08.19.06
Declassified CIA Documentary on Secret Corona Spy Satellite Program
Visiting The Memory Hole, I noticed they’ve posted digitized copies of A Point in Time, a 1972 hour-long top-secret documentary about the Corona spy satellite program. Produced by the CIA, it covers the entire history of the Corona program, and includes engineers’ footage as well as interviews. The film was not declassified until the mid-1990s (along with many other Corona materials) and while it was shown at a CIA-sponsored Corona history conference in 1995, it has remained almost completely unseen by the general public. This digital capture is from a VHS copy received directly from the National Archives.
The CIA documentary, which is public domain, as well as video proceedings from the 1995 conference, have been posted to Archive.org in Quicktime and MP4 (both streaming and static formats). Alas, the highest resolution offered is only 320 x 240, and there is no DVD-friendly MP2 copy. All the same, looks to be very worthwhile viewing — like time travelling to 1972 and getting a top-secret briefing. Pardon me, but is your shoe ringing?
