The Other U-2 Incident During The 1962 October Crisis That Almost Triggered World War III

FoxTrot Alpha: In 1962, A Lost U-2 Spy Plane Nearly Triggered World War III

In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis threatened to escalate into global thermonuclear war. The United States and Soviet Union both mobilized over nuclear missiles in Cuba, and a single spark could have effectively ended civilization. But what’s not well-remembered today is that at the height of that dispute, a lost plane near the North Pole nearly led the world down the same path.

On October 4, 1962 a U-S spy plane on a reconnaissance flight over Cuba made a disturbing find: Soviet SS-4 short-range ballistic missiles and SS-5 intermediate range ballistic missiles. Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev had jumped at Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s offer to host missiles in his country, just a few hundred miles from America—and within easy launch range.

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WNU Editor: I grew up during the Cold War, and there are times (like now) I wonder how we survived.