In 1956, the CIA’s photo spies moved into a shabby D.C. office building
You could have shopped for a new car at Steuart Motors, a large Ford dealership with a showroom on that lot. You might have had business elsewhere in the Steuart Building, a commercial space owned by the family, which, in addition to operating the dealership, was active in petroleum, insurance and real estate.
When the Iron Curtain slammed shut, it became very risky for American operatives to put their eyes directly upon such things as enemy airfields, shipyards, armaments factories, missile bases and nuclear power plants.By the summer of 1956, the U.S. Air Force had already tried something called Project Genetrix. It involved balloons launched from bases in Europe and Turkey, and designed to float over Russia and China while snapping photos. The project was not a success.