of a foreign invasion. Detachment G's U-2s returned to California in early February 1961.3' During the final stages of Operation there was a ma- jor threat to the security of the mission. rom the flights made on 16 and 18 January had been sent to the United States for du- plicate processing. Afterward the film was put aboard an Agency C-47 on 14 March to ferry it to Washington. During the flight one of the aircraft's engines failed, forcing the crew to jettison 43 boxes of highly classified film over mountainous terrain around Williamsport. Pennsylvania, to keep the craft airborne. After making an emergency ED 129581.6(d)(13)101011110<25Yrs (S1 " Ibid., chap. 16, p. 17 (TS Codeworcl). UNCLASSIFIED
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 406 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.