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.
“The Advance”34 pages
40 Secret 1\101'0~1\1 Chapter 2 James A. Cunningham, Jr. sat down with a group of key Air Force officials that included Trevor Gardner and Lt. Gen. Donald L. Putt. The participants spent very lit tle time delineating Air Force and Agency responsibilities in the !Pro ject, taking for granted that the CIA would handle the secuirity matters. Much of the discussion centered on methods for diverting Air Force materiel to the program, particularly the Pratt & Whitney J57 engines, because a separate contract for the engines might jeop ardize the project's security. The Air Force promised to tum ov,er a number of J57 engines, which were then being produced for B-:52s, KC- l 35s, F-100s, and RB-57s. Eventually Bissell asked who was going to pay fo r the airframes to be built by Lockheed. His query was greeted with silence. Everyone present had their eyes on him because they all expected the Agency to come up with the funds. Bissell rose from his chair, said he would see what he could do, and the rnee1ting adjoumed.3 After the meeting. Bissell told Dulles that the CIA would hav,e to use money from the Contingency Reserve Fund to get the project going. The DC! used this fu nd to pay for covert activities, following approval by the President and the Director of the Budget. Dulles 1told Bissell to draft a memorandum for the President on funding the over fli ght program and to start putting together a staff for Project AQUATONE. the project's new codename. At first the new " Project Staff" (renamed the Development Projects Staff in April 1958) consisted of Bissell. Miller, and the small existing staff in Bissel l's Office of the Special Assistant to the DCI. During the months that followed the establishment of the pro ject, its administrative workload increased rapidly, and in May 1955 the project staff added an administrative officer, James A. Cunningham, Jr., a former Marine Corps pilot then working in the Directorate of Support. Cunningham stayed with the U-2 project for the next lO years. Two other key project officials who began their du- ~ in 1955 wer~ ] the finance officer, and c==i L_l the contracting officer." ' OSA History, chap. 3. p. 2 (TS Codeword): Bissell interview, 8 November 1984 (S); Beschloss, Maydt1y. p. 89. • OSA History. chap. 3. pp. 6-7. chap. 4, pp. 1-2. chap. 5. pp. 27-29 (TS Codeword); Chronology of rite Office of Speda/ Activities. 195.J• /968. (CIA: DS&T. 1969). p. 2-4 (TS Codeword) (hereafter cited as OSA Chronology).
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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.