U-2 Photos Reveal Soviet Missiles in Cuba
Major Richard Heyser flew his U-2 reconnaissance aircraft over western Cuba on October 14, 1962, and his cameras captured images of Soviet SS-4 medium-range ballistic missile launchers under construction near San Cristobal. Photo analysts at the National Photographic Interpretation Center confirmed the missiles within 24 hours. The photographs showed launch pads, missile transporters, and fuel trucks arranged in a pattern identical to Soviet installations already identified by intelligence. Kennedy was briefed on October 16 and convened the Executive Committee of the National Security Council. The discovery triggered the Cuban Missile Crisis, thirteen days of nuclear brinkmanship that brought the United States and Soviet Union closer to war than at any other point in the Cold War.
October 14, 1962
64 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on October 14
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