View Full Version : Decades later, a Cold War secret is revealed
BMT (RIP)
12-25-2011, 10:07
It was dubbed "Big Bird" and it was considered the most successful space spy satellite program of the Cold War era. From 1971 to 1986 a total of 20 satellites were launched, each containing 60 miles of film and sophisticated cameras that orbited the earth snapping vast, panoramic photographs of the Soviet Union, China and other potential foes. The film was shot back through the earth's atmosphere in buckets that parachuted over the Pacific Ocean, where C-130 Air Force planes snagged them with grappling hooks.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9RRJUV02&show_article=1
BMT
Edited by Richard.
Amazing and I'm sure there are more secrets waiting to be revealed so that they can be acknowledged as instruments that influenced world events.
Hm... good to see that we are still forthcoming with our intelligence methods. Of course I reckon 25 years is long enough to wait to find out that we were taking pictures of our enemies.
greenberetTFS
12-27-2011, 11:20
Hm... good to see that we are still forthcoming with our intelligence methods. Of course I reckon 25 years is long enough to wait to find out that we were taking pictures of our enemies.
Excellent point........ :rolleyes: Why did it have to be revealed? :confused:
Big Teddy :munchin
Why did it have to be revealed?
OBE.
Richard
OBE...
Overcome By Events
Our Best Efforts
One Behind the Ear
Old But Everlasting
Out of Body Experience
...just a few of my favorites
Hm... good to see that we are still forthcoming with our intelligence methods. Of course I reckon 25 years is long enough to wait to find out that we were taking pictures of our enemies.
Excellent point........ :rolleyes: Why did it have to be revealed? :confused:
Big Teddy :munchin
A partial answer is available here (http://www.nro.gov/foia/index.html).President Bush signed Executive Order (EO) 13392 on 19 December 2005, setting new standards for Federal Agency FOIA programs by ordering that agencies emphasize a new citizen-centered approach to the FOIA with a results-oriented focus (EO 13392). In response to the EO, the NRO has established a FOIA Requester Service Center and has appointed a Chief FOIA Public Liaison Officer. The FOIA Requester Service Center serves as an initial point of contact for FOIA requesters to receive stats updates and any appropriate information about their current requests. The Chief FOIA Public Liaison Officer is someone to whom requesters can raise concerns about the service received from the FOIA Requester Service Center.
EO 13392, available here (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=65227&st=&st1=#axzz1hudQk2De), reads in part:The effective functioning of our constitutional democracy depends upon the participation in public life of a citizenry that is well informed.
FWIW/BTW, the declassified HEXAGON documents are available here (http://www.nro.gov/foia/declass/HEXAGON.html).
Interesting! I used to drive by this place quite a bit. Nice area.
Wook