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.
“Hill”15 pages
80 ~eerct NOPORl<I Chapter 2 wings parallel to the ground duriing takeoff. Once airborne, Rose made a low-level pass over the airstrip and shook loose the lefthand pogo. When he attempted to make a righthand turn to come back over the runway to shake loose the remaining pogo. Rose stalled the U-2 and it plunged to earth, disintegratiing over a wide area. Three months later. on 3 1 August 1956, a second fa tal crash occurred during a night-flying exercise. Frank G. Grace stalled article 354 at an altitude of about 50 feet when he tried to climb too steeply at takeoff. The craft fell , cartwheeled on its left wing. and struck a power pole near the runway. More experienced U-2 pilots always cut back abruptly on the throttle as soon as the pogo sticks fell away in order to avoid such stal Is. Before the year was out, two more U-2s were destroyed in crashes. one of them fatal. On 17 September 1956, article 346 lost part of i ts right wing while on i ts takeoff ascent from Lindsey Air Force Base in Wiesbaden, Germany. The aircraft disintegrated in mid air. killing pilot Howard Carey. T he loss of article 357 on l 9 December 1956 resulted from pilot hypoxia. A small leak prema turdy depleted the oxygen supply and impaired Robert J. Ericson's judgment as he flew over Arizona. Because of his inability to act quickly and keep track of his aircraft's speed. the U-2 exceeded the placarded speed of 190 knots and literall y disintegrated when it reached 270 knots. Ericson managed to jettison the canopy and was sucked out of the aircraft at 28,0001 feet. His chute opened automati cally at 15,000 feet, and he landed without injury. The aircraft was a total loss."'' COORDINATION OF COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS From the very beginning of the U-2 program. it was apparent that some sort of an interagency task force or office would be needed to develop and coordinate collection requirements for the covert over head reconnaissance effort. In a 1three-page memorandum to DCI Dulles on 5 November 1954 setting forth the ideas of the Technological Capabilities Panel's Project 3 on this subject. Edwin L and wrote: It is recommended that . .. a permanent task force. including Air Force supporting elements. he set up under suitable cover to provide guidance on procurement, to consolidate requirements · • U-2 Acci<l.:nt R.:port~. folders -1. 10. and 1-1. OSA records. job 67 -8--115. box I (S).
Not linked to a story yet.
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.