What did the declassified documents reveal?

Resume of Mission C216C – U.S. Intelligence memorandum for the record, December twelfth, nineteen sixty‑six. This document details a high‑altitude reconnaissance flight over mainland China and was released through The Black Vault, a public‑domain archive of declassified government records. The memorandum was approved for release on May fourth, two thousand. It appears in the Black Vault collection under the identifier CI01783 and was made available to the public on that same date as part of a Freedom of Information Act release. The declassification authority is listed as the Office of Security Classification. Approved for release 2000/05/04. IDEA 3404‑66. Copy four of seven. December nineteen sixty‑six. Memorandum for the record. Subject: Resume of Mission C216C. General. Mission C216C, also known as Canned Route One‑zero‑four‑five, was originally alerted for twenty‑five November, nineteen sixty‑six, Zulu date. Due to marginal weather at the pre‑go‑no‑go briefing, a twenty‑four hour delay was passed to all concerned. The briefed take‑off time of zero two‑three‑zero Zulu on twenty‑six November was made good from the original date. The general area covered was that area on the mainland from south of Shanghai to abeam of the designated target points. Preplanned mission data. Distance one thousand seven hundred fifty‑two nautical miles. Time to high‑cone four hours thirty‑seven minutes. Penetration altitude sixty‑nine thousand feet. Mission profile maximum altitude. Take‑off fuel one thousand twenty gallons. Planned fuel reserve at high‑cone one hundred sixty gallons. The mission was planned to cover twenty‑three COMOR targets, of which seven were designated priority. Mission data as flown. Penetration of denied area was made good southeast of Luchiao Airfield at sixty‑nine thousand feet. Flight proceeded as briefed to a point approximately thirty miles west of Chu Hsien Airfield. The mission was aborted at this point due to a System‑13C overheat light. Exit from denied territory was approximately fifty miles northeast of Fuchou. Landing was at ERM for a mission duration of four hours three minutes. An estimated two‑thirds of the preplanned route was flown. Although a portion of the route was not flown, twenty COMOR targets were covered plus an additional forty of varying interest to the Intelligence Community. Thirteen of the originally scheduled twenty‑three COMOR targets were photographed. First‑time baseline coverage was obtained on Chungan Airfield. A number of KOMAR missile patrol boats were detected at Santu Naval Base, which should be of interest. Weather was generally as briefed. The majority of the route, as flown, was predominately Category I weather with the exception of the most northern turn point near Chang Chiao Airfield, which was Category III and IV. Air defense reactions (ChiCom). Radar tracking was recorded. Fighter reaction was observed on three occasions during this mission. The first occurred near Chang Chiao Airfield; no…

Why was this case declassified?

This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked on this page so the citation chain is auditable.

Case File · ARCHIVE-662Declassified

Filed AUG 17 · 2026Runtime 1 min

Resume Of Mission C216c – U.s.

U.S. public record · FOIAUpdated August 17, 2026

intelligence-vault

◆ BLUF — The short version

S. Intelligence memorandum for the record, December twelfth, nineteen sixty‑six. This document details a high‑altitude reconnaissance flight over mainland China and was released through The Black Vault, a public‑domain archive of declassified government records. The memorandum was approved for release on May fourth, two thousand.

Date: AUG 17 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

↯ Dispatch — press play1:00

0:001:00

↯ Share

X in r/

Episode notes

Resume of Mission C216C – U.S. Intelligence memorandum for the record, December twelfth, nineteen sixty‑six. This document details a high‑altitude reconnaissance flight over mainland China and was released through The Black Vault, a public‑domain archive of declassified government records. The…

View the primary source document

Questions about this case

What was Resume Of Mission C216c – U.s. about?: S. Intelligence memorandum for the record, December twelfth, nineteen sixty‑six. This document details a high‑altitude reconnaissance flight over mainland China and was released through The Black Vault, a public‑domain archive of declassified government records. The memorandum was approved for release on May fourth, two thousand.
Why was this case declassified?: This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Storyflo narrates it directly from the public release.

intelligence-vault

Related cases

✉ Dispatches

A short dispatch when a new file is released — narrated, answer-first, and linked straight to the primary source. No spam; unsubscribe anytime.

↯ Subscribe to the feed

RSS feed Browse all cases

Resume Of Mission C216c – U.s.

Questions about this case

Related cases

FBI Today, We Examine A July Thirtieth, Nineteen Forty Nine, Memorandum From U.s.

CIA Today's Episode Examines A Declassified CIA

This Episode Of Declassified Presents A Central Intelligence Agency Record

CIA From Storyflo, This Is Declassified.

CIA This Episode Of Declassified Presents A Declassified Central Intelligence

Questions about this case

Related cases

FBI Today, We Examine A July Thirtieth, Nineteen Forty Nine, Memorandum From U.s.

CIA Today's Episode Examines A Declassified CIA

This Episode Of Declassified Presents A Central Intelligence Agency Record

CIA From Storyflo, This Is Declassified.

CIA This Episode Of Declassified Presents A Declassified Central Intelligence

Get the next declassified case in your inbox