Documents / Official release
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.
29 Sec, ct NOl'OP\ 111 Chapter 1 the task of investigating the nation's intelligence capab ilities. Its chairman was Edwin H. (Din) Land, the inventor of the polarizing fi l ter and the instant camera. When James K illian asked Land to head Project Three, Land had to make a major dec ision about his caree:r. At the time, the 45-year-old millionaire was on a leave of absence from Polaroid and was living in Hollywood, advising Alfred Hitchcock on the technological aspects of making three-dimensional movies. Land decided to give up his interest in cinema's th ird dimension and return east to Polaroid and the panel appointmem! 1 Land's Project T hree was the smallest of the three Technological Capabilities Panel projects, for he preferred what he called " tax icab committees··-committees small enough to fit into a single taxicab. The Project Three committee consis ted of Land; James Baker and Edward Purcell of Harvard; chemist Joseph W. Kennedy of Washington University, St. Louis: mathematician John W. Tuke:y of Princeton University and Be ll Telephone Laboratories : and A llen Latham, Jr.. of Arthur D. Little. l nc., an engineer and former treasurer of the Polaroid Corporation:~ Edwin H. Land [n mid-August 1954. Land and Baker went to Washington t,o ar range for the various intelligence organizations to brief the Project Three study group. As the briefings progressed. the pane l members became more and more distressed at the poor state of the nation' s in telligence resources. Land later noted, "We would go in and interview generals and admirals in charge of intelligence and come away wor ried. Here we were, five or six young men. asking questions that these high-ranking officers couldn't answer." Land added that the Prnject Three members were also not overly impressed with the Central Intelligence Agency.~·1 Land learned the details of Lockheed's proposed CL-282 aircraft soon after he arrived in Washington. Philip Strong showed him Kelly Johnson's conceptual drawing of the plane and told him that the: Air Force had rejected it. A lthough Land had heard Allen Donovan '' James R. Killian. Jr.. interview by Donald E. Welzenbach. tape recording. C:imbridgc. Massachusetts. 2 November 198-' (S); Land interview (TS Codcword). " TCP Report. p. 188 (S). ,., Land interview (TS Codeword ). Sec,et
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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 406 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.