Documents / FOIA release
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."
“The Advance”26 pages
Chapter 5 205 Stosr4.%..t CO5653421 UNCLASSIFIED overflights of Cuban territory. He argued that the loss of an aircraft on a mission that combined both types of flights would make it difficult for the United States to stand on its rights to fly over international wa- ters. Bundy and Carter therefore agreed to split the proposed recon- naissance program into four missions: two overflights and two peripheral flights, all planned for maximum safety. The overflights were thus designed to be quick "in-and-out" operations across the narrow width of the island instead of flights along the entire length of Cuba, as had been the case previously. (As the map on page 202 illus- trates, the 5 September mission was the last one to fly along the length of the island.) As an additional precaution, flightpaths would be laid out to avoid known SAM sites. Although these changes greatly reduced the danger to the U-2, they slowed the gathering of information on the Soviet buildup by reducing each mission's coverage. 9 To ensure that the photographs taken by these missions were of the highest quality. the CIA decided to conduct flights only when the weather along the flight routes was less than 25 percent overcast. Weather proved to be a major problem during the month of September. Unfavorable forecasts (along with a brief standdown of U-2 overflights after the loss pre- vented the launching of any missions from 6 through 16 September. Moreover, when mission 3091 finally flew on 17 September, the fa- vorable weather forecast proved inaccurate and heavy clouds pre- vented the mission from obtaining usable photography. Bad weather continued to rule out missions until 26 September, when mission 3093 covered eastern Cuba and found three additional SAM sites. Three days later mission 3095 flew over the Isle of Pines and Bay of Pigs area, finding one more SAM site and a coastal-defense cruise missile site."' The cautious series of U-2 flights in September had turned up many more SAM sites but no concrete evidence of the presence of surface-to-surface missiles. Growing impatient with the restrictions " Lehman Report, pp. 12-13 (TS Codeword). DCI John A. McCone, Memorandum for the Record. "U-2 Overflights of Cuba. 29 glat jui-L „urv ut cah 14 October 1962." 27 February 1963, DCI records,' S). Although this DC1 memo states that "the delay in completing the photo- ge was due solely to the unfavorable weather predicted during this period." a more contemporary COMOR memo rerrted a standdown of U-2 overflights until 16 September as a result of the loss of mission No. GRC- 127 over China on 8 September. Memorandum for DOC! Carter from lames Q. Reber. Chairman, COMOR, "Historical Analysis of U-2 Overflights of Cuba," 24 October 1962, IC Staff, COMIREX records Cuba Requirements, 1961-63" (TS Ccxleword). E0 12951 1.6fillIll>101010<25Yrs (SI 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.