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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.

  • p. 5 …139 Cooperation With Norway ....................................................................... 142 Declining Overflight Activity.................................................................... 143 Concerns About Soviet Countermeasures Against the U…
  • p. 7 …320 Cooperation With the Air Force ............................................................. 321 Impact of the Overhead Reconnaissance Program o n the…
  • p. 91 …Early in the program Bissell and Ritland had foreseen such an emergency and, with the cooperation…
  • p. 95 …their awareness of the vital nature of their mission kept the level of cooperation high. The…
  • p. 143 …deception project since its early days, he cooperated reluctantly because he disliked adding attachments that made…
  • p. 155 …the beginning of cooperation between CIA and the Norwegian Intelligence Service on the U-2 program…
  • p. 167 …By 1957 cooperation be tween the United Kingdom and the United States had expanded to include…
  • p. 169 …a logical ex tension of the close cooperation that already existed between the two countries on…
  • p. 196 …as possible while giving the appearance of cooperating with his cap tors. To extract the maximum…
  • p. 287 …by Edgerton, Germeshausen & Grier (EG&G) in cooperation with the Scientific Engineering Institute at a small…
  • p. 302 …Halaby cooperated fully with the Agency and personally briefed all FAA regional chiefs on how to…
  • p. 334 …The cooperation between the Agency and the Air Force that began with the U-2 and…
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Sec, et NOFOAN
Chapter 5
wanted no more part of it. The US Government rapidly withdrew its
support, and the remaining remnants of the rebellion collapsed. Four
years later, the Indonesians freed Pope after Attorney General Robert
Kennedy personally appealed to President Sukarno.
When the revolt ended, the U-2s returned to Atsugi. On the way
back, one of the planes, which was equipped with a System-Y elec
tronic intelligence unit, flew along the coast of China to gather data
on Communist Chinese radars. '5
China Offshore Islands Dispute of 1958
During the summer of l 958, tension between the People's Republic of
China and Nationalist China (Taiwan) increased to such an extent that
on 18 June Detachment C mounted a U-2 mission to film the Chinese
mainland coast and adjacent island areas. On 11 August, People's
Liberation Army (PLA) artillery began bombarding the offshore
islands of Quemoy and Little Quemoy, where the Nationalists had
stationed large numbers of troops to ward off any invasion. On 23
~!,!gust the Communists increased the shelling. After five days of
intense bombardment, which made resupply of the islands from
Taiwan impossible, the PLA commander ordered the Nationalist
garrisons to surrender, intimating that an invasion was imminent.
The Nationalists refused to surrender and received support from
the United States in the form of warships from the 7th Fleet, which
began escorting Nationalist ships carrying supplies to the beleaguered
garrisons.
During this period, Detachment C U-2s flew four missions over
the mainland, searching for troop movements that would indicate that
the PRC was planning to invade the islands. Photos from these mis
sions showed no evidence of a PRC buildup, but the atmosphere in
the region remained tense. Detachment C U-2s flew two more mis
sions (9 September and 22 October) to monitor PRC troop move
ments and again found no indications of preparations for an invasion.
The Offshore Islands Crisis receded in late October 1958 after the
PRC learned that it would not receive support from the Soviet Union
if the crisis escalated into a confrontation with the United States. "6
" Mission folder 1773, (10 June 1958), OSA n:cords, job 67-B-328, box 7 (TS
Codeword): OSA History, chap. 15, pp. 25-26 (TS Codeword).
,. OSA History. chap. 15, p. 27 (TS Codeword).
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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.