Government

See the CIA Declassified Photos of a Spy Satellite’s Recovery From the Bottom of the Ocean

Last year, the program managing the KH-9 Hexagon satellites — also known as Big Bird — was declassified and could officially be discussed in public.

Big Bird was considered the most successful space spy satellite program of the Cold War era. From 1971 to 1986 a total of 20 satellites were launched, each containing 60 miles (100 kilometers) of film and sophisticated cameras that orbited the earth snapping vast, panoramic photographs of the Soviet Union, China and other potential foes. The film was shot back through the earth’s atmosphere in buckets that parachuted over the Pacific Ocean, where C-130 Air Force planes snagged them with grappling hooks.

Check out this declassified video released by the National Reconnaissance Office last year about the program:

The parachute of one of these buckets though broke off causing the capsule to sink immediately into the Pacific Ocean. It was recovered in a classified mission by the Navy’s most advanced deep sea submersible at the time — the Trieste II. Documents and photos from this 1972 mission to recover the bucket from more than 16,000 feet under water were declassified this week.

Wired notes that although the incident had been discussed in public before, “many details of what happened next have been locked in government archives for 40 years.” There were two problems, according to Wired, that the bucket retrieval mission had to overcome: 1) “No object of this size had been actively searched for and located by sonar” and 2) “the Trieste II had not gone below 10,000 feet.”

Check out this slideshow with a few of the photos:

Here’s some of how the detailed recovery went:

At about 5:00 PM on 25 April 1972, Bartels, Stryker, and Taylor started their third dive for the bucket. Following a two-hour descent, and a three-and-a-half-hour search, they sighted a tangled mass of metal and screen wire harness 18 to 24 inches long and eight to ten inches wide.

They next sighted two jagged gold foil pieces six to eight inches across. Transiting to a large sonar contact 800 feet away, they found what appeared to be a six-to-eight inch long piece of nylon webbing with a two-inch metal ring attached, and then, finally, the missing item embedded in the sea floor 18 to 24 inches. Evidence as to the object’s condition varies. An April message said it appeared intact with a hole in the center of the aft thermal bulkhead and multiple strands of film streaming out another hole at the 9 o’clock position about two or three feet, undulating with the sea current. Photos of the salvage operation and post-recovery analysis, however, indicate that the bucket probably broke apart and that the film stacks had detached from the structure and were laying exposed on the ocean floor. Only the bucket’s upper stage remained intact. This upper structure possibly appeared in the October photos the De Steiguer search team took and could account for the apparently inaccurate April report that the bucket was intact.

Ninety minutes of careful maneuvering, and six attempts later, the hook was in position to retrieve the film stacks. The submersible rose off the bottom, held motionless for ten minutes to allow silt and mud to drain, and once everything appeared secure, started a careful ascent, but the action proved too much for the fragile item. Ten minutes later, pieces of film began breaking off in lengths varying from one inch to two or three feet

Almost halfway to the surface, the film started breaking into two to three foot segments. By the time the Trieste II (DSV-1) neared the surface around 2:30 AM on 26 April, more than nine hours after starting its dive, pieces were hanging through the lines of the hook. To minimize surface swell, the hook was lowered to about 35 feet while a five-person dive team from the White Sands, 3,000 to 4,000 yards away, raced to the scene in small boats. The film stacks nevertheless continued breaking apart and disintegrated into a cloud of reddish brown dust about ten minutes before the divers arrived. All that remained were unusable shreds of film three to six feet in length hanging from the hook. Nothing suggesting a satellite remained for others to find.

Read a full story of the recovery of the bucket from the CIA here.

See the now declassified original documents from the CIA here.

The Associated Press Contributed to this report. 

Comments (31)

  • TRUMPETCALL
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 7:23pm

    If commentators such as these are what passes for “average educated American” and they cannot look below “surface level” of the realities of our (enforced) two-party system, then the game is – and has been – over for many, many years.

    The United States of America, Inc. was bought, co-opted, and paid for by the Globalists, CFR, Tri-laterals, et al.

    No election has been a truly “free” election since 1776… and even then, the outcome is in question.

    The Brotherhood of Darkness IS the ruling political party.

    Period.

    Do the research, if you can pull yourself away from “Dancing With the Stars” and “Sports Cult” and “Celebrity Worship” long enough.

    Tic…..Toc….

    Report Post »  
  • Cruelnunusual
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 7:04pm

    More white achievement. Funny how the media will never credit white men with these kinds of scientific advancement and accomplishment.

    Report Post » Cruelnunusual  
  • FreeUsAll
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 3:49pm

    @Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
    LMFAO!!!

    Report Post » FreeUsAll  
  • NOBALONEY
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 12:11pm

    Ice Station Zebra

    Report Post » NOBALONEY  
  • Liekiller
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 11:48am

    Just think how many more gadgets they must have in today’s spy satellites without the need for all that film-handling equipment. Or rather consider that today’s satellite could be the size of one of those film canisters. Funny how they still had to redact parts of this. Makes you wonder.

    Report Post » Liekiller  
  • JUSTANOTHEROPINION
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 11:18am

    This is what I found interesting here. I preformed an experiment. Instead of reading the story I skipped right to the comments viewable on this one page and I read everyone of them. What I found or rather what I did not find was what this story was about. Just something to think about……………..and same to you!!!

    Report Post »  
  • BigDaddyTex
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 10:39am

    Range Rats!!!
    Let’s hear fom ya!!! I know there’s at least ONE other one on here!! HAS to be!!

    Report Post »  
  • MacJedi
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 10:28am

    Perhaps the revelation of formerly ‘deep black’ secrets is wasted on some of the Blaze readers? In fact, these are probably of more interest to former and current enemies of American Freedoms, both foreign and domestic?

    Report Post » MacJedi  
  • Logistician
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 9:30am

    Wow, the first 2 1/2 minutes of that film is nothing but a listing of all the private secotor compainies brought together in order to accomplish this project. Quite different from the claim “the government did this–ALONE.”

    Report Post » Logistician  
  • Joyzee
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 9:23am

    I want to open a Govb‘ment cheese stand to go along with my lemonade’s

    Report Post »  
  • mixplix
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 9:22am

    What I marvel at is this site. showmystreet.com You put in an address and it will show in good pictures where it is. This made me wonder how this was all accomplished and at time individuals were in the photos that are recognizable.

    Report Post » mixplix  
  • Logistician
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 9:20am

    Fantastic story. So freaking cool.

    Report Post » Logistician  
  • Redistributor
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 8:41am

    lol…my iphone camera has better technology.

    Report Post »  
    • palmettopalflorida
      Posted on August 11, 2012 at 9:30am

      Who do you think gave you that technology? How about a little more appreciation for those who came before YOU, ingrate.

      Report Post »  
    • TNNative
      Posted on August 11, 2012 at 9:52am

      And which Obama program paid for your IPhone?…Does mom pay the bill?

      Report Post »  
  • TexasHunter
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 12:46am

    Back then this was about protecting America and its core Value. Now we have drones flying over the USA and they say it is to protect us. How about stick to your core BIG BROTHER ! When you tread off the path you will find yourself lost. Mark my words!

    Report Post » TexasHunter  
    • sillyfreshness
      Posted on August 11, 2012 at 2:09am

      Back in the old days the enemy was the Soviet Union. Today the enemy is Americans. More specifically, white, middle class, working Americans are the new enemy of our government. They have drones flying around over our heads looking for anyone who has a Gadsden Flag in their yard. The war on terror was just an excuse to set up a communistic police state that monitors everyone every minute. The society we live in today would have been a dream to the Soviets. They could have only wished to listen in on every phone conversation, read every email you’ve ever written, actively see exactly where you’re located at any given minute, have drones flying over people’s houses, etc. Pretty scary stuff.

      Report Post » sillyfreshness  
    • thx1138v2
      Posted on August 11, 2012 at 10:02am

      @SillyFreshness: There is also another aspect that that few people recognize. I have a friend who worked in Russia helping them with their oil field communications back in the 90′s He asked one of interpreter about all of the overhead wiring on the telephone poles. There were anywhere from 30 to 60 wires hung on the poles. His interpreter told him they were for TV and radio. That’s how the soviets controlled what the people could hear and see. It was illegal for anyone but the the government to broadcast anything in the USSR. All radio and TV came in over a wire and no freespace transmission receivers were available for purchase.

      That is pretty much in place today in the U.S. Although satellites play a major role, they too are controlled by the government just like the cell phone towers.

      That is why it is so important for them to take over the internet – so they can control the content. It will be done incrementally so no one notices. I don’t know the state of HAM radio restrictions today but you can bet they are coming.

      Report Post »  
    • historyguy48
      Posted on August 11, 2012 at 11:01am

      Years ago I read an article written by a KGB defector that stated that American would be a more severe police state than Russia ever was.
      Just look at what our dear Progressives, of both parties, have put into place since the turn of the century and it becomes obvious why they haven’t done “stupid” and come after the guns. Armed resistance isn’t difficult, it is suicide.
      There are other systems up there that you can’t get information on, yet!

      Report Post » historyguy48  
  • DeOppressoLiber
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 12:28am

    What is the price of manganese nodules these days?

    Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 12:18am

    Interesting; a good part of history that has been opened for us to see. Thanks.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • chalkdust
      Posted on August 11, 2012 at 1:30am

      It is interesting even though the only thing secret about this project was the name and maybe the deep sea retrieval. C-130′s picking up film in the oceans has been in pop culture for years now.

      Report Post » chalkdust  
  • oldestgenxer
    Posted on August 11, 2012 at 12:06am

    Cheese and rice–not EVERYTHING is always about politics all the time, you freakin news junkies. Have some interest in other things. Otherwise, you become those single-minded boring asses that no one ever wants to engage. Enjoy knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself. And kwitcher-bitchen.

    Report Post »  
  • TRUMPETCALL
    Posted on August 10, 2012 at 11:45pm

    While interesting – on some superficial level – is it a particularly slow news day for the Blaze?

    What? What’s that you say??

    Nothing about 0blah-blah and his college transcripts? Nothing about Wayne Allen Root and his story of his time at school with Barry Sotero?? And what of the Breitbart reporter with “rock solid proof” that 0blah-blah was a “foreign exchange student”???

    The Blaze is NOT a news organization….

    Report Post »  
    • GoodStuff
      Posted on August 10, 2012 at 11:54pm

      you = boring

      Report Post »  
    • Walkabout
      Posted on August 11, 2012 at 12:38am

      Regional Equity Movement != fairness

      Regional Equity Movement == A Modern day Feudal Servitude

      Trumpet Call get back to the Huffpo

      Report Post »  
  • grayling646
    Posted on August 10, 2012 at 11:34pm

    What do you think? Most boring story of the day?

    Report Post »  
  • klatoo
    Posted on August 10, 2012 at 11:06pm

    Boy I sure hope 0bama fixes the economy soon. If you’re white living on food stamps you could get killed living in the projects. That must be that white privledge thing they talk about. You got white skin, you got a bullseye on your forhead.

    Report Post »  
  • Paul
    Posted on August 10, 2012 at 10:53pm

    They Didn’t Build That…

    I can‘t wait to you get what’s coming to you….

    Atheists take note.

    Report Post » Paul  
  • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
    Posted on August 10, 2012 at 10:32pm

    OH, MY GOD, Jimmy Hoffa.

    Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  

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