Transcript of Washington Post Article, "U.S. Heard Russians Chasing U-2"

From The Washington Post, Thursday, May 12, 1960 The Washington Merry-Go-Round a U. S. HEARD RUSSIANS CHASING U-2 While Drew Pearson is en route to the summit conference his associate, Jack Anderson is covering the Washington scene. By Jack Anderson The terse radio exchanges between the Russian pilots who shot down an American spy plane over Sverdlovsk 1200 miles inside Russia were picked up by supersensitive listening devices in Turkey, it has now been learned, The last words that crackled over the radio were one pilot's excited shout: "He's turning left!" Then silence. Despite the great distance, the Red fliers' conversation was overheard distinctly through monitoring equipment which Uncle Sam uses to keep an ear to the ground along the Soviet border. From official reports that no longer can be considered secret, this column has pieced together the dramatic story of Francis Powers' fateful flight into Premier Khrushchev's arms. Powers was on the lookout for a space spectacular which the Russians had hinted they might attempt on May Day. His course took him over the missile center from which they were expected perhaps to launch a man into space. As it turned out, Powers provided the May Day spectacular. Soviet Trap? Some officials suspect he was lured into a trap which the Russians had baited with their May Day hints. But although Uncle Sam was curious about what the Russians might be up to, surveillance of the missile center was only a small part of his assignment, He was supposed to complete a photo- reconnaissance mission through the heart of Russia from the Pakistan border to Sverdlovsk, then left over Murmansk to the Norwegian air base at Bodo.