Documents / Official release

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 374 Original source ↗

“Cooper”12 pages

  • 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…
361
CL-282 Project
10-17, 24-27, 29-37, 66. 327-331. 333
CL-400 aircraft
263
clandestine operations
16,321
Clandestine Services
192
Clark Airfield. Philippines
212
Clifford, Clark
311
Cline, Ray
209. 224
"coffin comer"
76
Cold War
17
collection requirements
80-81, 189. 253, 300
Columbia Broadcasting System
18
combat aircraft
6. 26. 45
Combined Shipping Adjustmenc Board
15
Commerce. Depanment of
254
commercial airliners
72
communications intelligence (COMINT)
189. 311. 335-336
Communications Satellite Corporation
328
COMPASS TRIP
254
competitive bidding
44
compressor vanes
291
computer-controlled radar
294
computers
52
Congress, United States
44, 88, 98, 111. 159-160. 170, 293,
315, 317-3 18
constant-velocity film transport
281
Constellation airliner
IO. 329
Contingency Reserve Fund
40,44
Secret NOFORN
Index
contractors
42, 72. 259. 288
contrails
152
Convair
262-263. 267-271. 273. 284. 312
Convair F- 106
284
convective clouds
94
Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory
18. 24-25. 328
Corning Glass Works
282
cosmic-ray effects
94
cover officer
89
coven activities
2. 6, 40. 43-44. 73. 80. 88. 134.
157, 189. 191 -192. 212. 214.
222. 320-321. 328. 342
Covert Action Staff (CAS)
214
covert funding
43
Crabb. Lionel
,94
Crete
116
Crick. Alan
154
Crick Commiuee
154
Crimean Peninsula
108
Cuba
188. 197-201. 205-211. 299-300.
302. 310. 327. 339
Cuban air and ground order of battle
198
Cuban Missile Crisis
55. 199. 209-210. 299. 327
Cubi Point Naval Air Station. Philippines
212. 216. 221
Culbertson. Allma.n T.
66
Cunningham. James A.. Jr.
40. 66. 69. 72. 78-i9. 125. 247.
288-289. 328-329
Current Intelligence. Office of
81
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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.