Documents / Official release
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.
“Headquarters”22 pages
iHret NOFORN Chapter 1 8 The Air Force Search for Reconnaissance Aircraft a Ni:tw With interest in high-altitude reconnaissance growi ng, several Air Force agencies began to develop ain aircraft to conduct such mis sions. In September 1952, the Air Research and Development Command gave the Martin Aircraft Company a contract to examine the high-altitude potential of the B-57 by modifying a single aircraft to give it long, high-l ift wings and tlhe American version of the new Rolls-Royce Avon-109 engine. These were the modifications that Richard Leghorn had suggested during the previous year."' At about the same time, another Air Force office, the Wright Air Development Command (WADC) in Dayton, Ohio, was also examin ing ways to achieve sustained flight at high altitudes. Working with two German aeronautical experts--Woldemar Voigt and Richard Vogt-who had come to the United States after World War II, Air Force Maj. John Seaberg advocated the development of a new aircraft that would combine the high-altitude perfonnance of the latest turbo jet engines with high-efficiency wings in order to reach ultrahigh alti tudes. Seaberg, an aeronautical engineer for the Chance Vought Corporation until his recall to active duty during the Korean war, was serving as assistan t chief of the New Developments Office of WADC's Bombardment Branch. By March 1953, Seaberg had expanded his ideas for a high-alti tude aircraft into a complete request for proposal for "an aircraft weapon system having an operational radius of 1.500 nm [nautical miles) and capable of conducting pre- and post-strike reconnaissance missions during daylight, good visibility conditions." The require ment stated that such an aircraft must have an optimu m subsonic crui se speed at altitudes of 70,000 feet or higher over the target. carry a payload of 100 to 700 pounds of reconnaissance equipment. and have a crew of one. 11 The Wright Air Development Command decided not to seek pro posals from major airframe manufacturers on the grounds that a smaller company would give the new proj ect a higher priority and '" Phi lip G. Strong. Chic:f. Operations Staff. OSI. Memorandum for the Record. '" Recon naissance Capabilities." 21 August I 953. OSI records (S). " Jay Miller. uKkheed U-2. Aerograph 3 (Aus:tin. Texas: Acrofax. 1983). p. 10. Seeret
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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.