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…
385
television reconnaissance package
343
Tennessee
78,238
tent-ology
116
test ban
147
Tet offensive
243
Texas Instruments Corporation
238, 282
Third World
211
three-camera trimetrogon unit
52
three-dimensional movies
29
3000 I camera
333
303 Committee
243, 257, 301-302, 304, 307
Thule, Greenland
172
Tibet
157, 216, 219, 232
99
TIME STEP
172, 174
Titan ICBM
160
titanium alloy
271
Titanium Metals Corporation
280
TOKEN
87
Tomsk, Soviet Union
138
TOPPER
219
TOUCHDOWN
163
Toulon, France
116
tracker camera
241
SeoFet NOFORN
Index
tracking
3, 7, 52-53, 87, 97, 106, 128-129,
144, 170, I76, 178, 234, 259, 263,
267-268, 303,307,343
tracking radars
7,267
Trans-Siberian Railroad
144
transport aircraft
25, 45, 66
traveling-wave tube (TWT)
236
trimetrogon K-17 mapping-camera system
49
Tripartite Declaration, 1950
117
tropopause
152
Truman administration
17
TRW Corporation
335
Tuamotu Archipelago
249
"Tuesday lunch"
305
Tukey, John W.
29
turbojet engine
8, 11, 262, 268, 343
Turkey
3, 112-114, 116, 121,135,146,
152-153, 178, 181, 189,247,
316,319
Tuslog Detachment I0-10
113
Twining, Nathan
60-61, 86, 88, 96, 99, 101, 127,
134, 139, 161, 165
Tyler Building
43
Type-I camera
281, 304, 310
Type-II camera
281
Type-IV camera
282
Typhoon Winnie
216
Tysons Comer, Virginia
43

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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.