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 ↗

“Donald A. Johnson”17 pages

  • p. 24 …Instead of a conventional landing gear, Johnson proposed using two skis and a reinforced belly rib…
  • p. 25 …a perceived shortcoming of the Lockheed design." Another factor in the rejection of Kelly Johnson's…
  • p. 26 …19 On 7 June 1954, Kelly Johnson received a letter from the Air Force rejecting the…
  • p. 27 …Gardner described Kelly Johnson's proposal and showed the drawings to Strong. After this meeting. Strong…
  • p. 30 …To make Kelly Johnson' s revolutionary design a reality, one addit ional source of support was…
  • p. 42 …it. A lthough Land had heard Allen Donovan '' James R. Killian. Jr.. interview by Donald E…
  • p. 48 …do the job in Johnson's airplane. And further, I overlaid a curve showing that with…
  • p. 57 …demanding, and Kelly Johnson agreed that such a move would save a lot of money. Lockheed…
  • p. 58 …Ben A. Rich (current head of the "Skunk Works"). interview by Donald E. Welzenbach and Gregory…
  • p. 69 …staff) flew over Nevada with Kelly Johnson in a small Beechcraft plane piloted by Lockheed's…
  • p. 72 …This responsibility has placed a heavy burden on the Office of Security for establishing procedures to…
  • p. 79 …Battin suggested the method used by Nazi war criminal Hermarnn Goering, a thin glass ampule containing…
  • p. 81 …Kelly Johnson used a '·wet-wing" design for the U-2, which meant that fuel was…
  • p. 89 …Airspeed was such a critical factor that Kelly Johnson added a vernier adjustment to the throttle…
  • p. 162 …By late 1957, Johnson agreed that something had to be done. After a series of tests…
  • p. 276 …The committee examined two other Kelly Johnson designs at this meeting-a tailless subsonic aircraft with…
  • p. 324 …OXCART did win a temporary reprieve in late November 1967. The Johnson administration decided to keep…
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.