Documents / Official release

CIA-UAP-003, The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

Central Intelligence Agency · 1954 · 406 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is a Secret History Staff monograph by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach of the Central Intelligence Agency, published in 1992. It gives a history of the CIA's manned overhead reconnaissance program from 1954 to 1974, covering the development and operation of the U-2 and the A-12 OXCART aircraft. It covers overflights of the Soviet Union, the 1960 downing of Francis Gary Powers, and later operations. One section is titled "U-2s, UFOs, and Operation BLUE BOOK."

From the source:Release of 2026-06-12 This CIA History Staff document chronicles the complete history of the U-2 and OXCART (A-12) high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft programs from 1954 to 1974, detailing their development, operations over the Soviet Union and other targets worldwide, the famous downing of Francis Gary Powers in 1960, organizational reforms following that incident, and the eventual transfer of operations from CIA to Air Force control. A more redacted version of this document has been available on CIA's public website.

Open the PDF at page 102 Original source ↗

“Sea”42 pages

p. 16 …An RB-29 lost in the Sea of Japan on 13 June 1952 was probably also…
p. 38 …off to about 6 percent of its sea-level thrust. Finally, low structural load factors, like…
p. 62 …U-2 landing gear and pogos .Sea,et-
p. 69 …chap. 8, pp. 1-2 (TS Codeword); Miller, Lockheed U-2. pp. 19-20. Sea,at
p. 75 …a boiling point of 300°F at sea level. Manufacturing this special fuel required petroleum byproducts…
p. 80 …pounds heavier and delivered only 10.200 pounds of thrust at sea level; the resulting Secret
p. 89 …that they could not be flown at sea level faster than 190 knots in smooth air…
p. 98 …Sec.el NOfOftN Chapter 2 Sea,et
p. 102 …working on a cover story for over seas operations. It was important to have a plausible…
p. 115 North Sea First Overflights, 20 June - 5 July 1956 ) f\ Sweden .__,_,_"-.. ) ~ STOCICHOUil -~ ✓ vf!.Sea \f Finland…
p. 116 r/ o/ North Sea 1/'. AMSTERDAM ;, 0 0 Baltic S<la --- Mission 2013 4 July - - - Mission…
p. 120 …Black SEia ~ q, TurkE~Y ~ ~111~ 13~ • ? ~ ...• o<) Mediterranean Sea () .. •• •,,, Malta (U.K.) Sec, et NOFORN ...... . . .. ·:. ·.•
p. 131 Mission 1316, 1 November 1956 Turkey Cyprus ', (U.K .) '· Mediterranean Sea lncirlik Airbase _/\ o/ t. </ \ f…
p. 139 …Soviet border from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea and on to Afghanistan. The System…
p. 146 …On 31 July, the same aircraft made a run over the Black Sea. There were a…
p. 148 …was the first to photograph the major Soviet space launch facility east of the Aral Sea…
p. 153 …of Soviet naval maneuvers in the Barents Sea. The final overflight of Detachment A , mission 2040…
p. 154 …K~ome<e,, tOO 200Miles Norwegian Sea Barents Sea Kola Peninsula '1'v Sweden f / Finlaind…
p. 155 …Norwegian radars tracked the overflights of the Barents Sea and Murmansk in October 1957, and Col…
p. 157 …well within international airspace above the Black Sea, as was the case on 27 October I957…
p. 158 …it turned abruptly upward over the Bering Sea just west of Alaska, climbed to 110,000…
p. 166 …the Soviet border and over the Black Sea without entering Soviet airspace. In late August, as…
p. 179 Baltic ~a Finland Black Sea Tu • ' -···1~- ..... ;.. :~.: ~~~~ •' :~·f.:~<,,· ·ir.fa 0 First British Overflight, 6 December…
p. 185 …Because the Bodo airfield was involved in NATO maneuvers taking place in the Barents Sea area…
p. 215 …Caribbean Sea W- Caymanlsl"""5 I_U."-i ~,...~ _''-),.,, .";!:-, - Mission 3086 5 August Mission 3088 29 August…
p. 216 …Caribbean Sea lOOKiloml.it•~ 100 200 Mff.-s Guvtof Mex~co \\\ I \ Caribbean Sea Multiple missions…
p. 225 …forces were conducting an all-out air-sea-land drive against the rebel-held areas in…
p. 226 f. 0 0 IND/AN OCEAN 300 -- 300 IIOOMlloo .·' Philippine Sea
p. 240 …Philippine Sea South China Sea Philippines • SeGFet NOFOAl<J 72<1~ (IU)0428J 4o92
p. 248 …6eeret NOFORN Chapter 5 Sea,et
p. 257 …The use of peripheral missions prevented any further losses, although one aircraft crashed into the sea…
p. 288 275 Settee NOPORN Chapter 6 Radar testing of A-72 mockup Sea,et
p. 316 …Shortly before Leningrad, the A-12 would head west-southwest down the Baltic Sea, skirting the…
p. 317 …2 would be flying farther out to sea, safely beyond the range of all Soviet SAMs…
p. 350 …B B Afghanistan, Tashkent, Tyuratam, Kazalinsk, Aral Sea 11 August 1957 4039 McMurray Lahore B B…
p. 351 …A-2 Dushanbe, Tashkent, Tyuratam, Kazalinsk, Aral Sea 10 September 1957 4059 Hall Adana B A…
p. 369 …AQUILINE 304, 339-343 Arabs 256 Aral Sea 135 Arbenz, Jacobo 16 "Archangel-I" 262 "Archangel…
p. 371 358 &ee,et NQFQRN Index Baltic Sea 3, 303 Baltic states 104 Baltimore; Maryland 6, 9…
p. 373 …186, 201, 205, 208-209, 299, 327 Caspian Sea 126 catheterized 64 cathode-ray tube 267…
p. 382 …23-24, 109, 139, 143, 164 Kara Sea 142 Kazakh language 135 Kazakhstan 135 Kazan', Soviet…
p. 385 …301 mechanical fuel totalizer/counters 68 Mediterranean Sea 114, 116. 121, 140, 142, 153 medium-range…
p. 393 …Pennsylvania 222 Sea of Japan 3 Seaberg, John 8-9. 12. 35-36. 333 SEAFOAM 211…

89
~eeret NOFOAN
Chapter 2
THE U-2 COVER STORY
In February 1956, while the controversy over balloon flights was still
raging and the U-2 was completing its final airworthiness tests,
Richard Bissell and his staff began working on a cover story for over
seas operations. It was important to have a plausible reason for de
ploying such an unusual looking plane, whose glider wings and odd
landing gear were certain to arouse curiosity.
Bissell decided that the best cover for the deployment of the U-2
was an ostensible mission of high-altitude weather research by the
National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA). Such a cover
story, however, needed the approval of all concerned: Air Force intel
ligence, the Air Weather Service, the Third Air Force, the Seventh Air
Division, the SAC U-2 project officer, the Air Force Headquarters
project officer, and NACA's top official, Dr. Hugh Dryden. Moreover,
the CIA Scientific Advisory Committee was also consulted about the
cover plan.
Senior CIA officials and the other agencies involved in provid-
• ing cover for the U-2 approved the final version of the overall cover
story at the end of March 1956. The project staff then began working
on contingency plans for the loss of a U-2 over hostile territory.
Bissell advised the project's cover officer to "produce a document
which sets forth all actions to be taken ... not only press releases and
the public Line to be taken, but also the suspension of operations and
at least an indication of the diplomatic action.... We should at least
make the attempt in this case to be prepared for the worst in a really
orderly fashion." The cover officer then prepared emergency proce
dures based on the overall weather research cover story, and Bissell
approved these plans. There was one final high-level look at the cover
story on 21 June 1956, the day after the first U-2 mission over Eastern
Europe, when Bissell met with General Goodpaster, James Killian,
and Edwin Land to discuss the pending overflights of the Soviet
Union, including the proposed emergency procedures. Killian and
Land disagreed with Bissell's concept and made a much bolder and
more forthright proposal: in the event of the loss of a U-2 over hostile
territory, the United States should not try to deny responsibility but
should state that overflights were being conducted "to guard against
surprise attack." This proposal was put aside for further thought
(which it never received), and Bissell 's weather research cover re
mained the basis for statements to be made after a loss. The project
staff then went on to prepare a number of different statements to be
See,et

Not linked to a story yet.

About this file

Official release, from the pursue 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.