A very funny incident.
Soviets down a U-2 deep in their territory & capture the pilot Francis Gary Powers (they also shoot down and kill their own MiG-19). :soviet-pout:
Days after the U-2 goes missing, and assuming the aircraft and pilot are dead and destroyed, the Americans start their cover up. NASA release a press release claiming one of their 'weather research' places have gone missing. They roll out a U-2 (freshly painted in NASA colors) to help their claims.
Khrushchev announces to the world that they shot down an American spy plane. He purposely withholds the fact that much of the aircraft and pilot survived. :khrushchev-fist:
The Americans double down on the NASA story, say "Oh, that was probably our NASA airplane you shot down, no harm intended." and claim that the pilot was having oxygen problems, passed out and the auto pilot took the aircraft over the USSR. They ground the U-2 fleet to investigate the bogus problem.
The Corn Boi springs his trap and announces: "I must tell you a secret. When I made my first report I deliberately did not say that the pilot was alive and well ... and now just look how many silly things the Americans have said." :corn-man-khrush:
Eisenhower looks like a damn fool. Wants to resign. Looks like he has no control over the CIA. :cia:
Fun fact: the Soviets were able to shoot down the plane thanks to information provided by one radar operator and "defector" named Lee Harvey Oswald.
In 2015 the Steven Spielberg feature film Bridge of Spies was released, which dramatized James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks[62])'s negotiations for Powers's release, but took certain liberties with what really happened. For instance, Powers is shown being tortured by the Soviets, when in reality he was treated well by his captors and spent much of his time doing handicrafts.[63]
Projection
As a child, I knew the name Gary Francis Powers by heart because my brother was always so mad that HE DIDN'T TAKE HIS CYANIDE PILL LIKE A GOOD SPY
The pilot of the U-2, Francis Gary Powers, later died in a news helicopter crash
