U.S. AIR-MAPPED RUSSIA BEFORE U2S, EX-SPY SAYS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000800040022-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 10, 1999
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: November 30, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

WASHINGTON STAR
Approved For Release 200X016/9M :1M-RDP
STATINTL
U.S. jAir-mapped Russia
Before U2s,Ex-Spy Says'
0
STATINTL
r By BERNARD GWERTZtV1AN Wennerstroem was the Swed S. Intelligence officers, from contact with somebody is de-
star staff writer I ish air attache in Moscow from that time on he was working sired and if the spouse of the
1949 until 1952. From April 1952 only for the Russians, he said.
A Swedish military officer to May 1957 he was' air attache In 1952, he was assigned to party concerned could be inter.
who spied' for both the United, in Washington. Later, he served Washington, where his main ested in the meeting, she would
-States and Russia has testified in Stockholm until his arrest. assignment was to gather ma- be a driving factor to a great
that American aircraft and bal-, . ,Sympathetic" to NATO, he terial on technical developments extent.
loons flew 11legally over terra-' Wennerstroem said that dur-
said he did various jobs for the in the United States, which was
tory of the Soviet Union for at'. U.S. Embassy while in Moscow. to a certain extent similar to his Ing the 1950s, the Soviet gov-
least 10 years before the U2 ernment was very concerned
Because he was freer to travel d ties as Swedish air attache.
spy plane Incident in 1960. ~ about the balance of power,
Col. Stag Eric `Constans Wen- around Russia, he reported on . At defense industries, he which obviously favored the
nerstroem, who said he prac- new Soviet aircraft and made would indicate that Sweden was United States. This nervousness'
ticed his espionage trade in both observations of secret Soviet' interested in purchasing a cer- I led the Russians to expect an
Moscow and Washington, told test flights, he testified. tain product. He would therefore: attack at any time, and on one
Swedish investigators earlier; Probably his most onust1al job experience little difficulty m occasion he was asked to check
was on a trip to the Ukraine to getting detailed plans. He rarely, a report this year about his uncanny from Moscow that a
ability to ferret out?nformation,. find out whether the roofs in a was asked if he was authorized surprise attack was being read
certain village were that hed or. to see secret material, but if he ied
first for the Americans ahd then: _. ._ . _ . . Q ___ I_
iVC L11C OIWAltL1107. U _ _._r _.~.- .- ................n
The origin of this investiga ? Once the literature was ob- was takin lace of such eat
He was convicted by 'a, Swed-! flon had to do with American bained Wennerstroem would put im rtanEa . . . there would be
Ish court of gross espionage and bombsights," he said. "The' it on microfilm and slip it to hectici activity in the Pentagon," sentenced June 12 to life iippris-, particular bombsight in question, Soviet - contacts almost al- he said.
onment. He had confessed to was constructed so that the; ways the air 'attache in the
spying for the United States,- could be navigated at: "At that time I had a great
Pen-
briefly working double!. plane Russian embassy - in a num- number of contacts in the as a night and flying over or in fog ber of different ways. Often the
agent, and then spying for Rus- with the help of radar.... A talon whom I knew very
P inicrofilm',would be transferred
sia from 1951 until his arrest village with sheet metal roofs: well made .
June 20, 1963. during a handshake at diploma-
would show up on. the screen tic receptions, but 'there were ' "I mthis round and found
His testimony was translated and the other would not." ?' J many other meeting places, in- that there was no difficulty to
into English and made public Soon after his arrival in Mos- i doors and outdoors. - get in to talk to them ... Thus
last night by the Senate Internal cow, he said he began doing the overall impression was
Security Subcommittee. jobs for the Soviet intelligence, Paid $750 a Month such that it was impossible that
The 57-year-old . officer said becoming in effect a "double I Wennerstroem said he re, anything was underway since
the first illegal. flights were un agent." His dual role was final ceived about $750 a month from nobody was in a particular rush
dertaken in 1950',by the RB36,',ly discovered by the Russians the Rnaaiaria duriner his five ? ? I repotted that, according
*
m
t
th
-a very large a(x-eugiuu,piauc
that flew at what was for that
period an exceptionally high;
altitude."
The RB36 flights continued,
until Soviet air defenses endan-
gered their operations, he said.
Later, "special balloons were
built that -ascended to great,'
heights," he said. These bal-
loons were sent by air currents
th
So
ietnion from
e
v
U
est to east.
"The balloons were equipped;
with cameras and took photo-:
graphs automatically during
their flights," he said.
. U2 Replaced. Balloons
The balloons were replaced by
the U2 planes. The U2's were
discontinued after Francis Gary
Powers' W-fated. Hight i May
Embassy, which trausmitted his
name in a code that was
cracked by the Russians.
When Soviet agents confront-
.
ed him with this evidance; in a':dcived expenses for his work for?
villa outside Moscow, his first the Americans. ?
"
unheard-of bitter.
reaction was
ness against the Americans for
not being able to protect them
selves better," and fear that theJ
RussiansE "were prepared t
liquidate me with a' shot in the
y men
e ae
pw
, ,,
years in Washington. Much of w
y were d erg,
enses but ef jt
that was used for ex
p
,he was able to draw larger - b,r.r.>Ji.
sums later after; his return to
He said he only re-,
Sweden
As'a spy; he found it useful in':
Washinon . to cultivate . thel
wives or, mportant contacts.
"Women have a'much greater
influence over the, men` than we
nape of the - neck or somethings ~~ . a!rSa ..
similar."
No'Retaliation .,
But, to his relief, "there was'
not a single word from the So-)
viets of reproach or bad humor; .
about their having beene
nilaled," he said.. V
Although' he ' continued '
Approved For Re.lease 2000/08/03 : CIA-RDP75-00149R000800040022-9