The U-2 Incident

When Nikita Krushchev denied Eisenhower's "open skies" policy, Eisenhower refused to give in. He conferred with the CIA, who started making secret high altitude flights over the Soviet Union. As the U-2 planes flew over, they took detailed photographs with their built in inferred cameras. By 1960, however, the press was well aware of these U-2 flights and the information was being leaked to the Soviet Union. Finally, Eisenhower wanted to discontinue the flights before his next conference with the Soviets. However the Secretary of State, John Dulles, persuaded him to authorize one last flight. On May 1, 1960, the last U-2 plane took off. It was being flown by pilot Francis Gary Powers. Four hours into Soviet territories, the plane was shot down by a Russian pilot named Igor Mentyukov. The United States issued a false story that the plane had crashed because of weather conditions, but the Soviets had been in on the U-2 missions since 1958. Khrushchev called America's bluff and lied saying Francis Gary Powers had confessed everything after being shot down by Soviet missiles. Most Americans believed him until 1996 when Mentykov told the real story, saying the Soviets had covered up the truth so it would seem like their defences were more powerful than they actually were. This only severely damaged America's already dwindling ties with the Soviet Union. Krushchev denounced all relations with the U.S. and left feeling more angry than ever.