The Wizards of Langley; Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology

xiii, [1], 386 pages. Footnotes. Illustrations. Tables. Notes. Sources. Appendices. Index. Slight cover wear. The dust jacket is price clipped. Jeffrey Talbot Richelson (31 December 1949 11 November 2017) was an American author and academic researcher who studied the process of intelligence gathering and national security. He authored at least thirteen books and many articles about intelligence, and directed the publication of several of the National Security Archive's collections of source documents. Richelson was notable for his relentless Freedom of Information requests in order to further scholarship in intelligence and espionage. According to Bruce D. Berkowitz, Richelson was once avoided by the intelligence community as an outsider and a security risk, but gradually became trusted to the extent that he was invited to CIA sponsored conferences. Richelson grew up in the Bronx and earned his BA from the City University of New York. He completed a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Rochester in 1975 and went on to teach at the University of Texas, Austin and American University. Richelson was a senior fellow with the National Security Archive. This study of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology introduces us to key personalities who helped share the directorate: Edwin Land of Polaroid, Albert Wheelon, Carl Duckett, and others who operated secretly within the directorate such as Antonio Mendez, whose "technical service" skills helped six Americans escape Iran after the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in 1979. Presents intriguing details--many never before published--of the directorate's programs and activities. In 1956, the CIA dramatically breached the Iron Curtain when its U-2 began overflying Soviet territory to photograph that nation's military installations. Four years later, the Soviets would shoot down pilot Francis Gary Powers and his U-2, thereby ceasing these missions. Within months, however, the CIA had another, and better, technical program in operation - the CORONA satellite. Throughout the Cold War and beyond, the CIA's scientific wizards would continue to devise high-tech ways to collect and analyze information about potential adversaries. Their mission was of such importance that a new branch of the CIA was created - the Directorate of Science and Technology. In this first full-length study of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology, author Jeffrey Richelson introduces us to key personalities who helped shape the directorate: Edwin Land of Polaroid, Albert Wheelon, Carl Duckett, and others who operated secretly within the directorate such as Antonio Mendez, whose technical service" skills helped six Americans escape Iran after the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in 1979.Richelson presents intriguing details - many never before published - of the directorate's programs and activities. For example, the CIA's wizards: Designed, developed, and operated a series of high-tech imagery and eavesdropping satellites and aircraft, including the KH-11 and RHYOLITE, which revolutionized U.S. intelligence capabilities Established ground stations in Iran, Norway, and China to monitor missile testing as well as manning embassy listening posts around the world Employed technical intelligence analysts and photographic interpreters to unravel the secrets of foreign missile and space programs and monitor developments, including Chernobyl and the Gulf War, across the globe Devised a vast assortment of equipment to support clandestine operations-from collecting intelligence to assisting the escape of Americans hiding in Iran to helping Delta Force apprehend an ally of Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed Developed a key component of heart pacemaker technology and other scientific advances, which have medical or other purposes Attempted to employ psychics to uncover foreign military secrets Employed birds (and unmanned aerial vehicles that appeared to be birds) and cats as intelligence collection platforms T.…