MEMORANDUM FOR THE DIRECTOR

• Document Type: FOIA
• Keywords: DNI
• Keywords: SPUTNIK
• Collection: Intelligence Warning of the 1957 Launch of Sputnik
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006014608
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: September 22, 2017
• Document Release Date: October 4, 2017
• Case Number: SC-2017-00012
• Publication Date: October 17, 1957

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MEMORANDUM FOR TBE DIRECTOR:
This memorandum is for the record.
Mark Childs in his conference with you today brought up three subjects:
(1) A friend of the President's, he said, who is also a friend of yours but
who is not in CIA, gave lir. Childs details of the Air Force's use of balloons
which successfully mapped the Soviet Union. (2) At the time Bulganin was
writing letters threatening to send rockets into England, our Air Force actually
put SAC into the sky, so seriously was the threat taken. (3) Senator Russell
in Georgia yesterday told Mr. Childs that he looked with disfavor upon any
Congressional investigation into the subject of the Soviets' being first in
orbitting an earth satellite. Childs declared that Senator Russell said that
the CIA had kept the senior members of Congress completely informed of the
Soviet progress in the rocket development and regarding their capability to
orbit the Sputnik.
Regarding the first item, the reputed aerial photography of the Soviet
Union by Air Force balloons, Childs wanted your opinion as to whether it
would not now be a good time to make this public so as to counteract in some
degree propaganda advantages the Soviet has because of its launching of the
artificial satellite. Your response was that it might better not be publicized
since we are now in the process of discussion as to what the rights of indi-
vidual nations are regarding air space, haw high their control extends, etc.
You also remarked that there had been considerable publicity by the Soviet
Union, by Hungary, and by Czechoslovakia at one time charging America with
using balloons for mapping purposes, which they claimed was invasion of their
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territory but that no government official of the United States ever admitted
such to be the fact, and about the only comment that you remembered in the
American press was that these were meteorological balloons gathering weather
data and some may have blown over Soviet satellite nations. You also stated
that mapping by aerial photography from balloons is not an exact science
and the subject gets into the whole problem of the "open skies" plan which
the President proposed to the Soviet. Childs remarked that he would be
guided by your veto of his making public this information. You stated with
a laugh, in good humor, that you would not undertake to veto anything the
press wants to do. Childs laughed also and said he understood but he would
be guided by what you had said. The impression he left was definitely that
he would not make public the story.
In his discussion on subject #2, rockets over England, he mentioned
that he had talked with "two ambassadors" but he did not further elaborate
as to his source of information.
As to the third comment, his conversation with Senator Russell, you
told Childs that it is difficult even for the Russians to completely hide
a major project of such large dimensions involving many people, as that
included in the preparations for the rocket launching of a satellite; that
CIA of course has been alert to the time and effort which the Soviets were
devoting to such a project, and had added up the different factors as they
developed and had kept some senior members of the Congress informed of the
Soviet progress. You humorously stated that of course we did not tell them
the launching would occur on a particular day or month. Childs again added
that Mr. Russell certainly thought CIA had kept him fully informed of the
Soviet progress.
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While en route to your office for the interview, Mark told me that
there were reports that Bob Morris will resign as general counsel for the
Internal Security Committee and he thought that this was something the
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press certainly should try to prevent
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'STAWAY J. GROGAN
Assistant to the Dir
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