Original sentence: The United States government at first denied the plane's purpose and mission, but was forced to admit its role as a covert surveillance aircraft when the Soviet government produced the captured pilot an the remains of the U-2, including photos of Soviet military bases  taken during the mission
Edited sentence: Initially the United States government lied about the plane's purpose and mission, but was forced to admit to spying when the Soviet government revealed the captured pilot and remains of the U-2 including spying technology and photos of military bases in the Soviet Union taken by the aircraft