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U-2 Incident Flameout
Theory Shot Down
Francis Gary Powers to Posthumously Receive
Prisoner of War Medal.
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(Fairfax, VA - April 13, 2000)
Earlier this month researchers at the National
Archives found definitive proof concerning
the cause of the U-2 Incident of May 1, 1960.
After nearly forty years of secrecy, the truth
can now be told. According to recently declassified
debriefing transcripts of U-2 pilot Francis
Gary Powers, he was at 70,000 feet in his
U-2 spy plane when a bright orange flash lit
up the U-2 canopy. The near miss of a Soviet
SAM II missile had exploded near the fragile
tail section of the aircraft causing structural
failure. As a result, Powers was shot down
over the Soviet Union, captured, and sentenced
to ten years in prison.
The U-2 Incident, as it came to be known,
was an international incident that caught
an American President lying to the American
public for the first time, something we take
for granted nowadays. It also exposed that
the American government had a spy agency,
the CIA, which today is a household word.
In addition, the May 16, 1960 Paris Summit
Conference collapsed when Soviet Premier Khrushchev
walked out after President Eisenhower refused
to apologize.
According to Francis Gary Powers, Jr., the
pilots son and founder of the Cold War Museum,
"Over the last forty years various conspiracy
theories and rumors circulated, casting doubt
on my father's performance during this mission.
The contents of my father's debriefing transcripts
will put to rest once and for all the misinformation
and speculation as to the cause of the U-2
Incident, which range from sabotage and an
American government cover-up to my father's
corroboration with the Soviets. This could
not have come at a better time, because Francis
Gary Powers will be posthumously awarded the
Prisoner of War Medal on May 1, 2000 at Beale
Air Force base in California in conjunction
with a 40th Anniversary Commemoration of the
U-2 Incident."
In 1996, Francis Gary Powers, Jr. and John
C. Welch founded the Cold War Museum, a 501(c)(3)
charitable organization dedicated to education,
preservation, and research on the global,
ideological, and political confrontations
between East and West from the end of World
War II to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The Cold War Museum is currently soliciting
financial and artifact donations of Cold War
related artifacts and memorabilia for display
and public education. Tax-deductible contributions
to the museum will ensure that future generations
will remember Cold War events and personalities
that forever altered our understanding of
national security, international relations,
and personal sacrifice for one's country.
A mobile exhibit about the U-2 Incident and
U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is currently
traveling around the world promoting interest
in the creation of the permanent Cold War
Museum. The mobile U-2 exhibit has been displayed
at the Bodo, Norway Aviation Center, the National
Reconnaissance Office, the Central Intelligence
Agency, the National War College, the Defense
Intelligence Agency, as well as the USAF,
Strategic Air Command, and National Atomic
Museums. It is currently on display at the
Allied Museum in Berlin, Germany until July
1, 2000.
Through educational programs, a reference
library, a web site, a Cold War Memorial,
and a Spy Tour of Washington, D.C., the Cold
War Museum has enlisted various elements of
the Cold War community in their effort to
maintain historical accuracy for the benefit
of the public while strengthening the resources
available for the study of the Cold War. The
Cold War Museum will help show future generations
the fears, divisions, and dangers that the
Cold War brought and reflect upon the global
geopolitical climate in which many of us grew
up.
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