What did the declassified documents reveal?

Resume of Mission C058C – CIA Memorandum for the Record, March twenty‑ninth, nineteen sixty‑eight. This declassified record details an aerial reconnaissance sortie over the People’s Republic of China, North Vietnam and Laos, including target coverage, weather conditions, air‑defense encounters, and photographic results. The source is listed on The Black Vault, archive.org, under the CIA Records Disclosure Program. The document was released to the public through The Black Vault on June thirteenth, two thousand two. Declassification was authorized under the CIA Records Disclosure Program, reference CIA‑RDP68B00724R000200090019‑1. The full text is available at archive.org/download/us‑china‑intel‑CI01860/CI01860djvu.txt. The memorandum begins: “Subject: Resume of Mission C058C. Mission C058C was alerted on fourteen March, nineteen sixty‑eight. This was a round‑robin mission with launch and 25X11 recovery on sixteen March, nineteen sixty‑eight. Pre‑planned mission data: Distance one thousand six hundred ninety‑four nautical miles; Time to landing four thousand four hundred forty hours; Mission profile maximum altitude; Take‑off fuel one thousand six hundred twenty‑six gallons; Fuel reserve at high‑cone one hundred fifty‑six gallons. Targets: The route for this mission was planned to obtain photographic coverage of high‑priority COMIREX targets in South China and along the Sino‑DRYV border. Based on the tracker readout, the pilot was six nautical miles right of the end of the third flight line. He turned, and increased cloud cover contributed to an average track of five nautical miles right on the fourth flight line. Due to Soviet‑Sierra Mark III activity up to this point, the pilot elected to overfly the Hengtzu area, which eliminated flight lines five and six. He attempted to resume course on flight line seven but ended up flying this one from five to seven nautical miles to the left. The remainder of the route was covered by clouds until entry into North Vietnam and Laos. The last flight line was flown successfully. Target coverage: (1) Twenty‑six COMIREX targets – eleven priority I, three priority II, and twelve other priority – were covered in China. Vietnam coverage included one priority I and one other priority. In Laos, two COMIREX targets were photographed. In total, thirty COMIREX targets were obtained on this mission. (2) In addition to COMIREX coverage, fifty‑eight bonus targets were photographed, for a grand total of eighty‑eight targets for mission C058C. Weather: The forecast

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.

Resume Of Mission C058c – CIA Memorandum For The Record, March Twenty‑ninth

◆ BLUF — The short version

Resume of Mission C058C – CIA Memorandum for the Record, March twenty‑ninth, nineteen sixty‑eight. This declassified record details an aerial reconnaissance sortie over the People’s Republic of China, North Vietnam and Laos, including target coverage, weather conditions, air‑defense encounters, and photographic results.

Date: AUG 8 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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What was Resume Of Mission C058c – CIA Memorandum For The Record, March Twenty‑ninth about?: Resume of Mission C058C – CIA Memorandum for the Record, March twenty‑ninth, nineteen sixty‑eight. This declassified record details an aerial reconnaissance sortie over the People’s Republic of China, North Vietnam and Laos, including target coverage, weather conditions, air‑defense encounters, and photographic results.
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.

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Resume Of Mission C058c – CIA Memorandum For The Record, March Twenty‑ninth

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