The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; the U-2 and Oxcart Programs, 1954-1974

Approved for Release: 2013/06/25 --- Secret NOFORN Appendix B 330 --- KIEFER, Eugene P. An Air Force officer with a degree in aeronautical engineering who in 1953 informed a friend at Lockheed of the Air Force’s search for a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, thus, leading to the initial design of the CL-282. After leaving the Air Force, Kiefer became Richard Bissell’s technical adviser for the OXCART and photosatellite programs. --- KILLIAN, James R., Jr. President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Killian headed a high-level and very secret study of the nation’s ability to withstand a surprise attack. While this project was still under way, he and Edwin Land persuaded President Eisenhower to support the development of a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, the U-2. Later, Killian headed Eisenhower’s Board of Consultants for Foreign Intelligence Activities, served as his Cabinet-level science adviser, and chaired the President’s Science Advisory Board. Killian was also chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under John F. Kennedy. --- LAND, Edwin H. An extremely talented inventor famous for the development of polarizing filters and the instant-film camera. Land also devoted considerable time and energy to voluntary government service. During World War II, Land worked for the Radiation Laboratories, and after the war he served on numerous Air Force advisory panels. As the head of the Technological Capabilities Panel’s study group investigating US intelligence-gathering capabilities, Land became a strong advocate of the development of a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft (the CL-282) under civilian rather than Air Force control. Land and James Killian persuaded President Eisenhower to approve the U-2 project and later the first photosatellite project. Land also served on the President’s Board of Consultants for Foreign Intelligence Activities. --- LEGHORN, Richard S. An MIT graduate in physics, Leghorn joined the Army Air Force in 1942 and went to work for reconnaissance expert Col. George Goddard. By the time of the invasion of Europe, Leghorn was chief of reconnaissance for the 9th Tactical Air Force. After the war, Leghorn began preaching the need for “pre-D-day” reconnaissance in order to gather intelligence on the Soviet Bloc. He returned to the Air Force during the Korean war and later worked for Harold Stassen’s Disarmament Office. In 1956 he became the head of the Scientific --- Secret --- Approved for Release: 2013/06/25