◆ SpookStack

PRR enciae cess ects hina incites * 27 other aircraft; the last ¢ one 2 being British. This: British plane landed at Pribaltica with one or two members of ite crew still in a drugged state.” | . . ~ This may sound fantastic but the facts tend to confirm the under- ground's statement. Initially the Kremlin claimed that the U-2 was shot down from a height of 60,000 feet by a new anti-aircraft missile. At first that story was generally accepted as a true version of events. Later people had their doubts. It is now reported from authoritative sources in Washington, D. C., that the U-2 lost altitude and was forced down from a height of approxi- mately 30,000 feet. The same sources allege that this was confirmed by the NATO radar network which tracked the plane. As a result of this knowledge there is a strong "eumor" in the American capital that the pilot of the U-2, Captain Francis Powers, was drugged prior to take off. To date neither the U. S. Central Intel ligence Agency (CIA) or the U. S. Air Force has commented on this "rumor" and, accordingly, the Russian underground report assumes even greater importance. Still quoting Moscow sources, the pilot of the U-2 did not use his ejector seat when bailing out from 60,000 feet. Instead he chose to make a miraculous parachute jump. His reason, according to Moscow? He knew the ejector seat mechanism was faulty; that it had not been checked for months and if he had used it he would have been killed. The Kremlin “carefully forgot to mention that if Captain Powers had used the seat the top secret plane would have been automatically destroyed. z wee ee een tt ne ce te ae ee Re RE A EN nN rem eee Hence ae *