| American Experience Spy in the Sky DVD Description: "In the spring of 1960, a CIA spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union, triggering an international crisis. Suddenly, the U-2 became the most famous aircraft in the world, and pilot Francis Gary Powers, who miraculously survived the crash, achieved a notoriety that would haunt him for the rest of his life. "Using never-before-seen footage, Spy in the Sky pieces together the story of the creative engineers and courageous pilots who designed, perfected, and flew the famous plane. The ultra-light, high flying U-2, one of the CIA's top secret Cold War projects, was the answer to one of the pressing concerns facing the Eisenhower administration--the question of Soviet military capabilities. Accurate information was hard to come by. The US needed a spy plane that could fly beyond the reach of Soviet defense and radar and bring back photos of military installations. "In 1956, the U-2 started a series of top secret runs and produced the information Eisenhower needed--the Soviets were dramatically overstating their capabilities. The U-2 did its job, but it was not secret. The plane was immediately spotted by Soviet radar and tailed by MIG fighter planes. Unable to intercept a plane at 70,000 ft., the Soviets waited for their technology to catch up. When Francis Gary Powers was shot down in 1960, the US had a clear assessment of Soviet military strength, but Eisenhower's hopes for a nuclear test ban treaty were dashed, and his dream of leaving office as a peacemaker was shattered."
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