Office of the Historian
  1. Home
  2. Historical Documents
  3. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950–1955, The Intelligence Community, 1950–1955
  4. Document 164

164. Memorandum From Colonel Brad J. Smith in the Office of Special Operations of the Department of Defense to the Secretary of Defense’s Assistant for Special Operations (Erskine)1

Washington, November 18, 1953.

SUBJECT

  • Overflights
1.
In a conversation with Fred Ayer (Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force for Intelligence) today, I learned that at the IAC meeting on 17 November, General Samford brought up the subject of overflights to Mr. Allen Dulles.2 General Samford is reported to have said that he was “tired of pushing on one end of a strand of limp spaghetti,” and Mr. Dulles agreed to bring the matter of overflights up before the NSC.
2.
We have a copy of a paper on overflights which was written some time ago by Fred Ayer.3 It is possible that this may be of interest [Page 467] to you and might be worth bringing to Mr. Kyes’ attention for introduction at an OCB discussion some time, especially since it appears that the subject will be introduced at an NSC meeting.
3.
Mr. Ayer also mentioned having sent to you a paper on balloon overflights.4 Balloon overflights seem to me to present a very interesting possibility in that the balloons will travel at approximately 80,000 feet, some thousands of feet out of interception range.
4.
The Air Force is presently planning a test of the balloon overflight capability which involves releasing the balloons in Hawaii and hoping to pick them up some place on the West Coast. If the test proves successful, the Air Force will then be able to present the Secretary of Defense with a film strip of pictures taken at five-minute intervals from 80,000 feet of the path followed by the balloon for 2400 miles, along with a recommendation that we investigate the possibility of balloon overflights in the Soviet Union.
5.
I understand the balloon project (in USSR)5 will cost about $40,000,000.
B.J. Smith
6
  1. Source: National Archives, RG 330, OSD Files, Office of Special Operations, OSO Chronological File Jan. 1–Nov. 30, 1953. Top Secret; Security Information.↩
  2. The minutes of the November 17 meeting have not been found.↩
  3. Not found.↩
  4. Not found.↩
  5. The words “(in USSR)” were inserted by hand.↩
  6. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩