Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-11-04

taken in slate october" show
intact and ready to go. Pic
lures Of the same sites taken
Thursday show they have been
dismantled.
One shows a convoy of trucks
headed away from a strapped
missile site.
The four sets of pictures were
said to be roughly typical of
the Cuban sites. They were Sc
lected because they showed
reasonably clear beforehand
after views. 1t was indicated,
however, that other sites pro-
duced less dramatic pictures of
missiles being dismantled.
Judging from the speed of
the dismantling. the entire
missile threat from Cuba prob
ably had been removed by the
time reporters saw the pic
lures.
Nothing was said yesterday
about the bombers the Penta-
gon believes were able to carry
nuclear bombs to Southeastern
States. A Pentagon spokesman
said, however, the administra-
ton is insisting that the bomb
ers be sent back to Russia
along with the missiles.
Surveillance Continues
Reporters were not told
what has happened to the
missiles. An expert photo
interpreter who briefed the
newsmen said he was author
lied to say only that no weap-
ons had been hidden in the
areas covered by Thursdays
reconnaissance pictures.
1t is understood that sur
veillance flights are still going
on. There were no flights on
Tuesday and Wednesday, while
most of the missiles were being
taken away, so there is a ques-
ton whether the Pentagon
knows what actually has hap
pened to the rockets.
Officials have said from the
start that they could not locate
the relatively small nuclear
warheads with any certainty.
The reconnaissance pictures
shown yesterday were from the
batch reported to the country
Friday in a radio-TV broadcast
by the President.
Bases are being dismantled, I"
he said; their missiles and
related equipment are being
Grated, and the fixed installa-
tons at these sites are being
destroyed"
Only photos of medium range
ballistic missile sites were shown
to reporters. These missiles
could carry nuclear warheads
about 10000 miles-far enough
to hit the Washington Area.
Intermediate-range baIlistic
missile sites were under con-
struction in Cuba but not ready
to shoot. They have an esti.
mated range of $500 miles
enough to hit all but the
northwestern part of the United
States.
No IRBM pictures were shown
Because many of these site.
were only In the earth-movine
and concrete-laying state, the
before-and-after views would
not show much to a non-expert
Tents Removed
Here is the Interpretation OF
the four sets of pictures, as
given by q Pentagon specialist.
Site /, near San Cristobal
about so miles southwest of
Havana well inland from the
coast:
The October picture shows
two missile erectors next to
gravel launching pads, two long
"missile-ready" tents and an
other tent probably covering a
missile trailer. The erectors
are rather poorly covered by
canvas. A complex of personnel
and administrative tents can
be seen in the background.
The Thursday picture of the
same site shows the two erec-
tors missing.
THAT is the key item" the
Pentagon expert said. The
ready" tents are still there,
as are the gravel pads, but the
missile trailer tent and most
of the auxiliary tents are gone.
Some trucks are still on the
scene. Camouflage netting near
the launching position, which
probably covered fuel vehicles,
is now gone.
Site 2, also near San Girls
tobal: The October picture
shows one erector, pad and
missile-ready tent. On Thurs
day, the tent was gone, show