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. 18 …Leghorn persuaded his superiors to submit his suggestion to the Pentagon for funding. He had not…
  • p. 20 …Meanwhile Leghorn, frustrated by the rejection of his original concept, had transferred to the Pentagon in…
  • p. 22 …become the assistant director of Lockheed's Advanced Development Program, was in the Pentagon on business…
  • p. 24 …for the construction and maintenance of 30 aircraft to a group of senior Pentagon official s…
  • p. 26 …He had been present at Kelly Johnson's presentation on the CL-282 at the Pentagon…
  • p. 27 …with Strong in the Pentagon on 12 May 1954, six clays before the Wright Air Deve…
  • p. 52 …Late on the morning of 2 December 1954, Dulles told Bissell to go to the Pentagon…
  • p. 91 …He then briefed a high-level Pentagon panel that included the Secretary of the Air Force…
  • p. 92 …After a half hour passed, the base commander called the Pentagon to ask where the crippled…
  • p. 225 …By 25 September 1957, the National Security Council had become concerned with the course of events…
  • p. 251 …Early in 1963 the Agency sought special funds from the Pentagon to de velop a high…
  • p. 363 …CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations Since World War fl. New York: William Morrow, 1986. ---. The Soviet…
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
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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.