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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 205 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…

192
Sec, et NOFORl'd
Chapter 4
months as the Deputy Director for Plans, Bissell found himself in
volved in a major struggle with Killian and Land, who were serving
on President Kennedy's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (succes
sor to the Eisenhower administration's President's Board of
Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities). These two influential
Presidential advisers strongly advocated removing the Agency's over
head reconnaissance programs from the DDP and placing them in a
new, science-oriented directorate. but Bissell resisted this proposal.
With his position in the Agency becoming increasingly untenable,
Bissell resigned on 17 February 1962, after turning down an offer
from the new DCI, John A. McCone, to become the CIA's first
Deputy Director for Research. 56
Two days after Bissell's departure, the new Directorate came
into existence, and it absorbed all of the Development Projects
Division's special reconnaissance projects. Only conventional air sup
port for the Clandestine Services remained with the DDP in the new
Special Operations Division. The U-2 program was no longer con
nected with covert operations.
The first half of 1962 was a confusing period for the
Development Projects Division. After losing the individual who had
created and supervised it for seven years, the DPD also lost its feeling
of autonomy when it was transferred from its own building to the new
CIA Headquarters at Langley. Soon afterward. Col. Stanley W. Beerli,
who had headed the DPD since 1960, returned to the Air Force. Then
on 30 July 1962, the overhead reconnaissance projects underwent a
major reorganization with the formation of the new Office of Special
Activities (OSA) to replace the DPD. The original organization of
OSA with IO division or staff heads reporting directly to the director
of the office (at that time known as the Assistant Director for Special
Activities) proved too cumbersome, and, on 30 September 1962, a re
organization divided most of these offices between two major
subordinates, the Deputy for Technology and the Deputy for Field
Activities (see chart, page 193). The Office of Special Activities
(OSA) continued to control reconnaissance activities and related re
search and development after the Directorate of Research was en
larged and renamed the Deputy Directorate for Science and
Technology (DDS&T) on 5 August 1963 (along with the other
'" Killian interview (S); Land interview (TS Codeword); Richard M. Bissell to John A.
McCone, 7 February 1962. DCI records, job 80-B-1676R, box 18. folder 10 (S).
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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.