prevented the air support from being at the target area when expected. As a result, the B-26s were either forced from the field of battle or shot down, the final tragic blow.” From the National Security Archive: “The unmarked jets failed to rendezvous with the bombers, however, because the CIA and the Pentagon were unaware of a time zone difference between Nicaragua and Cuba.”
49. Lyman B. Kirkpatrick Jr.: Interviews with Jim Freedman.
50. Lyman Kirkpatrick contracted polio: Biography of Lyman B. Kirkpatrick, Princeton University Library, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Public Policy Papers. Lyman B. Kirkpatrick Papers, circa 1933–2000, Call Number MC209.
51. relegated to the role of second-tier bureaucrat: In his memoir, Bissell does not mince words. He calls Kirkpatrick “an ambitious man who, in spite of paralysis from polio, aspired to position of director of central intelligence. His illness necessitated a move from the exciting and challenging directorate of plans to the more mundane, bureaucratic position of inspector general, a shift he always resented.” Bissell, Reflections of a Cold Warrior, 193.
Interviews with Harry Martin, Jim Freedman, T. D. Barnes, Al O’Donnell, Peter Merlin, Millie Meierdierck
1. the man in charge of property control at Area 51: Interviews with Jim Freedman, T. D. Barnes, Al O’Donnell.
2. “The high and rugged northeast perimeter”: Interview with Peter Merlin, who obtained copies (largely redacted) of Kirkpatrick’s visit to Area 51 from the CIA’s online reading room (CIA.gov). These documents appear to have since been removed.
3. “Bay of Pigs will embolden the Soviets”: Absher, Mind-Sets and Missiles, 10.
4. Area 51 was a target: Interviews with Peter Merlin, Jim Freedman.
5. decided to make a hunting trip: Interview with Jim Freedman; Hank Meierdierck’s personal papers.
6. Richard Bissell resigned: Oral history interview with Richard M. Bissell Jr. by Theodore A. Wilson and Richard D. McKinzie, East Hartford, Connecticut, July 9, 1971 (Harry S. Truman Library and Museum), http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/bissellr.htm.
7. keep the CIA in the spy plane business: Welzenbach, “Science and Technology,” 23.
8. Richard Bissell alone, had gone rogue: Ibid., 22.
9. CIA might work in better partnership: Richelson, Wizards of Langley, 58–60.
10. “Wayne Pendleton was the head of the radar group”: Interview with Wayne Pendleton.
11. “and ‘dirty tricks’ of Dick Bissell’s”: Welzenbach, “Science and
Technology,” 22. The full passage reads: “However, a note of discord crept into Bissell’s relations with Land and Killian… both Land and Killian looked upon science and technology almost as a religion, something sacred to be kept from contamination by those who would misuse it for unwholesome ends. Into this category fit the covert operations and dirty tricks of Dick Bissell’s Directorate of Plans.”
12. called Teak and Orange: Film footage viewed at the Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas.
13. which is exactly where the ozone layer lies: Hoerlin, “United States High-Altitude Test,” 43.
14. “The impetus for these tests”: Ibid., 47.
15. his rationale: Ground stations were supposed to measure acoustic waves that would happen as a result of the blast but Teak detonated seven miles laterally off course to the south and the communication systems were knocked out. Orange detonated four miles higher than it was supposed to and “the deviations affected data acquisitions.”
16. The animals’ heads had been locked in gadgets: Oral history interview with Air Force colonel John Pickering, 52. Film footage viewed at the Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas.
17. “Teak and Orange events would ‘burn a hole’ into the natural ozone layer”: Hoerlin, “United States High- Altitude Test,” 43.
18. Von Braun can be seen examining the Redstone rocket: Teak shot film footage viewed at the Atomic Testing Museum library, Las Vegas.
19. left the island before the second test: Interview with Al O’Donnell; Neufeld, Von Braun, 332.
20. to dash up to Hitler’s lair: Neufeld, Von Braun, 127.
21. project called Operation Argus commenced: Final Review of Argus Fact Sheet, 16 Apr. 82. “The tests were conducted in complete
secrecy and were not announced until the following year.”
22. Christofilos convinced Killian: Killian, Sputnik, Scientists and Eisenhower, 187.
23. “probably the most spectacular event ever conducted”: The White House Memorandum for the President, From J.R. Killian Jr., Subject: Preliminary Results of the ARGUS experiment, dated November 3, 1958, declassified 5/20/77.
24. Walter Sullivan hand-delivered a letter to Killian: The letter is marked “By Hand” and dated February 2, 1959, written on New York Times letterhead, and addressed to Dr. James R. Killian Jr. at the White House.
25. “Neither confirm nor deny such leaks”: Memorandum to Dr. James R. Killian, Jr. Subject: Release of Information on ARGUS. Dated January 20, 1959, signed Karl G. Harr, Jr. Special Assistant to the President. Among other things, it is interesting to note here that on White House stationery, Killian is referred to as “Dr. Killian.” He was not a doctor; he never received a PhD but rather a bachelor’s degree in management. This fact was confirmed for me by MIT library staffer Jennifer Hirsch. “Mr. Killian always went out of his way to remind people he was not a doctor,” I was told — apparently not so with the White House.
26. “I would be protected from congressional inquisition”: Killian, Sputnik, Scientists and Eisenhower, 25.
27. “Are you still there?”: Admiral Parker of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project; Defense Technical Information Center Staff, Defense’s Nuclear Agency 1947–1997, 140; Defense Threat Reduction Agency, 2002.
Interviews: Harry Martin, Louise Schalk, Dr. Wheelon, Colonel Slater, Frank Murray, Roger Andersen, Ken Collins
1. Martin had been at Area 51 since the very first days: Interviews with Harry Martin.
2. The generals would inevitably show up: Classified Message, Secret 2135Z 14 May 62, To Director, Prity [sic] OXCART. “1. General Power, General Compton, Col Montoya and Col Geary [redacted], A12… During the flight the visitors were shown [redacted]… Kelly Johnson flew back to Las Vegas with the group… General Power seemed very impressed with the aircraft.” Declassified by CIA, August 2007.
3. “Lou, wake up!”: Interview with Louise Schalk.
4. “The aircraft began wobbling”: Johnson, History of the Oxcart Program, 12.
5. “What in Hell, Lou?”: Rich, Skunk Works, 219.
6. Martin thought for sure the airplane was going to crash: Interview with Harry Martin.
7. Rare film footage of the historic event: CIA footage, T. D. Barnes’s personal collection.
8. Bud Wheelon: Central Intelligence Agency, “Biographic Profile, Albert Dewell Wheelon,” May 10, 1966, NARA, MRB, RG 263.
9. Howard and Jane Roman: Helms, A Look Over My Shoulder, 275. “When the CIA Counterintelligence Staff was established, Jim Angleton assumed responsibility for operational liaison with the FBI. Jane Roman, a veteran OSS X-2 officer, handled the daily meetings…”; interview with Dr. Wheelon.
10. hand-picked by President Kennedy’s science advisers: Central
Intelligence Agency, R. V. Jones Intelligence Award Ceremony Honoring Dr. Albert Wheelon, December 13, 1994.
11. “in this way, I became the new ‘Mayor of Area 51’”: Interview with Dr. Wheelon.
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
