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 393 Original source ↗

“United Press”17 pages

  • p. 12 later, at press conferences in February and July 1. 964, President Lyndon B. Johnson revealed the…
  • p. 40 …and meetings with every major unit of the US defense and intelligence establish ments. After receiving…
  • p. 98 …The Soviet Union sent strongly worded protest notes to the United States and the nations from…
  • p. 102 …not only press releases and the public Line to be taken, but also the suspension of…
  • p. 107 …in the United Kingdom. At about the ' Ibid.. pp. 17-18 (TS Codeword). ' Press Release of…
  • p. 112 …at a press conference that the Soviet Union might be ahead of the United States in…
  • p. 125 …Dial Press. 1982), pp. 45-47. '' Lundahl and Brugioni interview (TS Codeword). ~eeret
  • p. 167 …By 1957 cooperation be tween the United Kingdom and the United States had expanded to include…
  • p. 174 …Defense Department officials pressed President Eisenhower to authorize renewed overflights to gather up-to-date in…
  • p. 183 …On the 9 April overflight, the U-2 's ELINT-collection unit (System VI) indicated Soviet…
  • p. 195 …in the press about the presence of "spyplanes" on Japanese territory, asked the United States to…
  • p. 198 …DCI records (S). " United States Congress. Senate. Foreign Relations Committee. £recutive Sessions of tlze Sencae Foreign…
  • p. 307 …By 1962 the United States had become aware of the effectiveness of a new Soviet radar…
  • p. 315 …To preserve the secrecy of the OXCART program, the Air Force informed the press that an…
  • p. 328 …at times when the press and Congress alleged that the United States was falling behind the…
  • p. 362 …Smithsonian Institute Press, l 985. Khrushchev. Nikita S. Khrushchev Remembers: The Last Testament. Boston: Little, Brown…
  • p. 401 …United Kingdom (See Great Britain) United Kingdom Requirements Committee 154 United Nations 20 United Press International…
380
Secret NOFORN
Index
Russell, Richard B.
88
Ryan Aircraft
343
s
S-band radar
87
sailplane
10-11. 24-26. 47
Sakhalin Island
201
Saltonstall. Leverett
88
SAM site
177. 205. 306
San Cristobal. Cuba
206-207. 209
San Diego, California
2-P, 343
SANDY HOOK
343
Santa Barbara Channel
254 _ -
Santa Clara Airfield. Cuba
201
Saratov Engels Airfield. Soviet Union
IM
Saryshagan. Soviet Union
139. 168, 232. 336
satellite imagery
298, 255
satellite navigation systems
341
satellite photography
87. 195-197, 22~ 233. 237. 241
satellites
22. 100. 104. 159. 162,211.299,
303. 312. 320. 322. 328
Saville. Gordon P.
17-18
Schalk. Louis
288-289
Schlesinger. James R.
257. 333
Schoech. William A.
285
Schriever, Bernard A.
7, II
Schultze, Charles L.
309
Science and Technology. Directorate of
I 93, 287, 328
Science and Technology, Special Assistant
to the President for
37
Scientific Advisory Board
17. 23
Scientific Advisory Committee
17, 89, 332
Scientific Engineering Institute (SE!)
110- l I l, 129. 260. 267, 27-+. 331-332
Scientific Intelligence (OSI). Office of
14, 21, 39, 81, 97,331,333
SCOPE COTTON
310
SCOPE CRANE
242
SCOPE LOGIC
303
SCOPE SAINT
255
SCOPE SAINT-I
255
SCOPE SAINT-11
255
SCOPE SHIELD
246-247
Scott. Roderick M.
51, 53. 281. 333
Scoville. Herbert
207,287,289.333
SCR-270 radar
7
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Airport. Pennsylvania
222
Sea of Japan
3
Seaberg, John
8-9. 12. 35-36. 333
SEAFOAM
211
sealant
286. 288
secrecy agreements
295
Seeret

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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.