“Project 119L” was a Cold War reconnaissance operation by the U.S. Air Force in which large balloons floated cameras over the Soviet Union.
The spy balloons would photograph sensitive Soviet sites and either hang in the air or land in the Sea of Japan until either a crew flying the C-119 Flying Boxcar or a naval vessel retrieved them. The project caused a row between the U.S. and Soviet forces when the Soviets discovered what they (accurately) believed to be the remnants of a U.S. spy camera in February 1956.
Other reconnaissance balloon projects from the era included Project Skyhook, Project Mogul, Project Grandson, and Project Genetrix. The previously conducted “Project Moby Dick” used much smaller balloons launched from what was called a “Covered Wagon”. Their payloads were then tracked across the continental United States to map and study high alititude wind trajectories.
Project 119L was a United States Air Force programme to send surveillance balloons. manufactured by General Mills, over Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in order to take photographs and collect intelligence. Between 10 January and 6 February 1956, from five different launch sites, a total of 512 (516 according to other sources ) vehicles were launched, of which 54 were recovered later.
Authorized by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on December 27, 1955, Project 119L was the first espionage use of these balloons that had been tested in previous projects, such as “Moby Dick High”. Project 119L was a follow up to Project Skyhook, Project Mogul, and Project Grandson. The balloons were used to monitor the Soviet Union for such things as nuclear tests, and returned photography of more than 1.1 million square miles of the Sino-Soviet block.
Top-secret high altitude balloon programmes such as Moby Dick, Moby Dick High and 119L are believed to be one of the main explanations for many UFO sightings starting around the mid-20th century. The U-2 spy plane was later developed to replace the Genetrix balloons.
Source: YouTube