In 1960, a captured U.S. pilot was charged with espionage by the Soviet Union
The Cold War reached a fever pitch in 1960 when the Soviet Union officially charged American pilot Francis Gary Powers with espionage following the high-altitude shoot-down of his U-2 spy plane.
In 1960, the capture of Francis Gary Powers shattered the illusion of peace between the world's two superpowers. Flying a U-2 spy plane at 70,000 feet, Powers believed he was unreachable, but a Soviet surface-to-air missile proved otherwise. This event forced President Eisenhower to admit to a long-running secret surveillance program after the Soviets produced the surviving pilot and his intact camera equipment.
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