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 401 Original source ↗

“Cooper”12 pages

  • p. 5 …139 Cooperation With Norway ....................................................................... 142 Declining Overflight Activity.................................................................... 143 Concerns About Soviet Countermeasures Against the U…
  • p. 7 …320 Cooperation With the Air Force ............................................................. 321 Impact of the Overhead Reconnaissance Program o n the…
  • p. 91 …Early in the program Bissell and Ritland had foreseen such an emergency and, with the cooperation…
  • p. 95 …their awareness of the vital nature of their mission kept the level of cooperation high. The…
  • p. 143 …deception project since its early days, he cooperated reluctantly because he disliked adding attachments that made…
  • p. 155 …the beginning of cooperation between CIA and the Norwegian Intelligence Service on the U-2 program…
  • p. 167 …By 1957 cooperation be tween the United Kingdom and the United States had expanded to include…
  • p. 169 …a logical ex tension of the close cooperation that already existed between the two countries on…
  • p. 196 …as possible while giving the appearance of cooperating with his cap tors. To extract the maximum…
  • p. 287 …by Edgerton, Germeshausen & Grier (EG&G) in cooperation with the Scientific Engineering Institute at a small…
  • p. 302 …Halaby cooperated fully with the Agency and personally briefed all FAA regional chiefs on how to…
  • p. 334 …The cooperation between the Agency and the Air Force that began with the U-2 and…
388
Sec, et NOFORN
Index
prebreathing
64, 125
projects
39-40. 42-44. 56, 59, 61-62. 71, 73.
74, 81-82, 88-89, 97, 153-155, 157.
186,257,316, 327-331
rocking mount
51, 53
stall envelope
71
stalls
80
tail section
47, 76
taxi trials
68-69
training
302
vertical stabilizers
277,343
vulnerability study
97, 207
U-28
95
U-2Cs
152, 196, 208, 210, 217
U-2F
198
U-2G
248. 250, 252. 255
U-2R
251-253, 257, 282, 336
U-3
66
Ukraine
106
Under Secretary of State
188, 225
Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs)
72
United Arab Republic
153
United Kingdom (See Great Britain)
United Kingdom Requirements Committee
154
United Nations
20
United Press International (UPI)
232
United States
2-4, 7-8. 19-21. 26-27. 73. 77-78.
85, 89-90. 96. 98- I00. I08-110. 112.
117, 121, 124. 140, 142. 147-148. 153-156.
159, 161. 163-164, 179. 181-183. 187,201.
205,215. 221-222, 224-226. 229-232, 245-
247. 254. 256. 285, 294. 297, 299. 301-302.
306. 315. 60. 316, 318-319. 332
unmanned reconnaissance aircraft
'1QJ 304
UPWIND
303
Urals
22. 163
uranium gaseous-diffusion plant
239
uranium-processing facility
138
US Air Attache in Moscow
177
US Air Force. Secretary of the
I I. 32, 78, 81. 327-329
US Air Force
Air Weather Service
94
Chief of Air Scaff
78
EC-130. 146
Inspector General
61
oxygen mask
62
RB-57D Canberra
162
Third Air Force
89
US deterrent force
317
US Geological Survey
254
US House of Representatives
Appropriations Committee
88
US Marine Corps
40. 153. 247, 328
US Marine Corps Reserve
14
US Military Academy at West Point
329
US Navy
Chief of Naval Materiel
285
Secret

Not linked to a story yet.

About this file

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.