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NRO APPROVED FOR RELEASE 

DECLASSIFIED BY: C/IART 

DECLASSIFIED ON: 1 OCTOBER 2012 

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE 

WA8HINGTOH 

OI'PlCK OF THE UN .... SKcNrrARY 

December 11, 1963 

MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD 

This records conversation with Mr. McCone at his office 

on Tuesday, December lQ 

After reading my proposed draft directive on consolidation 

()f CORONA management, Mr. McCone said, "This is the same paper 

you presented before. You want to take the whole project over." 

He then went on to say that he had looked into the history 

of this project and that he was convinced that had it not been 

for CIA influence this country would still today be without 

pictures of the Soviet Union. He illustrated the importance 

'.4IIt'CoV"_ of these pictures by citing his recent ~8.~QA of the NIE 

for the National Security Council. He stated that he would not 

stand for submersion of this project into the bureaucracy of 

the Air Force and that he would liquidate the NRO if necessary 

to prevent this. He spoke of the necessity to keep the 

imagination, inventiveness, enthusiasm and flexibility of the 

CIA organization at work on this project in order to insure 

its success. 

I pointed out to him that at the pres~nt time none of the 

CIA people that originally worked on the CORONA project were 

contributing effectively to it, noting 

contracting officer at Langley adminis worth 

of contracts out of a total approaching and that 

this contracting officer takes technica only from 

the Configuration Control Board and that the CIA has two members 

on this CCB. Mr. McCone then stated that he would consider 

the paper further • 

He asked about TAGBOARD, and I reported that I had asked 

Colonel Geary to prepare for me a complete review of the program 

and its expected costs and stated that I felt that we might 

come to a decision to terminate soon. 
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NRO APPROVED FOR RELEASE 

DECLASSIFIED BY: C/IART 

DECLASSIFIED ON: 1 OCTOBER 2012 

He asked what we were doing to achieve higher resolution 

in our satellite photography, and I reported briefly on the 

latest reports from the VALLEY project. He expressed great 

interest and stated that he thought it was ~portant to pursue 

this kind of objective. 

He asked what the possibilities were for a new general 

search system. I described the history of the E-6 system 

and what I knew of the proposed M-2 system. I explained the 

"political" factors that will be felt in making any decision 

in this area and stated as my present judgment, not held with 

great confidence, that the quickest way to get an ~proved 

general search system would be to revive E-6 with improvements, 

and that I thought that this had a greater potential than the 

M-2 proposal. I noted, however, that the present committee 

studying the resolution of the CORONA system might come to a 

more definitive conelusion about the possibility of making 

improvements along the same technical lines. 

As the meeting closed, Mr. McCone stated he would let me 

have his decision on the CORONA matter within a few days. 

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