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The U-2 was a top secret high altitude spy plane that was shot down by the Soviets on 5 May 1960, over Russian territory. At first, President Eisenhower denied it was a spy plane, claiming it was a weather plane blown off course, because he believed the pilot was killed in the crash or, as U-2 pilots were supposed to do, committed suicide. The Russians announced they had the pilot, Francis Gary Powers, and he had been captured and confessed to being a spy. Eisenhower then took responsibility for ordering the flight and the Soviet Premier Khrushchev canceled the meeting between the two leaders that was going to take place in Russia. The U-2 incident only increased tensions between the two Cold War powers.

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16y ago

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