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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 31 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…
18
Secret ~OfiORN
Chapter 1
Sec1et
defense known as Project LINCOLN, then under way at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. By the end of the year, these
experts had assembled in Boston to begin their research. Their head
quarters was located over a secretarial school on Beacon Hill, which
soon became the codename for the reconnaissance project. The con
sultants were called the BEACON HILL Study Group.
The study group's chairman was Kodak physicist Carl F. P.
Overhage, and its members included James G. Baker and Edward M.
Purcell from Harvard; Saville Davis from the Christian Science
Monitor; Allen F. Donovan from the Cornell Aeronautical
Laboratory; Peter C. Goldmark from Columbia Broadcasting System
Laboratories; Edwin H. Land, founder of the Polaroid Corporation;
Stewart E. Miller of Bell Laboratories; Richard S. Perkin of the
Perkin-Elmer Company; and Louis N. Ridenour of Ridenour
Associates, Inc. The Wright Air Development Command sent Lt. Col.
Richard Leghorn to serve as its liaison officer.30
During January and February 1952, the BEACON HILL Study
Group traveled every weekend to various airbases, laboratories, and
firms for briefings on the latest technology and projects. The panel
members were particularly interested in new approaches to aerial re
connaissance, such as photography from high-flying aircraft and
camera-carrying balloons. One of the more unusual (albeit unsuccess
ful) proposals examined by the panel was an "invisible" dirigible.
This was to be a giant, almost flat-shaped airship with a blue-tinted,
nonreflective coating; it would cruise at an altitude of 90,000 feet
along the borders of the Soviet Union at very slow speeds while using
a large lens to photograph targets of interest.31
After completing these briefings at the end of February 1952, the
BEACON HILL Study Group returned to MIT, where the panel mem
bers spent the next three months writing a report detailing their
recommendations for ways to improve the amount and quality of in
telligence being gathered on the Soviet Bloc. Published as a classified
"' USAF, Project LINCOLN. BEACON HILL Report: Problems of Air Force Intelligence
and Reconnaissance. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 15 June 1952, pp. v, xi: app.
A (S. downgraded to C).
'' Allen F. Donovan. telephone conversation with Donald E. Welzenbach. 21 June 1985
(U) : James G. Baker, interview by Donald E. Welzenbach. tape recording, Washington,
DC, 24 April 1985 (S}.

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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.