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…
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.