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 158 Original source ↗

“The Advance”34 pages

  • p. 6 …255 The Phaseout of the Office of Special Activities ........ ................... 257 0 ) Chapter 6 The U-2…
  • p. 7 …319 Advances in Technology............................................... ........................... 320 Cooperation With the Air Force ............................................................. 321 Impact of the Overhead Reconnaissance…
  • p. 22 …retired from the Air Force to become the assistant director of Lockheed's Advanced Development Program…
  • p. 24 11 / Chapter 1 gravity (g's) instead of the military specification strengLh of 5.33 g…
  • p. 32 …lithium deuteride, a tech nology more advanced than the heavy water method used by US '' BEACON…
  • p. 33 …between the developed and undeveloped nations. This aggressive Soviet foreign policy. combined with advances in nuclear…
  • p. 58 …secrecy in the new project, Kelly Johnson placed it in Lockheed's Advanced Development facility at…
  • p. 65 …His software algorithms made it possible to model lens designs and determine in advance the effects…
  • p. 76 …seen on pilot Francis Gary Powers) advanced gear for the U-2 pilots. David Clark expert…
  • p. 111 …of Soviet advances in long-range bombers and missiles. The initial sighting of the new Soviet…
  • p. 114 …Adenauer be informed in advance of US plans to overfly the Soviet Union from bases in…
  • p. 174 …concentrating on developing the more advanced solid-fueled missiles rather than increasing the num ber of…
  • p. 183 …if the Soviet SAMs received sufficient advanced warning, they posed a major threat to the U…
  • p. 191 …the cover story that had been prepared and distributed in advance of the mission. The first…
  • p. 206 …In 1965 the head of OSA received a new title, Director of Special Activities. The Office…
  • p. 235 …STPOLLY added the more advanced Lockheed P3A in 1963. Between 1955 and 1967, when the CIA…
  • p. 249 …The Defense Department feared that the loss of this device with its highly advanced traveling-wave…
  • p. 250 …Chapter 5 Advanced ECM Equipment for Detachment H Demand for overhead photography of the PRC continued…
  • p. 252 …In addition, the Project TACKLE U-2s began receiving even more advanced ECM • 60 equipment. •• Mission…
  • p. 265 …but some was the result of technological advances. The ini tial order for eight of the…
  • p. 266 …This camera was actually a very advanced version of the original B camera with a new…
  • p. 282 …aircraft from the small inventory of its most advanced bomber. Even had the B-588 program…
  • p. 295 …In fact, it was an advanced version of the highly reliable B camera developed for the…
  • p. 296 …Prospective pilots had to be qualified in the most advanced fighters and be emotionally stable and…
  • p. 307 …advanced experimental jet aircraft, the A-11. which has been tested in sustained flight at more…
  • p. 310 …It was now time to find work for the most advanced aircraft ever conceived and built…
  • p. 321 …advanced aircraft ever .built was to be put out to pasture. The aban donment of the…
  • p. 325 …when the OXCART program ended in the summer of 1968, no mcire advanced successor was wait…
  • p. 326 …The most advanced aircraft of the 20th century had become an anachronism before it was ever…
  • p. 333 …ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY One very important byproduct of the CIA's manned reconnaissance program was the…
  • p. 334 …the end of the usefulness of the world's most advanced aircraft; its offspring, the SR…
  • p. 335 …Thus, the CIA sponsored the development of the world's most advanced aircraft-the OXCART-and…
  • p. 352 …They believed that recent advances in the minia turization of electronic technology would make possible the…
  • p. 356 343 Defense Research and Engineering, John Foster, liked the concept and provided DOD funding for ORD…
145
launched to take advantage of a newly discovered change in the
west-to-east jet stream. Normally, this fast-moving air current stayed
at an altitude of 55,000 feet, but, during June and July, it turned
abruptly upward over the Bering Sea just west of Alaska, climbed to
110,000 feet, and then reversed direction. One of the key arguments
that convinced the President to approve the project was Quarles 's
claim that the balloons' "chance of being detected is rather small and
their identification or shootdown practically nil." 96
Release of the balloons took place from an aircraft carrier in the
Bering Sea on 7 July 1958. Nothing was heard about them until 28
July, when Poland sent a note protesting the overflight of a US-made,
camera-carrying balloon that had fallen to earth in central Poland.
The loss of this balloon was because of human error. Each balloon
was equipped with a timing device that would cause it to drop its
camera and film payload after crossing the target areas. An Air Force
technician aboard the aircraft carrier had calculated that the balloons
should cross the Eurasian landmass in about 16 days. Thus, he ad
justed regulators aboard the balloons to cause automatic descent after
. 400 hours aloft. When bad weather delayed the launch for three suc
cessive days. however, the technician forgot to reset the timing de
vices. As a result, one payload fell into Poland. None of the three
WS-461 L balloon payloads was recovered.'n
The Polish protest was quickly followed by a Soviet note pro
testing the balloons' violation of the Soviet Union's airspace. Several
months later, the Soviets placed the US balloon and photographic
equipment on display in Moscow for the world's press. President
Eisenhower was angry that the Defense Department's assurances that
the balloons would not be detected had proved false. Even worse, one
of the balloons had been recovered by the Poles because the Air Force
had disobeyed his instructions for the balloon project. When the Air
Force had proposed the use of timers to bring down the balloons at
the end of the mission, Eisenhower had said no, fearing that a mal
function could cause the balloons to come down prematurely. Furious
at the Air Force's insubordination, the President ordered General
'"' Andrew J. Goodpaster. Memorandum for the Record. 25 June 1958, WHOSS, Alpha,
DDEL (TS).
'" Donald E. Welzenbach. "Observation Balloons and Weather Satellites," Studies in
Intelligence 30 (Spring 1986): pp. 26-28 (S).
Secret r'10FORN
Chapter 3
Seere:t

Not linked to a story yet.

About this file

Official release, from the pursue 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.