This episode opens with a declassified United States Navy record concerning electronic intelligence flights over Taiwan in the spring of nineteen fifty‑nine. The document is a top‑secret cable dated twenty‑nine April, nineteen fifty‑nine, and it is notable because it details the planned flight routes, aircraft, and timing of U.S. reconnaissance missions during a period of heightened tension in the Western Pacific. The source is the public archive hosted at archive.org.
The record was released to the public through The Black Vault, which posted the full text of the cable on its website. The posting includes the original scanned pages and a plain‑text transcription. No specific Freedom of Information Act case number is cited; the declassification authority is indicated on the original document as “TOP SECRET” and the release is attributed to the National Archives’ standard declassification process. The document can be accessed at the URL archive.org/download/us‑china‑intel‑CI01346/CI01346_djvu.txt.
Now, the document itself.
TELEGRAM Department of State – ACTION COPY – TOP SECRET. FROM: CMT WANDER COM (U‑S). TO: Department of State. DATE: twenty‑nine zero four four zero Zulu, May, nineteen fifty‑nine. NAVY MESSAGE. SUBJECT: INTELLIGENCE FLIGHTS – PLANNED BY GRC. MANNED: AIRCRAFT: FOR EXECUTION DATE, TIMES AND TRACKS AS INDICATED. TAKE‑OFF: HSINCHU. ALTHOUGH: THROUGH FOLLOWING POINTS, ALL COORDINATES. NOFORN.
POINT ONE – LATITUDE SEVENTY‑ONE DEGREES ONE MINUTE, LONGITUDE ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY‑ONE DEGREES ZERO MINUTES. POINT TWO – LATITUDE SEVENTY‑ONE DEGREES NINETY‑FIVE MINUTES, LONGITUDE ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY‑ONE DEGREES ZERO MINUTES. POINT THREE – LATITUDE SEVENTY‑ONE DEGREES ONE HUNDRED TWENTY‑FIVE MINUTES, LONGITUDE ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY‑ONE DEGREES ZERO MINUTES. COAST‑IN POINT – LATITUDE SEVENTY‑ONE DEGREES ONE HUNDRED TWENTY‑THREE MINUTES, LONGITUDE ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY‑ONE DEGREES ZERO MINUTES. COAST‑OUT POINT – LATITUDE SEVENTY‑ONE DEGREES ONE HUNDRED TWENTY‑SIX MINUTES, LONGITUDE ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY‑ONE DEGREES ZERO MINUTES.
TIMES – DEPARTURE AT TWENTY‑ONE THIRTY ZULU, ARRIVAL AT TWENTY‑THREE ZERO ZULU. ALTITUDE – ONE HUNDRED TWENTY‑THREE THOUSAND FEET. AIRCRAFT TYPE – B‑ONE‑SEVEN. SERIAL NUMBER – TWO NINE ONE EIGHT FOUR ONE ONE G M. ADDITIONAL FLIGHT – DEPARTURE AT TWENTY‑ONE THIRTY‑FIVE ZULU, ARRIVAL AT TWENTY‑THREE ZERO ZULU, SAME
