Area 51_ An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base - Annie Jacobsen [223]
12. Agency had been analyzing reports: McAuliffe, CIA Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis 1962, 1–31.
13. including 1,700 Soviet military technicians: Ibid., 37.
14. jamming facilities against Cape Canaveral: Ibid.
15. McCone left for his honeymoon in Paris: Interview with Dr. Wheelon.
16. Not another Gary Powers incident: This was a common theme among military planners all through the 1960s.
17. the CIA got presidential approval: Office of Special Activities DD/S&T Chronological History, 30 August 1966, Top Secret, Approved for release Jul 2001, 5. “5 October 1962, Last CIA Flight over Cuba (50 flown in all).”
18. pushing for preemptive strikes: Brugioni, Eyeball to Eyeball, 265.
19. Ledford had been asked by McCone: Interview with Dr. Wheelon.
20. General LeMay encouraged him to take the CIA liaison job: Richelson, Wizards of Langley, 53.
21. Ledford’s plane crash, involving heroics: Official Website of U.S. Air Force, biography of Brigadier General Jack C. Ledford, retired Oct. 1, 1970; died Nov. 16, 2007.
22. tried to treat Ledford with opiates: This story was legendary among the men who worked under Ledford at Area 51 and is sourced from multiple interviews including with Colonel Slater and Frank Murray. A version of it can be read at the Arlington National Cemetery Web site. Ledford’s backseater, Sergeant Harry C. Miller, died of his original wounds several hours after Ledford and the medic helped him out of the plane.
23. The chances were one in six, Ledford said: Richelson, Wizards of Langley, 53.
24. Kennedy felt that if a CIA spy plane: Interview with Dr. Wheelon.
25. Air Force pilot flying an Agency U-2: Richelson, Wizards of Langley, 54.
26. Photographs showing nuclear missiles: Brugioni, Eyeball to Eyeball, photographic inserts.
Chapter Eleven: What Airplane?
Interviews: Ken Collins, Don Donohue, Sam Pizzo, Frank Murray, Roger Andersen, Florence DeLuna, Frank Micalizzi, Harry Martin
1. Collins went by the code name Ken Colmar: Interviews with Ken Collins, who had never revealed his code name before.
2. She made it as far as Athens: Powers, Overflight, 59.
3. he flew deep into North Korea: Citation, First Lieutenant Kenneth S. Collins, SO. No. 221 Hq FEAP, APO925, 6 May 53, by Command of General Weyland.
4. fired at by MiG fighter jets: Ibid.
5. Distinguished Flying Cross: Citation to Accompany the Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross (First Oak Leaf Cluster) to Kenneth S. Collins. AO 2222924, United States Air Force.
6. coveted Silver Star for valor: Citation for Silver Star, First Lieutenant Kenneth S. Collins, by direction of the president.
7. a total of five Oxcarts being flight-tested at Area 51: Robarge, Archangel, 17.
8. Captain Donald Donohue would start out following Collins: Interview with Don Donohue.
9. Later, Jack Weeks: Interview with Ken Collins.
10. “Suddenly, the altimeter was rapidly unwinding”: Interview with Ken Collins.
11. Sam Pizzo had a monumental amount of work: Interview with Sam Pizzo.
12. took to the desert terrain on horseback: Interview with Ken Collins.
13. filled by Air Force brass: Interview with Colonel Slater.
14. Holbury had been given a commendation by General Patton: General Robert J. Holbury biography, Air Commander, Detachment 1 of the 1129th U.S. Air Force Special Activities Squadron at Groom Lake, Nevada; Roadrunners Internationale official Web site.
15. a pitot tube had in fact caused the crash: Interview with Collins; Parangosky, The Oxcart Story, 11.
16. monitoring phone conversations: Briefing Note for the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, 10 March 1964. Attachment 1 to BYE-2015-64, “Project Oxcart Awareness Outside Cleared Community.” The Agency also had a system in place to monitor air traffic chatter during Oxcart test flights to see if any commercial or military pilots spotted the plane.
17. increasingly suspicious CIA: Col. Redmond White, Diary Notes, September 27, 1963, Secret. White was the CIA’s deputy director/support and his notes include a second reference to the disclosure