“An unexpected side effect of high-altitude testing of the U-2 was a tremendous increase in reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs),” according to the documents.
“During the late 1950s and most of the 1960s, U-2 and later Oxcart flights accounted for more than one-half of all UFO reports,” they said.
During the Cold War, the U-2 played a crucial role in US intelligence collection by monitoring China, Cuba, and the Soviet Union.
It was at the height of its power during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union placed nuclear weapons on Cuba.
Rudolf Anderson, a 35-year-old South Carolina U-2 pilot, lost his life during the fierce confrontation when the plane was shot down over Cuba in 1962.
