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 Pentagon”12 pages
45 6eeret NOFOAN Chapter 2 As it turned out, no review of the contract was necessary at the three-fourths point. Lockheed delivered the aircraft not only on time but under budget. During the final contract negotiations in the spring of 1958, Lockheed and the US Government agreed on a price for the original 20 aircraft of $17,025,542 plus a profit of $1,952,055 for a total of $18,977,597-less than $1 million for each aircraft. Because its design was based on Lockheed's F-104, the U-2 was relatively in expensive even though only a small number of aircraft had been or dered. Only the wings and tail were unique; Lockheed manufactured the other portions of the aircraft using the F-104's jigs and dies. MAJOR DESIGN FEATURES OF THE U-2 Aware of the great need for secrecy in the new project, Kelly Johnson placed it in Lockheed's Advanced Development facility at Burbank, California, known as the Skunk Works. 10 Lockheed had established this highly secure area in 1945 to develop the nation's first jet aircraft, the P-80 Shooting Star. The small Skunk Works staff began making the _detailed drawings for the U-2, which was nicknamed the "Angel" because it was to fly so high. Kelly Johnson's approach to prototype development was to have his engineers and draftsmen located not more than 50 feet from the aircraft assembly line. Difficulties in construction were immediately brought to the attention of the engineers, who gathered the mechanics around the drafting tables to discuss ways to overcome the difficul ties. As a result, engineers were generally able to fix problems in the design in a matter of hours, not days or weeks. There was no empha sis placed on producing neatly typed memorandums; engineers sim ply made pencil notations on the engineering drawings in order to keep the project moving quickly. 11 A little more than a week after he had been authorized to begin the project, Kelly Johnson wrote a 23-page report detailing his most recent ideas on the U-2 proposal. The aircraft, he explained, would be designed to meet load factors of only 2.5 g's, which was the limit for transport aircraft rather than combat planes. The U-2 would have a '" The Lockheed '"Skunk Works" was named after the Kickapoo Joy Juice factory known as the .. Skonk Works" in Al Capp·s comic strip Li'/ Abner. Ben A. Rich (current head of the "Skunk Works"). interview by Donald E. Welzenbach and Gregory W. Pedlow, Burbank, California, 26 August 1988. 6eeret 11
Not linked to a story yet.
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.