For educational purposes
A reconnaissance aircraft (spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as well as measurement and signature intelligence.
Modern technology has also enabled some aircraft like SR-71 and UAVs to carry out real-time surveillance in addition to general intelligence gathering.
A reconnaissance aircraft (spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as well as measurement and signature intelligence.
Modern technology has also enabled some aircraft like SR-71 and UAVs to carry out real-time surveillance in addition to general intelligence gathering.
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LearningTranscript
00:00Thank you for listening.
00:30Thank you for listening.
01:00The stories have preceded this, and the world has taken little heed of the carnage.
01:04But when an artillery shell explodes in Sarajevo's central marketplace, a British news crew captures the images that force Western powers to take notice.
01:14NATO leaders convene and confer, but take no real action.
01:25With the flow of new victims come rumors of a new horror.
01:33There is talk of concentration camps, mutilation, and mass murder.
01:38The vocabulary of genocide mingles with the cries of the wound.
01:43In Yugoslavia, even government leaders are in denial of the emerging holocaust.
01:52Fifty percent of alleged camps that I have visited, and I have not found concentration camp.
01:59Images of a devastated society bombard the West, and over time, compel American President Bill Clinton to act.
02:09There are still times when America, and America alone, can and should make the difference for peace.
02:21Soon, a 40-year-old creation of the Cold War will take to the skies over Bosnia.
02:27And you see planes flying over, and they monitor genocide.
02:34Today, they took a picture of those killings.
02:37They saw everything.
02:51All right, coming down.
02:57Launching from an airstrip in southern France, American U-2 pilots will keep a constant vigil over the warring factions below.
03:16Launching from an airstrip in southern France, American U-2 pilots will keep a constant vigil over the killing fields of the former Yugoslavia.
03:23The Lockheed Utility II carries out a mission little changed since it first confirmed the existence of Soviet missiles in Cuba over 35 years ago.
03:37Instead of missiles, pilots search for photographic evidence of ethnic cleansing.
03:42Flying toward the edge of space, the U-2 is a bird of peace.
03:51But this, like most reconnaissance operations, is anything but peaceful.
03:57Since 1950, over 100 spy plane pilots have lost their lives flying secret missions over foreign lands.
04:05There's an old saying that reconnaissance flies alone, unarmed, unafraid, and unheralded.
04:16And that's true.
04:17And people don't realize really how brave these men are.
04:21They put their lives on the line every time they fly one of these missions.
04:26Not only from defenses, but also from the possibility of an engine failure.
04:31We may never know the names or exact number of men lost.
04:43The U-2 is notoriously difficult to operate.
04:46Pilots call her the Dragon Lady.
04:49It is for good reason.
04:50The U-2 functions in what aviators describe as the coffin corner.
04:57A ten-knot window where if they fly any slower, the aircraft will stall, and any faster, and the plane will rip itself apart.
05:06At 70,000 feet, oxygen is so scarce that the jet engine's flame often goes out in mid-flight.
05:19The plane is subsonic, no faster than most commercial airliners.
05:23An engine flame-out threatens the best defense it has, extreme altitude.
05:2815 miles above the Earth, the air is much too thin to breathe.
05:37Atmospheric pressure is nearly non-existent.
05:40The U-2 pilot functions at an altitude where a sudden loss of cabin pressure would cause him to black out in three seconds,
05:47and all of his bodily fluids to boil off in about six.
05:51Because of this, he wears the same flight gear as NASA astronauts.
06:04Straining to control the plane in the thickly layered suit causes pilots to sweat out up to ten pounds every mission.
06:14Many who wash out of the U-2 program do so because they cannot handle the claustrophobic nature of the flight gear.
06:21Your vision is somewhat restricted, obviously.
06:25You can look pretty much over your right shoulder and left shoulder.
06:28You're a little bit removed from everyone else.
06:32You're now in kind of your own atmosphere, if you will, in your own little environment in there.
06:36And you hear the valves of the pressure suit as you breathe.
06:40They work alone, in radio silence, flying for up to nine hours in racetrack patterns above the Yugoslav Republics.
06:54Along the way, they will gather over 2,000 photographic images of target areas pre-programmed into the plane's flight and optical computers.
07:05The serenity felt sailing through this cloudless frontier belies the tragedy playing out on the killing fields below.
07:19It is perhaps the ultimate solitude.
07:24The men in the cockpit call it the breakaway phenomenon.
07:27Flying at altitude is very, it's very peaceful.
07:34Nighttime tends to be very impressive for me because you have so much less atmosphere.
07:38The sky appears to be much brighter.
07:41And there's a definite perception that you don't get from Earth.
07:45Moon rises below me and falling stars that burn up below you.
07:49And very rarely do we have clouds to deal with at altitude, so typically your view is quite spectacular.
07:57The U-2 was the first aircraft designed specifically for America's spy agency, the CIA.
08:05Even today, the plane is veiled in secrecy.
08:09And many details of Cold War missions remain classified to the year 2010.
08:14Using tools no more sophisticated than the slide rule, the legendary Kelly Johnson and his team at Lockheed Skunk Works
08:25brought the plane from a pencil sketch to test vehicle in just eight months.
08:33When it first flew in 1955, this aluminum machine weighed just 17,000 pounds.
08:40Today's U-2, stuffed with some of the most expensive black boxes money can buy, weighs more than twice that.
08:50America's spy planes are some of the nation's most closely held secrets.
08:55Many of these boxes, and the men who operate them, remain shrouded from public view.
09:01Unfortunately, this hasn't always been the case.
09:04In 1960, U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was downed by Soviet missiles over Russia.
09:11During the Soviet media circus that followed,
09:14some in the intelligence community denounced Powers for not having used the suicide needles supplied him.
09:21Today's pilots still live in a black world.
09:32Whether or not the American spy planes can now evade an enemy missile
09:36is something even a retired officer will neither confirm nor deny.
09:41You actually get a warning in the cockpit.
09:43I can't talk much about that.
09:47I can say, well, I can say that we knew that we were being tracked.
09:51I can say that, but I can't really talk anything about the systems.
10:00Within minutes of landing, the ground sensor crew removes the 105-millimeter camera from the aircraft's camera bay.
10:07As always, timing is critical.
10:12Fluid teamwork ensures that the 2,000 photographs taken on this mission
10:16will be processed and printed in less than 90 minutes.
10:23If rumors are true, somewhere amidst the 10,000 feet of film
10:28lies evidence of a human tragedy more detestable than war itself.
10:33It is one of the oldest tools in the aerial reconnaissance craft.
10:43Even in today's world of spy satellites and radar imaging,
10:47the photograph retains a favorite status in the intelligence community.
10:56No method is more cost-effective or as reliable.
11:00Perhaps it is because the camera sees as the human eye does.
11:05Perhaps it is because a picture is still worth a thousand words.
11:19At the photo interpreter's light stand, the first undeniable signs of genocide appear.
11:25A single U-2 print typically covers a region of about eight square miles.
11:31To the untrained eye, these wide area views may seem innocuous enough.
11:39But the tools and techniques used at the CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center
11:45leave little room for doubt.
11:48Able to magnify images 250 times,
11:53CIA photo interpreters are really highly skilled detectives.
11:59Detectives who combine what they see on the light stand
12:01with what they hear from operatives and eyewitnesses in Bosnia
12:05to create a complete intelligence picture.
12:08We in America have developed the analyst as the center of central intelligence
12:14to look at all the information, not just the secret information, but everything,
12:18and then put it together and tell us what it means.
12:21By mid-summer of 1995,
12:24U.S. officials are armed with the photographic evidence they need
12:28to publicly expose Serbian war crimes.
12:30On August 9th, CIA Deputy Director John Gannon testifies before Congress.
12:38What you're moving to now, Mr. Gannon,
12:41has been obtained in what way?
12:44This is aerial photography, you two.
12:47What intelligence has done, sir,
12:48is we have, at the end of this,
12:51been able to show you,
12:52quite apart from the human suffering,
12:54we have been able to show you a pattern
12:56that we can say with confidence
12:58that this pattern of abuse
13:00took place in over 3,000 villages of Bosnia.
13:07The presence of ground scarring and dump trucks
13:11corroborates the stories of mass graves
13:13told to reporters and relief workers by the survivors.
13:22When investigators are sent to examine
13:25the freshly moved earth,
13:26they find thousands of shallow graves
13:29where members of the Serbian National Army
13:31hastily buried their Muslim victims.
13:35Soon, 12,000 additional UN troops
13:38will be sent to stop the bloodshed.
13:42In the skies above Bosnia,
13:45an aging Cold Warrior
13:46helped bring an end
13:47to a post-Cold War genocide.
13:50aerial photographs like those
13:55that documented mass murder in Bosnia
13:57were critical in efforts to stop the killing.
14:06In today's aerial intelligence game, however,
14:10photographs alone often no longer suffice.
14:13You have first your standard photo.
14:20Okay, that's a black-and-white photograph.
14:22Now, the black-and-white photograph is good,
14:26but it doesn't penetrate foliage.
14:30Radar will penetrate foliage,
14:32and you can see what's going on on the ground.
14:36For example, if a truck or tank is under the foliage,
14:40the radar will pick it up.
14:42Now, then, you add infrared.
14:44You can see the tank,
14:46but the infrared will indicate
14:47that the tank is hot,
14:49that the engine is on.
14:55The U-2 has adapted well to modern times
14:58and is no longer restricted
15:00to photographic intelligence gathering alone.
15:03Some aircraft carry a special antenna
15:06that the pilots call C-SPAN-3.
15:09With it, photographic and radar images
15:12can bounce up to space
15:14and, via orbiting satellite,
15:17relay straight down to ground stations
15:19like this one in the California desert.
15:27When combined with cutting-edge radar imaging technology,
15:31these systems provide real-time intelligence.
15:35The ability to gather data over distant battlefields
15:39and, within seconds,
15:41convey it thousands of miles
15:42to political and military leaders at home.
15:48We're all used to being watched.
15:51All kinds of military and intelligence people
15:53are just perfectly used to the idea
15:55that the other guys are photographing us from space.
16:00And, you know, whether you like it or not,
16:02that's how we operate.
16:05In a world blanketed by spy satellites,
16:07some thought that the need for spy planes would diminish.
16:11But as the demand for real-time intelligence has increased,
16:15so has the need for flexibility.
16:18And flexibility is the one thing
16:20that billion-dollar satellites just do not have.
16:23You do have some ability
16:25to hide certain toys you might be playing with.
16:29You can't make your whole nerve gas factory disappear
16:32because it's a huge, immovable object,
16:34but you might be able to make some trucks go away
16:36or whatever it is,
16:37or you could put aircraft in hangars.
16:40A sophisticated foe
16:41can predict the arrival time of the satellite
16:45by tracking it on radar
16:47so they can evade certain types of detection.
16:50Now, if a fast airplane
16:53comes blasting across way up in the sky
16:56on a flight path that they had no way to anticipate
16:59at a time that was, of course,
17:01not announced in any way,
17:03it's like, oh, they took our picture.
17:05Damn, it happened.
17:06Because the Dragon Lady is so difficult to fly,
17:17U-2 drivers depend on the eyes of a second pilot
17:20called a mobile
17:21who follows behind them in a Z-28 Camaro.
17:25What we normally do is just slip in behind
17:29and just kind of sheepdog along behind the plane
17:32and make sure that he's not going to get himself
17:34into any problems with his taxi.
17:37Because the wingspan is so large,
17:39we need to keep a safety observer
17:40following the plane whenever a taxi's around.
17:44It's very hard from the cockpit
17:45to see exactly where your wingtips
17:47and your outrigger wheels are.
17:49On some configurations,
17:51you can't see the outrigger wheels at all.
17:55This truck over here is the pogo vehicle.
17:58It's the crew that's going to go out on the runway
18:00and recover those outrigger wheels
18:01when they fall away during the takeoff sequence.
18:06Takeoff normally offset a little bit
18:08from the center line
18:09so that the crown of the runway
18:10doesn't make the pogos fall out too early.
18:14And on a lightweight aircraft like he's got,
18:17he'll be airborne by here.
18:19Easily.
18:22Pogo crew is coming out
18:23and removing the pogo pins,
18:25which releases small little teeth
18:27up in the wings that hold those things in.
18:29So they're able to free fall away now
18:31as soon as the wings start to flex up
18:33and create lift.
18:35Meanwhile, I'll take a look
18:36around the outside of the plane.
18:37Look for obvious leaks,
18:40incorrect configurations,
18:41make sure the lights are working right,
18:43trim is set.
18:46All right, good for opinion,
18:475-2 quick for takeoff.
18:485-2 quick for takeoff.
18:53We're going to run the power up to 80%.
18:55Check the engine instruments.
18:58Release the brakes.
18:59There we go.
19:00With a massive 103-foot wingspan,
19:19the U-2 is more giant glider than jet.
19:23Upon takeoff, it rises like a feather on a thermal wind.
19:31Landing is another story.
19:34From altitude, it takes the pilot over half an hour
19:38to coax the plane to earth.
19:40As he nears touchdown,
19:43the pilot uses pumps to redistribute the fuel left in his wing tanks
19:48so that they are balanced during landing.
19:50All our pilots pull double duty, by the way.
19:55All U-2 pilots are qualified as mobile officers.
19:59We usually will do about as many mobiles as flights.
20:04It's almost a one-for-one.
20:06One o'clock.
20:07Five-two, touch-and-go.
20:09Mobile copies.
20:12All right.
20:12He said he's going to touch-and-go on this one,
20:14so his fuel must be down low enough.
20:16The landings are very unique.
20:19There really isn't any instrumentation or anything
20:21that helps you land it.
20:23The little voice in your ear from the mobile
20:25gives you a good feeling for where the runway is,
20:27but the rest you kind of just have to get really zen with.
20:32It's all out the window
20:33and very heavy stick-and-rutter kind of inputs required
20:37to get the plane onto the runway
20:39because it's very heavy to fly down low at slow airspeeds.
20:44The visibility from the cockpit is not good left and right.
20:48You don't have very much peripheral vision.
20:49That's what gives you your sense of sync,
20:51so that little voice from the mobile helps quite a bit also.
20:58It's very fun driving the car.
21:00It's a little hard to get used to running down the runway
21:03at an aircraft that's getting ready to land,
21:05though it's inherently unnatural.
21:074, 3, 2,
21:102,
21:132,
21:131,
21:151,
21:171,
21:171,
21:181,
21:18It's a very challenging plane to land
21:21because it's obviously got that bicycle
21:24kind of configuration on landing gear.
21:25So you've got to always land at the tail wheel first
21:29and you have to continually balance the wings
21:32because those outrigger wheels aren't there after it takes off.
21:38A sudden crosswind can tip the U-2 off-center.
21:41Even the most experienced flyers rely on reinforced skids on the wingtips.
21:49They fly alone and carry no weapons.
22:01Instead,
22:02recon pilots depend on three crucial means of survival.
22:07Surprise,
22:08altitude,
22:09and sheer speed.
22:11Something the U-2 has never had.
22:14Over 35 years ago,
22:16Gary Powers was knocked from the sky
22:18by a Soviet missile traveling twice the speed of sound.
22:21It was at that moment
22:22the CIA began their quest to fulfill this need for speed.
22:28Soon,
22:28American designers launched their newest black project,
22:32one that would create an aircraft able to fly faster and higher
22:36than any Soviet missile technician could ever dream.
22:41The SR-71 Blackbird.
22:45This spy plane would be part aircraft and part spaceship,
22:49a machine that would travel over three times the speed of sound
22:52and reach altitudes greater than 90,000 feet.
23:01In late 1961,
23:03the CIA turned to a proven group of men
23:06to transform this dream into reality.
23:09Soon,
23:10Kelly Johnson and his Lockheed's Skunk Works team
23:13are again hard at work.
23:15In a pre-computer age,
23:20they create an aeronautical marvel
23:22three generations ahead of its time.
23:28I'm a little bit surprised
23:29that Kelly Johnson even had the audacity
23:32to attempt anything as difficult as this
23:35when the likelihood of failure is so great.
23:39I remember on our early airplane,
23:41while we were having so much trouble,
23:43I asked him one time,
23:45I said,
23:45if we're able to get 1,200 miles out of this thing,
23:47nautical miles,
23:48will you deem it successful?
23:49And he says,
23:50yeah,
23:50I'll think that's very successful.
23:53And hell,
23:53we got twice that.
23:55Aspen 3-0 clearance available.
23:56Advise order to be to copy.
23:58Aspen 3-0's ready.
23:59What they got
24:00was the fastest aircraft ever built.
24:03Aspen 3-0.
24:045 minutes after departure.
24:06Contact hold from center 3-2.6.
24:08Squawk 4-7-2-3.
24:11Aspen 3-0.
24:12Pratt and Whitney J-58 engines,
24:17big enough to power the Queen Mary,
24:20launch its 140,000-pound body
24:23to the edge of space.
24:30The bullet from a high-powered rifle
24:32leaves the barrel at about 3,000 feet per second.
24:36On a routine mission,
24:38the Blackburn travels faster,
24:403,200 feet per second,
24:43for up to 90 minutes at a time.
24:46No matter how serene it may look,
24:49this kind of speed requires unyielding precision.
24:52You know, Mach 3,
24:58boom,
24:58the turn radius is something like 100 miles,
25:01and they have all these critical fuel problems
25:03and other stuff.
25:05And so it's not a very spontaneous experience.
25:07These are carefully planned,
25:08choreographed missions.
25:12With the thunderous clap of a sonic boom,
25:15the Blackburn hurdles through the frigid atmosphere,
25:18leaving a fiery tail of shock diamonds in its wake.
25:22At 2,200 miles per hour,
25:25the aircraft becomes superheated
25:27from the friction created as the air rushes by.
25:34When you go Mach 3,
25:36the amount of heat that the whole airframe,
25:37everything experiences,
25:39all this heat,
25:40and nothing that they have at the store works.
25:43You know, there's no paint, no rubber,
25:45nothing.
25:46You know, metals, plastics,
25:47all this stuff is useless.
25:49And they just had to go through so many contortions
25:52to make every single part of the plane
25:55tolerant of these extreme temperatures.
25:59Temperature affects everything on this airplane.
26:02The average person probably is not cognizant of that fact.
26:05But the faster you go,
26:07the harder things get.
26:10The Lockheed Jet is 9 tenths titanium.
26:14And when they build it,
26:15the CIA uses a phantom company
26:17to buy the material
26:19from the world's largest supplier,
26:21the Soviet Union.
26:29In flight,
26:31the titanium skin reaches 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit,
26:35causing it to expand
26:37by more than half a foot.
26:38This heat-induced expansion
26:48posed a real challenge
26:50to the Skunk Works team.
26:54When, in design,
26:55they found that the aircraft
26:57was heated
26:58and then cooled,
27:01then the titanium skin
27:02would buckle
27:03and not return to shape.
27:05and they found
27:06by longitudinally corrugating
27:07the wing and fuselage
27:09parts of the aircraft,
27:10then the aircraft
27:10could go through the heating cycle,
27:12cool back down,
27:13and return to shape.
27:16One of the puzzles
27:17of extreme heat
27:18was never really solved.
27:19sealants for the fuel tanks.
27:21They never came up
27:22with a polymer
27:23that would seal
27:24the joints
27:25in the skin panels
27:26that hold the fuel in.
27:27So the Blackbirds
27:28sit on the ground
27:28and weep.
27:29That seems silly.
27:30You can look,
27:31oh, these stupid guys
27:32back in the 60s
27:33didn't know
27:33what they were doing.
27:34There's still no plastic,
27:35you know,
27:35that can get to 700F
27:38and not turn into
27:39burnt hot dog oxide.
27:43Once at altitude,
27:44the heated skin stretches,
27:46sealing the aircraft's
27:48fuel cells.
27:50But as hot as
27:52the Blackbird gets,
27:53its heat signature
27:54remains low.
27:56Built to avoid
27:56the passive sweep
27:57of Soviet radar,
27:59the aircraft,
28:00larger than a Boeing 737,
28:02was a milestone
28:03in early stealth design.
28:06The inward canid tails,
28:09the chines
28:09that go along the sides,
28:11and the materials
28:13in the leading edges,
28:14there's asbestos
28:16and some composites
28:17tucked in wedge
28:18shaped sawtooth patterns
28:19into some of these surfaces.
28:21And the idea of that
28:22is to gobble up radar
28:24and not reflect it back.
28:25I've been told
28:26that the Blackbird
28:26has a problem
28:27on its belly.
28:28It's got a belly
28:28that has kind of
28:30like a boat hull
28:31and that during
28:31a shallow turn
28:32it may send
28:33a great big reflection
28:34down at some radar.
28:36But it's got
28:38a lot smaller
28:38radar cross-section
28:40than it would have
28:41if they hadn't
28:42taken precautions
28:43to invest in some
28:44early stealth work.
28:47In its 30 years
28:49of service,
28:50only 150 aviators
28:52have qualified
28:52to fly the SR.
28:57It is an elite fraternity.
29:03Prior to every
29:05Blackbird mission,
29:0636 hours are devoted
29:07to prepare men
29:08and machine
29:09for flight.
29:11One of the most
29:12valued traits
29:13is maturity.
29:14Lieutenant Colonel
29:15Mike Finan
29:16is 43.
29:18All who enter
29:19the program
29:19must meet
29:20one fundamental requirement.
29:22They must be married.
29:26Most importantly,
29:28they must be
29:28physically fit.
29:32Mach 3 flight
29:33challenges both
29:34mind and body.
29:35At altitude,
29:37even a simple
29:38toothache
29:38can lead
29:39to blackouts.
29:41The job
29:42of preparing
29:42the pilots
29:43falls to men
29:44like Sergeant
29:45Lee LeBriar.
29:50This is the
29:51S-1031C
29:52full-pressure suit.
29:54What it does,
29:54it gives the pilot
29:55his own environment
29:56to survive
29:57in case of an ejection
29:58or a rapid
29:59decompression
30:00at altitude.
30:01With the SR
30:01flying around
30:0380,000 feet,
30:04at that altitude,
30:05if he were exposed
30:06to the environment,
30:07all the fluids
30:07in his body
30:08wouldn't evaporate
30:09and he wouldn't
30:09last more than
30:10probably about
30:11five seconds.
30:12So what we do
30:13is we give him
30:14the suit
30:14and what it does,
30:14it keeps him
30:15in his own
30:16sealed,
30:16safe environment.
30:18The helmet itself
30:19is one size
30:20for all the crew members.
30:21What we do
30:21is we vary the thickness
30:22of the helmet liner
30:23itself.
30:24It has the earphones
30:25in it for communication.
30:27Of course,
30:28his microphone,
30:28which he can adjust
30:29from the outside
30:29of the helmet.
30:31This is called
30:32the face seal
30:32as he cranks
30:33his handle here.
30:35It pulls the face seal
30:37against his face
30:38while pushing
30:38the helmet liner
30:39itself against
30:40the back of his head.
30:41And what it does,
30:42it actually seals
30:42around his entire face
30:44and the whole front
30:45of the helmet
30:45is oxygenated.
30:47Every time he inhales,
30:48the regulator senses that
30:50pumps oxygen in
30:51through these holes
30:52which serve a dual purpose.
30:55What they do
30:55is they spray air
30:57across the visor
30:58which of course
31:00has to be down
31:00to provide the seal
31:01or the suit itself.
31:03So it prevents
31:04the visor from fogging
31:05and he's only given
31:06oxygen as he needs it.
31:08So when he exhales,
31:10the regulator stops
31:10pumping oxygen
31:11into the helmet.
31:16Clean for it, sir.
31:17Men preparing
31:19for high altitude flight
31:21must breathe
31:22pure oxygen
31:23for at least
31:23one hour
31:24before launch
31:25to remove
31:25all the nitrogen
31:26from their blood.
31:27This reduces
31:28the possibility
31:29of the bends.
31:34One, two, one, fifteen.
31:36When you put a person
31:37in the airplane,
31:37the cost and weight
31:38and complexity
31:39goes up hugely
31:39because along
31:41with a person,
31:42you have all this
31:43life support stuff.
31:44Maybe you're
31:45pressurizing the thing.
31:46you've got ejection seats,
31:47you've got all these
31:48instruments and controls
31:49and all kinds of stuff
31:50that's geared to the person,
31:51not to the airplane.
31:55The two-man crew
31:57is essential to success.
31:59Soon, pilot
32:00and reconnaissance
32:01systems officer
32:02or RSO
32:03will be traveling
32:04faster than
32:05a speeding bullet
32:06while operating
32:07some of the most
32:08sophisticated
32:09intelligence apparatus
32:10ever built.
32:11They are, in effect,
32:16the Blackbird's
32:17central nervous system.
32:19Two brains,
32:20two pairs of eyes,
32:22two sets of hands.
32:23Without them,
32:24this mass of metal
32:25and electronics
32:26could not function.
32:30Something that's
32:31different about
32:32flying the SR-71
32:34is the absolute
32:35and total
32:36man-machine integration.
32:38People talk about
32:40strapping an airplane on,
32:41but I don't believe
32:42you strapped an airplane on
32:43until you've snapped
32:44your spurs
32:45into the ejection seat
32:48and you hooked up
32:50your life support hoses
32:52and you've been given
32:54that responsibility.
32:55Before flight,
33:01each of the SR's
33:02huge power plants
33:03requires a jumpstart
33:04from two 454-cubic-inch
33:07Chevy engines.
33:14The whine
33:15is deafening
33:16and the steaming
33:17tarmac
33:18reeks of JP-7
33:19seeping from the plane's
33:21unsealed fuel tanks.
33:22So much fuel
33:24is lost
33:25prior to launch
33:26that the Blackbird
33:27takes off
33:28with nearly dry tanks.
33:34The SR must join
33:36with a waiting tanker
33:37just minutes into flight.
33:40Slowing this
33:41trisonic jet
33:42to match the tanker's
33:43subsonic speed
33:45is anything but easy.
33:47It is a very difficult
33:51task for the pilots.
33:53That is one of the things
33:54that washed people
33:55out of the program
33:56more than any other
33:57part of the regime.
34:01The navigator,
34:02the RSO,
34:03basically found the tanker
34:05and got us up behind
34:06and then the pilot
34:07was responsible
34:07for plugging us in
34:08and taking on the fuel.
34:10The other thing is
34:15that the tanker
34:15is very heavy
34:16and at the beginning
34:18of the track
34:18the SR is very light.
34:20So the SR,
34:21it has to slow down
34:22because a tanker
34:23can only go so fast.
34:31So you're fairly close
34:32to stall speed
34:33in the SR
34:33as you hook up.
34:37As I said,
34:38one of the few things
34:39that washed people
34:40out of that program
34:40was the inability
34:41to stay in behind
34:42that tanker.
34:46As the fuel
34:47is transferred
34:48into the SR
34:49and the tanker
34:50begins to accelerate,
34:51that helps,
34:51but because you keep
34:52getting heavier,
34:53you stay fairly close
34:54to the stall speed
34:55all the way to the end.
34:56United 382,
34:58Salt Lake,
34:59330.
35:03You always breathe
35:04a sigh of relief
35:04when you feel
35:05the boom kick you off
35:07and you know
35:07that you're full
35:08and you can go again.
35:0915 minutes
35:13and 80,000 pounds
35:14of fuel later,
35:16the Blackbird
35:16is ready
35:17to retrieve images
35:18from halfway
35:19around the earth.
35:22Going to about 15,
35:23the back said
35:24it'll get 70,
35:24looking for left turn
35:25heading 2,
35:252, 3.
35:27Fuel is
35:28about right on now.
35:30Speed is...
35:31The Blackbird's global reach
35:36was first tested
35:37in the war-torn skies
35:39of the Middle East.
35:42Here,
35:43high above the banks
35:44of the Suez Canal,
35:46the prying eyes
35:47of the SR-71
35:48helped ease tensions
35:50and keep a regional conflict
35:52from widening
35:53into global war.
35:54October 6th, 1973.
36:03The Egyptian army
36:04smashes into Israeli troops
36:06along the Sinai.
36:08The attack is sudden,
36:09ferocious,
36:10and well executed.
36:12The Israelis
36:12are caught woefully unprepared
36:14by the assault.
36:15To the northeast,
36:30Syrian planes
36:31slash through Israel's border
36:33above the Golan Heights.
36:40The Arabs
36:41are intent
36:42on reclaiming land
36:43lost to the Israelis
36:45in 1967.
36:47Obviously,
36:48the outbreak
36:49of the war
36:49by the Egyptians
36:51and Syrians
36:52was a surprise,
36:53and it should not have been.
36:55It was the result
36:56of a very clever deception
36:57that President Sadat
36:59had run.
37:00He had run his troops
37:01up to the canal
37:02sort of regularly
37:03every month,
37:04saying that this was
37:05a reinforcement
37:06of the canal
37:07and just an exercise
37:08as how to do it.
37:09So,
37:09when it happened
37:10the 10th time,
37:11why,
37:11it really didn't evoke
37:12that much interest.
37:13our intelligence,
37:15everybody's intelligence,
37:16failed to see
37:18through this plan
37:19of Sadat's.
37:24The Israelis
37:26rely on a people's army.
37:28It will take
37:28nearly two days
37:29to mobilize them.
37:35Twelve-foot-high sand berms
37:37defending Israeli positions
37:38along the canal
37:39were supposed to buy them
37:41the time to do this.
37:42The Egyptians
37:43have an ingenious
37:44but simple counter.
37:48Using high-pressure water hoses,
37:50they break through
37:51Israeli defenses
37:52in just hours.
37:53Soon,
37:56they move nearly
37:5780,000 men
37:59and 200 tanks
38:00across the canal.
38:07Nothing
38:08but open desert
38:09and a small
38:10Israeli forest
38:11lies between
38:12the Egyptians
38:13and Tel Aviv.
38:16The Egyptian
38:17and Israeli armies
38:19were almost
38:19eyeball to eyeball.
38:20and one of the things
38:22that we spotted
38:22was Scud missiles.
38:25And at the same time,
38:27we saw
38:28that the Israelis
38:29were pulling
38:30some of their Jericho missiles
38:32out of their igloos.
38:33So now,
38:37the escalation
38:38was that
38:39you could go nuclear.
38:44As the Israelis
38:45threatened
38:46nuclear escalation,
38:47both Americans
38:48and Soviets
38:49seek to lower
38:50the flame
38:51on what is soon
38:52called
38:52the October War.
38:54Just days
38:55before the assault,
38:56Soviet Premier Brezhnev
38:58had secretly
38:59launched a satellite
39:00to monitor events
39:01and aid
39:02his Egyptian allies.
39:03In response,
39:05President Richard Nixon
39:06soon orders
39:07American SR-71s
39:08to prepare
39:09for missions
39:10of their own.
39:16And in that situation,
39:18we wanted to know
39:18exactly where
39:19the Egyptian forces were
39:21and where
39:21the Israeli forces were
39:22because
39:23Mr. Brezhnev
39:24had written a message
39:25to President Nixon
39:26saying,
39:28look,
39:28you've got to stop
39:29the Israeli.
39:29we should go in
39:32together,
39:33Russians and Americans.
39:35But we didn't want
39:36Russians in the Middle East.
39:38But then Mr. Brezhnev
39:40added the point,
39:41and either
39:42you come in with me
39:43or I'll go in alone.
39:46And that was when
39:47we said,
39:47no,
39:47you're not going in alone.
39:49By October 14th,
39:53Egyptian fortunes
39:54have waned,
39:56counterattacking
39:57Israeli troops
39:58pinned Sadat's
39:59Eighth Army
39:59against the canal.
40:04In an amazing reversal,
40:06Israeli commanders
40:07soon prepared
40:08a thrust
40:09into Cairo itself.
40:10But a victorious
40:12Israeli army
40:13marching into
40:13the ancient capital
40:15will push
40:15most Arab nations
40:17over the brink.
40:18War will surely
40:19engulf the Middle East
40:20and send the world economy
40:22into a tailspin.
40:26Uncertain of just
40:27where the opposing
40:28armies stand,
40:30American leaders
40:31have no way
40:31to gauge the threat
40:32or find a viable solution.
40:39Back in America,
40:41the SRs
40:42are given the green light.
40:45Secretly flown
40:47from California
40:47to Griffiths Air Force Base,
40:49New York,
40:50ground crews
40:51prepare their birds
40:52for the longest
40:54mission ever.
40:57Only personnel
40:58with the need to know
40:59are informed
41:00of the real purpose
41:02of the Blackbird's presence.
41:06While we were at Griffiths,
41:07it was a very interesting
41:09atmosphere
41:09because none of the people,
41:11the general public
41:12or even the average
41:13military guy on base
41:15had any idea
41:15why we were there.
41:17The reason it was explained
41:18was that we were
41:19conducting training missions
41:20and trying out
41:21some new equipment.
41:22The only thing
41:23that made it unusual
41:24is that we were sleeping
41:25all during the day
41:26and staying up all night,
41:27so anybody that was watching
41:28would know
41:29that there was something
41:29unusual going on,
41:31but they probably
41:32would only have thought
41:32it was a night flight.
41:34So it was interesting
41:35from our perspective
41:36because we would see
41:37our friends,
41:38other Air Force people there
41:39that weren't connected
41:39with the program,
41:41and carry on
41:42normal conversations,
41:43and they would be asking us
41:44about how the equipment
41:45was working
41:45and those kinds of things,
41:47and yet we knew inside
41:48that we were basically
41:49preparing for these
41:50very important missions.
41:51So it was just kind
41:53of an interesting dichotomy.
41:57Neither Arabs
41:58nor Israelis
41:59have been told
41:59of the impending overflights.
42:02The American planes
42:03have been denied
42:04the use of airstrips
42:05in England.
42:06The British are fearful
42:11of antagonizing
42:12the oil-rich Arabs,
42:14thus adding
42:15a transatlantic crossing
42:16to an already difficult job.
42:20The primary thing
42:21was that we were flying
42:23from the east coast
42:23of the United States
42:24over a lot of water
42:26to get to the areas
42:27that we were conducting
42:28the reconnaissance.
42:30Tremendous pressure
42:31in terms of knowing
42:33that if anything went wrong,
42:35you could be
42:37in headlines tomorrow.
42:38So the areas
42:39that we wanted
42:40to conduct
42:40the reconnaissance over,
42:42there were a lot
42:42of politically sensitive borders
42:44that you wanted
42:45to avoid.
42:46So flying those missions
42:47required a lot
42:49of concentration.
42:50The navigation system
42:51provided you
42:52all the information
42:53you needed
42:53in order to be
42:54exactly where you
42:55wanted to be,
42:56but there was
42:57a little extra concentration
42:58on our part
42:59in order to make
43:00the take good.
43:07Throughout the fall
43:08of 1973,
43:10unexplained sonic booms
43:11reverberate across
43:13the northeastern seaboard
43:14of the United States.
43:20Local newspapers
43:22report them
43:23as meteoric disturbances.
43:30Unknown to most,
43:32it is the sound
43:33of Blackbird pilots
43:34returning from
43:35the Middle East
43:36after a grueling
43:37ten-hour mission,
43:38a mission that includes
43:39eleven mid-air refuelings
43:41and five hours
43:43of Mach 3 flight.
43:46The Blackbirds
43:48bring with them
43:49an incredible bounty.
43:51Their cameras
43:51can survey
43:52an enormous area,
43:54100,000 square miles
43:56in a single mission.
43:59Incredibly,
43:59the Americans
44:00decide to share
44:01these images
44:02with all of the
44:03parties involved,
44:04Egyptians,
44:05Israelis,
44:06and Syrians.
44:08Soon,
44:09hundreds of photographs
44:10are sent to leaders
44:11in Cairo,
44:12Tel Aviv,
44:13and Damascus.
44:16To my knowledge,
44:17this is the first time
44:18we've ever given
44:19photography which is
44:20considered highly sensitive
44:21to both sides.
44:24You had people
44:24in the agency
44:25that were violently
44:26opposed to
44:27allowing the film
44:29from cameras
44:30that were
44:30top secret
44:32to be obtained
44:32by a potential
44:34adversary,
44:34basically.
44:36Not only that,
44:37they were opposed
44:37to the sharing,
44:39saying that
44:40if this material
44:41gets out,
44:42then people know
44:43the capabilities
44:43of our systems,
44:44then they can take
44:45countermeasures.
44:46That's always a danger.
44:48No one will speak
44:49of the capabilities
44:50of cameras
44:50because if they know
44:52that you can see
44:53objects, say,
44:54two feet on the ground,
44:56then they're going
44:56to take camouflage,
44:57concealment,
44:58and deception methods.
45:00Peace in the Middle East
45:01was worth the revealing
45:03of our camera capabilities.
45:06By October 23rd,
45:08a ceasefire is in place.
45:10The pictures serve
45:11as evidence
45:12that neither side
45:13is engaging
45:14in a military buildup.
45:15It is hoped
45:16that they will ease tensions
45:18and maintain the peace.
45:22By 1974,
45:24a new commander-in-chief
45:26supervises Blackbird flights
45:27over the Sinai.
45:29CIA officials
45:30use a diorama
45:31in briefing
45:32President Gerald Ford
45:33on the situation.
45:36These are real big boards,
45:38and there was a complete map
45:39of the Sinai,
45:40and it would show
45:41the battle lines,
45:42it would show
45:43where the concentration
45:44of tanks were,
45:45it would show
45:46the results of airstrikes.
45:48It was a very
45:49comprehensive thing.
45:50All the information
45:51that we could possibly
45:52squeeze out of the SR-71 mission
45:54was squeezed out.
45:58Photo images
45:59taken by American spy planes
46:01help create a trust
46:03between Egyptian and Israeli
46:05that eventually leads
46:06to the Camp David Peace Accords
46:08of 1976.
46:14American aircraft
46:16maintained that trust
46:18to this very day.
46:20By United Nations resolution,
46:23overflights of the Sinai
46:24continue,
46:25and the intelligence gathered
46:27is still shared.
46:30Ironically,
46:31the mission
46:31is now carried out
46:33by the Blackbird's
46:34predecessor,
46:35the U-2.
46:38Advances in satellite technology,
46:41budget cuts,
46:41and the end
46:42of the Cold War
46:43have led critics
46:44to claim
46:45that this spy plane's
46:46days are numbered.
46:59Evidence suggests
47:00that the next generation
47:02of hypersonic reconnaissance jets
47:04may not be that far off.
47:06that even now,
47:09men are streaking
47:10to the edge of space
47:11faster than ever before.
47:19Hundreds of seismic recorders
47:21buried in the desert
47:23around Los Angeles
47:24serve as an early warning system
47:26for earthquakes.
47:29Since 1991,
47:31the recorders
47:31have been rocked
47:32by unidentified sonic booms
47:35originating hundreds of miles
47:37off of the California coast.
47:41Scientists of the U.S.
47:43Geological Survey
47:44have discovered
47:45the unique
47:46and indelible mark
47:47that these sonic booms
47:49have left in their wake.
47:52If something is traveling
47:53very high over the area,
47:55the footprint of the sonic boom
47:56is also going to be very wide.
47:58That's one reason we think
47:59that whatever is causing
48:00this large sonic boom
48:01is traveling relatively high
48:04because the boom
48:05was felt all over
48:06the coastal area
48:07and we recorded it
48:08over quite a wide area here.
48:12One reason that
48:13we're very good
48:13at identifying sonic booms
48:15is that we see
48:15the space shuttle land
48:16here several times a year.
48:18When it does land,
48:19we can track it
48:19across our instruments
48:20and estimate the height,
48:22the speed,
48:23and the direction
48:24very accurately.
48:25So when we saw
48:26other sonic booms,
48:27we tried to do
48:27the same kind of thing.
48:28The first one
48:31of these unusual
48:31sonic booms we saw
48:32was in June 1991
48:33and since then
48:35we've seen about
48:36eight or ten
48:36very similar ones
48:37and they caught our attention
48:38because they happened
48:39always at the same time
48:40of day on Thursday mornings
48:42which was a little unusual.
48:44When you stare
48:44at these waveforms
48:45and these bumps and wiggles
48:46that we see in our record,
48:48the mystery one
48:48seems to be probably
48:49something smaller.
48:51The frequency content
48:52is different
48:53and it doesn't have
48:53that very characteristic
48:54N wave
48:56that we see very often
48:57for the shuttle
48:57or the SR-71.
48:59These people may have
49:00got a glimpse,
49:01some of them,
49:02of something being tested
49:03that maybe will be built
49:06someday
49:06or maybe it was a loser
49:07or maybe the funding
49:08didn't come through.
49:09Who knows?
49:10For example,
49:11it could have been
49:11a meteorite
49:12but the fact
49:13that it's always coming
49:14on Thursday morning
49:15probably rules out
49:15that possibility.
49:20It's not the space shuttle,
49:22it's not the SR-71
49:23because there were
49:24no scheduled flights
49:25and also the signature
49:26it looks very different.
49:28So after we rule that out,
49:30basically all we can say
49:31is something is flying
49:32faster than the speed of sound
49:34offshore the coast
49:35of Southern California.
49:39And the only thing
49:40I'm really aware of
49:41that's got some substance
49:43to it
49:43is this remarkable photo
49:45which has come to be known
49:46as the Donuts on a Rope
49:48Exhaust Contrail photograph
49:50which was taken by
49:51a photographer named
49:52Steve Douglas
49:53in Amarillo, Texas
49:54and it shows this
49:55unusual dotty
49:57Exhaust Contrail
49:58instead of looking
49:59like a line of chalk
50:00across a blue sky
50:02it looks like
50:03boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop
50:04and now that's different.
50:06It was published
50:07in Aviation Week
50:08and it ran
50:08in Popular Science
50:09and it got attention
50:11like what is this
50:12and there were reports
50:13of unusual loud rumbling
50:14and stuff
50:15accompanying this thing
50:16and it's not
50:17a bad looking photograph
50:18it doesn't have
50:19that murky UFO look
50:21that you come to mistrust.
50:23Unannounced
50:27and usually at night
50:28the Pentagon's
50:29newest aircraft
50:30make their maiden voyages
50:32across the desert sky.
50:35Like the SR-71
50:36and U-2
50:37today's black projects
50:39are born
50:40at a remote desert
50:41testing facility
50:42in Nevada
50:43called
50:44Groom Dry Lake
50:45or Area 51.
50:47The Pentagon denies
50:51that the facility exists
50:53ironically
50:54pictures of it do
50:55taken by Russian
50:57spy satellites
50:58and now for sale
50:59to the highest bidder.
51:02The desert tracks
51:03surrounding Groom Lake
51:05have become a mecca
51:06for aviation
51:07and UFO enthusiasts.
51:09even the state
51:13of Nevada
51:14has recognized
51:14the site's
51:15unique commercial appeal.
51:20But occasionally
51:22Air Force testing
51:23leaves real clues
51:25clues
51:26like unusual noises
51:28or strange contrails.
51:30Some engineers
51:34attribute this
51:35puffy contrail
51:36photographed over Texas
51:37to a pulse detonation
51:39wave engine
51:40the next generation
51:41in aerial propulsion.
51:44It's a non-continuous
51:45type of combustion.
51:47A jet engine
51:47is a device
51:48that just
51:48shh
51:49it just runs
51:50all the time.
51:51You know
51:51your car is going
51:52bang bang bang bang bang.
51:53A jet just runs
51:54continuously.
51:55Well
51:55this pulse combustion
51:56engine
51:57is a design
51:59that goes
51:59boom boom boom boom boom boom.
52:00It doesn't run continuously.
52:01And presumably
52:02such an engine
52:03could make a contrail
52:04that looked puffy.
52:09To many
52:10uncovering proof
52:11of classified
52:12government programs
52:13is a game
52:14of cat and mouse.
52:17Skunk Works team member
52:18Ben Rich
52:18was Kelly Johnson's
52:20right hand man
52:21for over 20 years.
52:23Rich was fascinated
52:24by the persistence
52:25of aviation enthusiasts
52:27in trying to prove
52:28that black projects exist.
52:32But he remained
52:33most enamored
52:34with the marvel
52:35that he and Kelly Johnson
52:37built over 35 years ago.
52:40In his biography
52:42Rich said
52:42had we built
52:44the blackbird
52:44in the year 2010
52:46the world would still
52:48have been awed
52:49by such an achievement.
52:51Just before his death
52:53he refused to comment
52:54about future projects
52:56on the Skunk Works agenda.
52:58And when asked
52:59about the donuts
52:59on a rope photograph
53:01he left
53:01only questions
53:03behind.
53:06And so I said
53:07you know Ben
53:08this is the one
53:09really intriguing thing
53:12that's sort of
53:12a piece of evidence
53:13and I said
53:14what am I supposed
53:14to make of this?
53:15And he said
53:16well Stu
53:16for you and I
53:17to talk about that
53:18anymore
53:19you'd have to have
53:20a need to know.
53:25Like most cold warriors
53:27the blackbird faces
53:29an uncertain future.
53:31More than once
53:31it has been retired
53:32only to be pulled
53:34back into service
53:35in a time of need.
53:38Those who flew the SR
53:40say that no satellite
53:41will ever match
53:42its flexibility.
53:43They say that
53:44without a high speed
53:45reconnaissance aircraft
53:47America
53:47will be left wanting.
53:55Enemy missiles
53:56could never catch it
53:58but budget cuts
53:59eventually did.
54:04Meanwhile
54:05those who know
54:06the true cause
54:07of the sonic booms
54:09now rattling
54:10the California coastline
54:11are keeping the secret
54:13to themselves.
54:14To themselves.
54:14To themselves.
54:41don Juan
54:43don't see
54:44their attention
54:45to them.
54:46vacuum neu.
54:48They can't
54:50uneenk
54:51and uneenk
54:54they canÃgen
55:05and two
55:06are
55:07enough
55:08you
55:08can't
55:09you
55:10know