Evening star., 1955-07-31
By EARL H. vOSS

by EhfSL N. FOSS
President Eisenhower,s challenge
to the Soviet Union calling for an
exchange of aerial reconnaissance
has raised questions about how
useful such an exercise would be.
No one claims it would be fool
proof.
Sir Winston Churchill last March
/ banged a dispatch box in Brit
aims House of Commons and COM
mented ruefully: 1T is now the
fact that a quantity of plutonium-
probably less than would fill this
box on the table, and quite a safe
. thing to store-would suffice to pro-
duce weapons which would give
indisputable world domination to
any great power which was the
only one to have it. There is no
absolute defense against the hy-
drogen bomb F.. -
President Eisenhower admitted
at Geneva that I'VE have not as
yet been able to discover any scien-
tif1c or other inspection method
which would make certain of the
elimination of nuclear weapons"
AS the Swedes were quick to
point out after the President made
his Geneva proposal, clandestine
activities could be largely concealed
underground. In Sweden both ma
val and air installations are being
carved out of mountain rock, as
protection against H-bombs and
unfriendly reconnaissance.
Remarkable Results
Still. aerial photographs produce
some remarkable results. They
could reduce many of the risks of
world humiliation in this nuclear
age. Even in the case of under
ground installations, the caves
entrances would be available for
study. Comings and goings of
people and equipment would prob
ably tell skilled photo interpreters
much about what was happening
below.
American Air Force planes prob
ably would fly most of their recon-
naissance missions over the Soviet
Union at high altitudes-say 45,-
900 or $4,000 feet. New cameras,
with extra long focal lengths, now
make this 9-mile-high photography
preferable in many respects to low
level reconnaissance. There is less
distortion and surprisingly little
ground detail is lost, given proper
weather conditions and equip
ment.
Golf Boil at 9 Miles?
For instance, the Air Force flew
a 9-mile-high mission over golf
course. On one green the photo
interpreter saw not only two golf
ers. but two golf balls.
That put the theoreticians to
work. Could the interpreters really
see golf balls from 8 miles up
Or were they imagining things?
The experts decided it was imagina-
ton. At that height-and with
the long focal-length cameras and
fine-grain film used, nothing small
er than tennis ball could be
discerned, they calculated.
Other photo interpreters have de-
tected single strands of battlefield
barbed wire from 10000 feet and
above.
There are instances, of course.
where low-level aerial photography
yields better results than the high
level work. 1t was with this in
mind, no doubt. that President
Eisenhower proposed ample" IA
cilities for aerial reconnaissance.
When he was supreme commander
of the allied forces In Europe, he
had opportunity to build q solid
respect for the worth of all kinds
Of aerial reconnaissance.
To study new developments in
aerial photography and photo in
terpretation, this reporter recently
visited the Tactical Air Commands
363d Tactical RECONNAISSANCE Wing
at Shaw Air Force Base. 8. C..
AS part Of the education, he went
along on a special daytime train
ing flight to photograph the Wash
ington Metropolitan Area.
Men and Equipment
AS in most human activities,
from sports to war-making, the
human element is the most i'm
portant part of aerial reconnais-
sance. 1t takes a good pilot and a
good photo interpreter. Most of
the remaining chores have by now
been turned over to machines.
The picture-taking-even down
to choice of filters to cut through
haze. or to sharpen up contrasts
is now left to automatic (photo-
electric-cell equipped cameras.
Film processing, likewise. is almost
completely automatic. You feed
the raw film in here, and the dried,