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.

  • p. 4 …17 The BEACON HILL Report .................................................................... 17 Concern About the Danger of a Soviet Surprise Attack ................ 19…
  • p. 13 Helen Hill Kleyla and Robert D. O'Hern. This 16-volume Top Secret Codeword study of…
  • p. 14 …view of the "other side of the hill." With the advent of dry film, it became…
  • p. 30 …Dulles The BEACON HILL Report In 1951 the Air Force sought even more assistance from scientists…
  • p. 31 …Their head quarters was located over a secretarial school on Beacon Hill, which soon became the…
  • p. 32 …et NOFOAN Chapter 1 document on 15 June 1952, the BEACON HILL Report advocated radical approaches…
  • p. 34 …Created in July 1953, the Intelligence Systems Panel (ISP) included several experts from the BEACON HILL…
  • p. 37 …sance needs ex.pressed in the BEACON HILL Report. Theoretically, he explained to the panel. any…
  • p. 41 …H. T. Friis R. Mettler A.G. Hill E. Purcell W. H. Radford E. H. Plesset…
  • p. 44 …members had been discussing since the BEACON HILL and Intelligence Systems Panel meetings. James Baker was…
  • p. 45 …Having participated in the BEACON HILL Study and the Intelligence Systems Panel, several Project Three members…
  • p. 344 …He headed the Beacon Hill Panel in 1952 and later became director of Lincoln Laboratories. PARANGOSKY…
  • p. 345 …of several advisory panels, including the BEACON HILL project. He helped Baker decide what cameras to…
  • p. 364 …BEACON HILL Report: Problems of Air Force Intelligence and Reconnaissance. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 15 June…
  • p. 371 …Soviet Union 137 Beacon Hill 17-19. 21. 24, 3 1-32. 331-33'.! BEACON HILL…
373
~eeret NOFORN
meteorologists
42, 87
MI-6
93, 154
Michigan, University of, School of Aeronautics
329
microwave reconnaissance
19
Middle East overflights
114, 116
MiG aircraft
336
MiG-15
108, 148
MiG-17
5, 108, 148
MiG-19
148
MiG-21
148, 237, 244
Military Adviser to the President
188
Military Air Transport Service
72
MILL TOWN
216
. Miller, Stewart E.
18. 21. 39-40, 55-56, 331
I
"million-dollar" photography
Ill
miniaturization
339
mirrors
54-55
Mirza
135
"missile gap"
157, 159,317
missiles
2, 22, 81, 98-99, 137, 139, 149,
160-161, 165, 167,171,201, 205-206,
209, 226, 239, 243, 257, 285, 299, 301,
303-304, 306-307, 315, 317-318, 336,339
Mississippi River
78,310
MKNAOMI
66
Monthly Activities Book
189
Index
moon
163
Morotai
214
Moscow, Soviet Union
3, 20. 85, 94, IOI, 105-106, 109,
124, 143, 145, 160, 167, 177, 179,318
MUDLARK
178
multiengine aircraft
12, 24-25
multiple sensors
22
Murmansk, Soviet Union
_140, 142, 172, 174, 176
Mururoa Atoll
250
Myasishchev-4 (see Bison bomber)
N
Nagy, lmre
123
Nank.ing. China
228
Narcotics. Bureau of
254-255
Nasser, Gama! Abdel
112. 153
National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics
89, 94
National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA)
178-179, 254
National Air & Space Museum
64
National Intelligence Estimates
19. 235
national intelligence objectives
81
National Security Agency
81,114,134,185,327
National Security Bureau
224
National Security Council
27, 294, 161, 167, 187-188, 191, 197, 212
Seeret

Not linked to a story yet.

About this file

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.