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CIA/CSI/ History Staff Monograph, The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and Oxcart Programs, 16 July 2002.

Central Intelligence Agency · 406 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is a CIA History Staff monograph by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach, written in 1992 and approved for release in 2011. It covers the CIA's manned overhead reconnaissance program from 1954 to 1974 and its two aircraft, the U-2 and the A-12 OXCART. It follows their development, the overflights of the Soviet Union, the downing of Francis Gary Powers in 1960, and later operations. One section is titled "U-2s, UFOs, and Operation BLUE BOOK."

Open the PDF at page 130 Original source ↗

“Nevers”24 pages

  • p. 13 …Without their help a good deal of this story could never have become known. The assistance…
  • p. 44 …the CL-282; in fact, there may never have been a formal decision as such. In…
  • p. 74 …fly, Lockheed engineers had to solve problems never before encountered. Among these problems was the need…
  • p. 84 …Flight tests continued, with the U-2 ascending to alti- tudes never before attained in sustained…
  • p. 102 …put aside for further thought (which it never received), and Bissell's weather research cover re…
  • p. 138 …Then in January 1960, the commander of Detachment B, raised an important question that had never…
  • p. 147 …Peninsula, because of bad weather and, therefore, never entered Soviet airspace. A second attempt to photograph…
  • p. 159 …Six of the men on board were killed and the remaining 11 were never heard from…
  • p. 160 …Although this new Berlin crisis never became as threatening as the blockade of 1948-49, President…
  • p. 165 …The Air Force never equipped its orig- inal U-2s with the J75 engines." Detachment C…
  • p. 189 …Powers never made it past Sverdlovsk. Four and a half hours into the mission, an SA…
  • p. 208 …very good reason, and such a situation never developed, in part because satellite photography gradually began…
  • p. 210 …Since this never happened, Francis Gary Powers' flight on I May 1960 proved to be the…
  • p. 223 …Responsibility for photo- graphic coverage of Cuba remained with the Air Force; Agency pilots never flew…
  • p. 264 Sratrt.11/Qt2.1....31■1 Chapter 5 251 005653421 UNCLASSIFIED There was never another Agency…
  • p. 290 …the OXCART aircraft for its own use. never adopted the laminated vertical stabilizers.'4 THE OXCART…
  • p. 294 …Scott employed concepts never be- fore used in camera systems. These included the use of a…
  • p. 298 …As it turned out, the J58 was never used in a Navy aircraft. OSA History. chap…
  • p. 299 …This new delay was caused by leaking fuel tanks, a problem that would never be solved…
  • p. 313 …even though the SKYLARK contingency plan was never put into effect. Since U-2s continued to…
  • p. 316 …Moreover, the Soviets never operated the radars in the tracking and locktin modes, a fact that…
  • p. 326 …collector of strategic intelligence, the OXCART was never used for this purpose. Its brief deployment was…
  • p. 328 …Yet, the President never went so far as to eliminate the overflight program. As Commander in…
  • p. 333 …its speed and altitude have never been equaled. The development of this aircraft also led to…
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Chapter 3
117
USA records,
CO5653421 UNCLASSIFIED
The Anglo-French
military buildup greatly imtated President Eisenhower, who consid-
ered these activities a violation of the 1950 Tripartite Declaration, in
which the United States, the United Kingdom, and France had agreed
to maintain the status quo in armaments and borders in the Middle
East.[
U-2 photography continued to keep the President and other key
officials well informed about the progress of the crisis.
Tecretary
of State John Foster Dulles told the President on 28 October that he
believed an Israeli attack on Jordan was imminent, adding that he
thought the British and French would take advantage of such an at-
tack to occupy the Suez Canal.52
The 10-day Middle East war began on the afternoon of 29
- October 1956 with Israeli paratroop drops in the Sinai peninsula, fol-
lowed by mobile columns striking deep into Egyptian territory.I
where he
photographed black puffs of smoke from the fighting between Israel
and Egypt. Adana-based U-2s were in the air for the next two days
filming the Suez Canal areak
The United Kingdom and France entered the fray on the evening
of 31 October with bombing raids against major Egyptian airfields.
The Anglo-French bombing campaign continued for the next 48
rhours. Early on the morning of 1 November, an Adana-based U-2, i-
loted by
flew soiiilL where he made several passes to obtain
complete coverage of the Israeli-Egyptian fighting there.CHe then
headed west to Cair5; passing directly over the main Egyptian airbase
" Lundahl and Brugioni interview (TS Codeword).
Telephone calls, 28 October 1956. DDE Diary, DDEL.
E0 12958 1.61[0111>1010101810111101010<25Yrs
(Si
Ts_raiNtission folder 1314 (30 October 1956).
eword).
S et
UNCLASSIFIED

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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 406 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.