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
270 Secret NOfiOftN Chapter 6 designs and continued the competition. Lockheed continued to work on developing a design that would be less vulnerable to detection, and Convair received a new C[A contract to design an air-breathing twin-engine aircraft that would meet the general specifications being d 11 followed by Lockhee . Following recommendations by the Land committee, both Lockheed and Convair incorporated the Pratt & Whitney 158 power plant into their designs. This engine had originally been developed for the Navy's large, jet-powered flying boat, the Glenn L. Martin Company's P6M Seamaster, and was the most powerful engine available. [n 1958 the Navy had canceled the Seamaster program, which had left Pratt & Whitney without a buyer for the powerful 158 • I~ engine. Although the Land committee had not yet found an acceptable design, it informed President Eisenhower on 20 July 1959 that the search was making good progress. Concerned about the U-2's vulner ability to detection and possible interception and aware that the photosatellite project was encountering significant problems, the President gave his final approval to the high-speed reconnaissance aircraft project. 13 THE SELECTION OF THE LOCKHEED DESIGN By the late summer of 1959, both Convair and Lockheed had com pleted new designs for a follow-on to the U-2. Convair's entry, known as the KINGFISH, used much of the technology developed for the F-102, F-106, and B-58, including stainless steel honeycomb skin, planiform wing design, and a crew capsule escape system, which eliminated the need for the pilot to wear a pressurized suit. The KfNGFISH had two side-by-side 158 engines inside the fuselage, which significantly reduced the radar cross section. Two additional " OSA History, chap. 20, p. I 5 (TS Codeword). "Cunningham interview, 4 October 1983 (TS Codeword); Joseph V. Charyk. interview by Donald E. We[zenbach. tape recording. Washington. DC, 5 December 1984 (TS Codeword). "Andrew J. Goodpaster. "Memorandum of Conference with the President," 20 July [959. WHOSS. ALPHA. DDEL (TS). Secret
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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.