Project Moby Dick
Project 119L was a Cold War reconnaissance operation by the U.S. Air Force in which large espionage balloons floated cameras over the Soviet Union.
Operations[]
The spy balloons would photograph sensitive Soviet sites and either hang in the air or land in the Sea of Japan until either a crew flying the C-119 Flying Boxcar or a naval vessel retrieved them. The project caused a row between the U.S. and Soviet forces when the Soviets discovered the remnants of a U.S. spy camera in February 1956. Other reconnaissance balloon projects from the era included Project Skyhook, Project Mogul, , and Project Genetrix. The previously conducted "Project Moby Dick" used much smaller balloons launched from what was called a "Covered Wagon". Their payloads were then tracked across the continental United States to map and study high altitude wind trajectories.[1]
Project Flying Cloud, Weapons System 124A, was a derived concept to use balloons to deliver weapons of mass destruction.
See also[]
- 456th Troop Carrier Wing
References[]
- ^ Peebles, Curtis, 1991. The Moby Dick Project: Reconnaissance Balloons over Russia. Smithsonian Books, ISBN 1-56098-025-7
- Cold War espionage
- Soviet Union–United States relations
- Balloons (aeronautics)
- Aerial reconnaissance
- Military equipment introduced in the 1950s
- Military aviation stubs