Latest news with #U-2s
Daily Mail
29-04-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Little-known CIA document that reveals Area 51's TRUE purpose
Area 51 has long been the stuff of alien lore, with whispers of crashed UFOs and extraterrestrial autopsies behind its barbed-wire-laced fence. The base, established in 1955, remained largely unknown until 1989 when Robert Lazar claimed on TV that he worked at a secret site near Groom Lake, 'S-4,' studying alien technology and spacecraft. While the remote US Air Force base in Nevada has kept a tight lid on its activities, the CIA finally lifted the lid in 2013, officially admitting Area 51's existence. The agency declassified a more than 400-page report that detailed how testing its secret spy planes 'accounted for more than one-half of all UFO reports during the late 1950s and most of the 1960s.' The U-2 spy and A-12 reconnaissance planes were being flown in the shadows of the desert amid the Cold War, but the extreme altitudes sparked fears of an alien invasion. 'High-altitude testing of the U-2 soon led to an unexpected side effect—a tremendous increase in reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs),' the report states. 'Once U-2s started flying at altitudes above 60,000 feet, air-traffic controllers began receiving increasing numbers of UFO reports.' However, the CIA report does not mention Area 51's purpose after 1974. While the document was declassified in 2013, it has resurfaced on X where the public appears to be seeing it for the first time. 'The mystery has been solved,' one user shared. The CIA documents were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request made in 2005, and provide details about how Area 51 came about. Area 51, officially referred to as the Groom Lake test facility or 'the Ranch,' was established in April 1955 when scouts spotted the area while flying over the Mojave Desert. 'By July 1955, the Groom Lake facility was ready for operations, although it was still quite primitive,' the report states. 'It included a 5,000-foot asphalt runway, housing for about 150 personnel, a mess hall, a few wells to provide water, fuel storage tanks, and a small amount of hangar and shop space.' The first planes were delivered to Area 51 on July 25, 1955, and the trials began two days later, and the first documented test flight occurred on August 4, 1955. The goal was to establish Project AQUATONE, the CIA's program to develop the Lockheed U-2 strategic reconnaissance aircraft. The U-2 was designed to conduct high-altitude, long-range surveillance of the Soviet Union to address critical intelligence gaps during the Cold War. The CIA report noted that reports about UFOs around Area 51 occurred 'in the early evening hours from pilots of airliners flying from east to west.' 'If a U-2 was airborne in the vicinity of the airliner at the time, its horizon was considerably more distant, and it was still in sunlight,' reads the document. 'At times, when a U-2 pilot made a turn, the sunlight reflecting off the U-2's silver wings would cause a series of glints or flashes. This caused airliner pilots to report seeing a bright object high above them.' Even more, the CIA revealed that it had flown personnel assigned to the test site from 'the Lockheed plant in Burbank, California, every Monday morning and returned to Burbank on Friday evening' to conceal the base from the public eye. The OXCART program, which developed the A-12 reconnaissance plane, started flights in September 1960. The Lockheed A-12 was intended for high-speed, high-altitude reconnaissance missions, particularly over areas deemed 'denied' or politically sensitive. The airplane was used by the CIA for five years to fly operational missions over Southeast Asia before it was retired in 1969 and put into storage at Palmdale, California. 'In early 1962, CIA officials became concerned about the possibility that the Soviet Union might learn about the OXCART program through overhead reconnaissance,' the document reads. Because of the fear, the CIA tested the site's visibility using their own reconnaissance assets by having having 'Groom Lake photographed by a U-2 and later by a CORONA reconnaissance satellite.' But in 1974, 'the Skylab astronauts inadvertently photographed the Groom Lake test site despite specific instructions not to do so.' Skylab was America's first space station and a pioneering research laboratory in space. The agency declassified a more than 400-page report that detailed how testing its secret spy planes 'accounted for more than one-half of all UFO reports during the late 1950s and most of the 1960s.' Pictured is a mysterious triangle tower on the base Details about astronauts snapping images of Area 51 are the last reference to the secret base in the 400-page report. Self-proclaimed Ufologist Stanton Friedman did not take the documents as fact, saying in 2013: 'The notion that the U-2 explains most sightings at that time is utter rot and baloney. 'Can the U-2 sit still in the sky? Make right-angle turns in the middle of the sky? Take off from nothing?' And it seemed thousands of Americans did not believe the CIA either. In July 2019, nearly 500,000 people committed to storming Area 51 that September. The 'Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us ' event was created on Facebook, garnering more than 460,000 'going' RSVPs while another 460K said that they were 'interested' in infiltrating the Nevada compound. 'We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry,' the event description says. 'If we Naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Lets [sic] see them [sic] aliens.' The phrase 'Naruto run' refers to anime character Naruto Uzumaki, who is known for a running style that has his body tilted forward and low to the ground while his arms are stretched out behind his back. A few days after the Facebook event was created by Matty Roberts, he revealed it was all a 'joke.' Roberts told Nevada's KLAS-TV via video call on Wednesday he was amazed at how his hoax took off. 'I posted it on like June 27th and it was kind of a joke,' Roberts said. Roberts said he had decided to come forward out of fear the FBI would come to question him over the joke after millions of UFO conspiracy theory fans signed up to invade the top-secret US Air Force base.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
U-2 Spy Planes Are Flying Border Security Missions Air Force Confirms
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin has confirmed that U-2 Dragon Lady spy planes have been flying missions around the border with Mexico. The service's top officer has also confirmed the use of RC-135V/W Rivet Joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft and drones, which TWZ has reported on previously, as part of still-increasing U.S. military support for southwestern border security efforts under President Donald Trump. 'As most of us head into the weekend, I want to thank our U-2, RC-135 & RPA [remotely piloted aircraft; drone] crews who are tirelessly providing unrivaled ISR support for @USNorthernCmd [U.S. Northern Command] at the border to restore sovereignty and protect American communities,' Allvin wrote in a post today on X, a screen shot of which is seen below. 'Stay safe and thank you!' CNN was first to report the use of U-2s in support of current operations along the southwestern border back in February, but citing unnamed officials. That story followed news that RC-135V/Ws, as well as U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes, were also flying surveillance missions around Mexico, including sorties over the Gulf of California. In February, there were also reports that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was conducting surveillance flights inside Mexican airspace using MQ-9 Reaper drones. Authorities in Mexico subsequently confirmed that the U.S. government had been conducting aerial ISR to operations inside the country, and that this had helped with the arrest of at least two senior cartel members. Just earlier this week, TWZ reached out to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base in California, the Air Force's U-2 hub, for more information about the use of those aircraft specifically in support of current border security operations. Those queries were subsequently forwarded first to Air Combat Command (ACC) and then to NORTHCOM. 'At this time, we are not commenting about any specific ISR platforms related to southern border missions,' a NORTHCOM spokesperson told TWZ on Wednesday. 'We do acknowledge that there is ISR supporting the mission, but again, we are not going to be specific about platforms.' 'We don't discuss specifics on how we are using ISR assets to support DoD's mission at the southern border,' the same spokesperson added today in response to a follow-up after Gen. Allvin made his post on X. In general, the Air Force's U-2s can be equipped with a wide array of different sensors, many of which could provide useful capabilities in support of border security operations. As TWZ wrote back in 2021 after a U-2 was tracked flying along the southwestern border on what the 9th Reconnaissance Wing said was a routine training mission: 'The Air Force's U-2Ss can carry a variety of different sensor packages, including panoramic and other wide-angle cameras and radar imaging systems, and one of these aircraft could, conceivably offer a way to relatively quickly get a snapshot of border activity at a particular moment in time, even if [the U-2S with the serial number] 68-10329 did not in this particular case. That same imagery would also be useful for general mapping purposes, including in the creation of radar maps that can show details electro-optical or thermal imagery cannot. The U-2 can also carry communications intelligence gathering payloads.' Imagery and intercepted communications could help in establishing so-called baseline 'patterns of life' in a particular area, or even for a select individual or group of individuals. This, in turn, could aid in the refinement of intelligence gathering strategies, or even be used to plan and execute operations, including strikes and ground raids. As TWZ has previously reported, U-2s are known to have flown sorties over and/or around Mexico on at least one other occasion, in 2009, as part of an operation nicknamed Equis Emerald. The purpose of those flights is unknown. The official acknowledgment that U-2s are supporting current efforts along the border with Mexico comes as the U.S. military continues to expand its overall participation in this mission. Just today, NORTHCOM announced the formal activation of interagency Joint Task Force-Southern Border (JTF-SB) to oversee these operations. 'Under the direction of USNORTHCOM, Joint Task Force-Southern Border (JTF-SB) assumed the role of synchronizer of several USNORTHCOM activities and military forces from Joint Task Force-North (JTF-N). The transfer of authority, or TOA, to JTF-SB aligns efforts to seal the southern border and repel illegal activity under a single Joint Task Force responsible for full-scale, agile, and all-domain operations, which will allow for more effective and efficient DoD operations,' according to a press release. 'Joint Task Force-North [JTF-N] will continue their core mission of detecting and monitoring transnational criminal organizations' threats within and along approaches to the continental United States.' You can read more about JTF-N, which has been the primary U.S. military entity responsible for coordinating support for border security operations since the early 2000s, in this past TWZ story. 'In early February, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) from Fort Drum, New York, deployed to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, to establish the infrastructure necessary for the JTF-SB headquarters,' the release adds. 'JTF-SB is commanded by Army Maj. Gen. Scott M. Naumann. Additionally, the task force has two deputy commanders: one from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and one from the U.S. Marine Corps.' The U.S. military currently has 9,600 personnel either deployed or in the process of deploying to support the border security missions. In addition to fixed-wing aerial ISR assets, this support includes various types of helicopters and elements of Stryker Brigade Combat Team from the U.S. Army. Various branches have also contributed intelligence analysts on the ground, engineers, military police, and other personnel. The U.S. military, at least publicly, has so far been primarily focused on activities on the American side of the southwestern border. However, there continued to be discussions about the potential for direct action against drug cartels inside Mexican territory, possible without cooperation or coordination with authorities in that country. In February, President Trump's administration formally designated eight Latin American criminal groups, including multiple Mexican drug cartels, El Salvador's MS-13, and Tren de Aragua in Venezuela, as foreign terrorist organizations. The designations expand the scope of actions that U.S. authorities could take against these organizations. You can read more about the challenges and potential for serious blowback from any U.S. military operations against Mexican drug cartels in this past TWZ feature. For the U-2 fleet, the new mission along the border with Mexico comes amid the Air Force's continued push to retire the type for good. Some members of Congress had pushed for provisions in the annual defense policy bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the 2025 Fiscal Year that would have blocked divesting any U-2s. However, that does not look to have made it in the final version of the bill that was signed into law last year. In the meantime, U.S. Aerial ISR assets, now confirmed to include U-2 spy planes, continue to prowl around Mexico as part of the U.S. military's greatly expanded border security mission. Contact the author: joe@
Boston Globe
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
CIA expands secret drone flights over Mexico
The CIA has not been authorized to use the drones to take lethal action, the officials said, adding that they do not envision using the drones to conduct airstrikes. For now, CIA officers in Mexico pass information collected by the drones to Mexican officials. The flights go 'well into sovereign Mexico,' one US official said. Advertisement The Mexican government has taken steps to address the Trump administration's concerns about fentanyl, deploying 10,000 troops to the border this month to thwart smuggling. But the Trump administration wants Mexico to do more to destroy or dismantle fentanyl labs and to seize more of the drug. The drones have been adept at identifying labs, according to people with knowledge of the program. Fentanyl labs emit chemicals that make them easy to find from the air. However, during the Biden administration, the Mexican government was slow to take action against labs identified by the Americans, although it did use the information to make arrests, according to two of the officials. The officials all spoke on the condition their names not be used so they could discuss a classified intelligence program and sensitive diplomacy between Mexico and the United States. The surveillance flights have already caused consternation in Mexico, which has long been wary of its northern neighbor after multiple US invasions and land grabs. When asked about the drone surveillance program during a news conference Tuesday morning, President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico dismissed it as part of the country's long-standing cooperation with US forces. 'It's part of this little campaign,' Sheinbaum said. In addition to the CIA's efforts, the US military's Northern Command is also expanding its surveillance of the border. But the US military, unlike the spy agency, is not entering Mexican airspace. Advertisement So far, Northern Command has conducted more than two dozen surveillance flights over the southern border, using a variety of surveillance aircraft including U-2s, RC-135 Rivet Joints, P-8s, and drones, said a senior US military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. The military has also created a special intelligence task force of 140 analysts, located near the border, to analyze the information being collected by the surveillance flights and other sources, Northern Command said in a statement this month. General Gregory M. Guillot, head of the Northern Command, told the Senate last week analysts are providing intelligence that 'gets after the cartel networks that drive the production and distribution of fentanyl and pushes it across the border.' In response to questions from lawmakers, Guillot said the intelligence was shared with Mexican officials to help them 'address the cartel violence in terms of sending more troops.' Guillot said his command had increased intelligence collection to make 'rapid progress against this threat.' Asked about Guillot's comments, Sheinbaum said Mexican sovereignty was 'not negotiable, and we will always coordinate without subordinating.' Officials from the White House, the CIA, and the Pentagon all declined to comment on the secret intelligence program. Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20, calling for a crackdown on major cartels. This week, his administration plans to designate a half-dozen cartels and criminal groups in Mexico as foreign terrorist organizations. The designation gives the US government broad powers to impose economic sanctions on groups and entities linked to them. But the cartels are already under heavy sanctions by the government, and a foreign terrorist designation would provide no significant new tools to block their financial maneuvering, according to former US officials who have worked on these issues. Advertisement While the sanctions are not necessary for the stepped-up intelligence collection by the CIA, several former officials said the designation was an important symbolic step that could, eventually, be followed by expanded operations. The US military's Seventh Special Forces Group began a training exercise in Mexico this month. Major Russell Gordon, a spokesperson for the 1st Special Forces Command, said the training with the Mexican marine infantry was preplanned and part of 'long-standing US-Mexico defense cooperation.' Former officials said they believe the US military and intelligence agencies are likely to increase training with Mexican authorities in the coming months. This article originally appeared in
New York Times
18-02-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
C.I.A. Expands Secret Drone Flights Over Mexico
The United States has stepped up secret drone flights over Mexico to hunt for fentanyl labs, part of the Trump administration's more aggressive campaign against drug cartels, according to U.S. officials. The covert drone program, which has not been previously disclosed, began under the Biden administration, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the program. But President Trump and his C.I.A. director, John Ratcliffe, have repeatedly promised more intense action against Mexican drug cartels. Increasing the drone flights was a quick initial step. The C.I.A. has not been authorized to use the drones to take lethal action, the officials said, adding that they do not envision using the drones to conduct airstrikes. For now, C.I.A. officers in Mexico pass information collected by the drones to Mexican officials. The flights go 'well into sovereign Mexico,' one U.S. official said. The Mexican government has taken steps to address the Trump administration's concerns about fentanyl, deploying 10,000 troops to the border this month to thwart smuggling. But the Trump administration wants Mexico to do more to destroy or dismantle fentanyl labs and to seize more of the drug. The drones have proved adept at identifying labs, according to people with knowledge of the program. Fentanyl labs emit chemicals that make them easy to find from the air. However, during the Biden administration, the Mexican government was slow to take action against labs identified by the Americans, although it did use the information to make arrests, according to two of the officials. The officials all spoke on the condition their names not be used so they could discuss a classified intelligence program and sensitive diplomacy between Mexico and the United States. The surveillance flights have already caused consternation in Mexico, which has long been wary of its northern neighbor after multiple U.S. invasions and land grabs. In addition to the C.I.A.'s efforts, the U.S. military's Northern Command is also expanding its surveillance of the border. But the U.S. military, unlike the spy agency, is not entering Mexican airspace. So far, Northern Command has conducted more than two dozen surveillance flights over the southern border using a variety of surveillance aircraft including U-2s, RC-135 Rivet Joints, P-8s and drones, said a senior U.S. military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. The military has also created a special intelligence task force of 140 analysts, located near the border, to analyze the information being collected by the surveillance flights and other sources, Northern Command said in a statement this month. Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, the head of the Northern Command, told the Senate last week that analysts are providing intelligence that 'gets after the cartel networks that drive the production and distribution of fentanyl and pushes it across the border.' In response to questions from lawmakers, General Guillot said the intelligence was shared with Mexican officials to help them 'address the cartel violence in terms of sending more troops.' General Guillot said his command had increased intelligence collection in order to make 'rapid progress against this threat.' Asked about General Guillot's comments, President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said that Mexican sovereignty was 'not negotiable, and we will always coordinate without subordinating.' Officials from the White House, the C.I.A. and the Pentagon all declined to comment on the secret intelligence program. Mr. Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 calling for a crackdown on major cartels. This week, his administration plans to designate a half-dozen cartels and criminal groups in Mexico as foreign terrorist organizations. The designation gives the U.S. government broad powers to impose economic sanctions on groups and entities linked to them. But the cartels are already under heavy sanctions by the U.S. government, and a foreign terrorist designation would provide no significant new tools to block their financial maneuvering, according to former American officials who have worked on these issues. While the sanctions are not necessary for the stepped-up intelligence collection by the C.I.A.,several former officials said the designation was an important symbolic step that could, eventually, be followed by expanded operations by the U.S. military or intelligence agencies. The U.S. military's Seventh Special Forces Group began a training exercise in Mexico this month. Maj. Russell Gordon, a spokesman for First Special Forces Command, said the training with the Mexican Marine Infantry was preplanned and part of 'longstanding U.S.-Mexico defense cooperation.' Still, former officials say they believe that the U.S. military and intelligence agencies are likely to increase training with Mexican authorities in the coming months. Conducting an airstrike on fentanyl labs would probably cause catastrophic fatalities, as they are often inside homes in urban areas, a person familiar with the program said, most likely contributing to the reluctance to authorize lethal force. The possibility for violence also exists if the Mexican military or police move against the lab. But the purpose of providing the intelligence to Mexican authorities is not to kill cartel members, but instead to disable the labs, according to American officials briefed on the program. If the cooperation and intelligence sharing do not lead to the destruction of the labs, the Trump administration has signaled it is considering alternative moves. In a visit to the southwestern border this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not rule out conducting cross-border raids to pursue cartels inside Mexico. 'All options are on the table,' Mr. Hegseth told reporters. In the transition to the new Trump administration, a former senior U.S. official said incoming aides had made clear that they planned to use the full American counterterrorism apparatus — surveillance aircraft and satellites, intelligence analysts, as well as American personnel or military contractors — to go after the cartels inside Mexico. Ms. Sheinbaum, Mexico's president, has been grilled by reporters about the expanded military flights on the border, after they were detected on Jan. 31. Last week Mexico's defense secretary, Gen. Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, told reporters that the military had not received any request from the United States to fly in Mexican airspace and insisted that the surveillance flights had not violated international law as they flew above international waters. Days later, as more surveillance flights were detected along the border, Ms. Sheinbaum said that the flights were not new, suggesting that they took place under Mr. Biden, but did not elaborate. She said the flights were 'part of the dialogue, the coordination, that we have.' Mr. Trump has announced a former C.I.A. paramilitary officer, Ronald Johnson, as his choice to serve as ambassador to Mexico. Former officials said they believed Mr. Johnson was tapped because of his experience working with both the spy agency and military Special Operations forces. The president also announced this month that he would appoint Joe Kent, a former Army Green Beret and C.I.A. paramilitary officer, as director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
