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.
“RAF”18 pages
Seeret NOFORN Chapter 2 74 recruits in mid-1955. Geary arranged for an Air Force officer of I Jto stay with the group during a preliminary training program at Lu e Air Force~e plan to use foreign pilots soon ran into trouble when onlyl__________,pilots passed the school and reported to Area 5 1. T hey made only a few flights in the U-2, and by the autumn of 1955 they were out of the program. 51 ' Even before the elimination of the I lit was clear that there would not be enough trained foreigrn pilots available in time for de ployment. Bissell therefore had to start the search for U-2 pilots all over again. Lt. Gen . Emmett (Rosy) O' Donnell, the Air Force's Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, authorized the use of Air Force pi lots and provided considerable assistance in the search for pilots who met the high standards established by the Agency and the Air Force. The search included only SAC fighter pilots who held reserve commissions. The use of regular Air Force pilots was not considered because of the complexities involved in having them resign from the Air Force, a procedure that was necessary in order to hire them as ci vilians for the AQUATONE project. SAC pilots interested in the U-2 project had to be willing to re- · sign from the Air Force and assume c ivil ian status-a process known as sheep-dipping-in order to conduct the overflights. Although Air Force pilots were attracted by the challenge of flying U-2s over hos tile territory, they were re luctant to leave the service and give up their seniority. To overcome pilots' reluctance, the Agency offered hand some salaries, and the Air Force promised each pilot that, upon satis factory conclusion of his employment with the Agency. he could return to his unit. In the meantime, he would be considered for pro motion along with his contemporari,es who had continued their Air Force careers.~' The selection process for Agenc:y U-2 pilots was very rigorous. Because of the strain involved in flying at extreme altitudes for long periods of time, painstaking efforts were made to exclude all pilots who might be nervous or unstable in any way. The physical and psy- . chological screening of potential U--2 pilots was conducted by the Lovelace Foundation for Medical Education and Research in Albuquerque, New Mexico, under a contract signed with the CIA on '' OSA History, chap. 10. pp. 1-10 (TS Codeword): Geary interview (S). ' ' OS..\ History. chap. 10. pp. 5-6 (TS Codeword) ; Geary interview (S); Francis Gary Powers with Curt Gentry. Openuion Overflight (New York: Holt. Rinehart. and Wilson. 1970). pp. 25-27.
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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.