The most spectacular operations were carried out from Finnmark. And that with life as an effort. It is not publicly known whether the espionage led to political problems in relations with the Soviet Union, as the Chinese balloons over the US have now caused between the US and China. In August 1954, on board the trawler “Telco” on its way north, there was a packed balloon, which, when inflated with undercarriage, was a full 20 meters high. The chartered fishing boat from Austevoll near Bergen was the base for the entire American-Norwegian operation. The CIA wanted to try out a new idea after it had proved very dangerous to cross the border on foot. The preparations for “Operation LINDA” – as Norwegian intelligence called it all – took place at a CIA base in a desert in Colorado in the USA. Took off with an easterly wind In Finnmark, the balloon trip was to take off from Sagfjorden, which is a small fjord inlet, just a few kilometers from the border with the Soviet Union. The first attempt was a complete failure. The wind direction was wrong. With better wind conditions and ready for ascent, Finns Arvo Juvonen and Viljo Suikkanen took their place in a basket under the balloon. Both were well trained in maneuvering the craft by the CIA in the United States. The CIA got an idea to use hot air balloons in espionage against the Soviet Union. This is a drawing of the balloon that flew over the Norwegian border with the Soviet Union in 1954. Photo: Esa Anttallas On 8 September at 22:38 in 1954, the large, white balloon rose into the air. From the fishing boat “Telco”, the balloon was visible for six to seven minutes, before it was taken with the wind in a south-easterly direction and disappeared over the border. Then the wind lied. Three hours later, the two Finns were therefore forced to drain the helium from the balloon so that it lost height and descended to the ground. The highly involuntary landing happened long before they approached the city of Murmansk. At Murmansk, the two were supposed to spy on Vajenga airport. The agents with the balloon equipment were discovered in the terrain by Soviet soldiers and fired upon. It was only with difficulty that they managed to get back to Norway alive. Well documented This failed balloon operation is described by the Finnish author Esa Anttalas in the book “Agents cross the border” and in the book “Verkebyllen” by Morten Jentoft and Odd Isungset. Morten Jentoft says that there is no doubt that the course of the described balloon journey is correct. – That the two were sent up from a boat that the intelligence service had, has been confirmed by Arvo Juvonen, who is one of these two Finns. This is a person whom I have met and interviewed. The incident has also been confirmed by Norwegian sources, says Jentoft. Author and news journalist Morten Jentoft says that it is well documented that the CIA and Norwegian intelligence used a hot air balloon from Finnmark into the Soviet Union. Photo: news 34 secret balloon drops from Gardermoen American and Norwegian intelligence nevertheless did not give up using balloons. Balloons from Gardermoen that were sent to spy on the Soviet Union two years later were a much bigger project. The operation was also more similar to what is now known about China’s use of possible spy balloons against the United States. There were also unmanned balloons from Gardermoen. Altogether there were a total of 34 balloon releases from Gardermoen in the period 13 January 1956 to 6 June 1956. Balloons were also released from other places in Norway. The USA also sent up such balloons from other countries in Europe. The idea was that the balloon drops from Gardermoen should make use of easterly wind directions. The balloons were supposed to provide images of the ground in the Soviet Union, and important intelligence information. What happened was that several of the balloons broke during ascent from Gardermoen. Other balloons caused flight problems in Sweden or went down in Sweden. The problems led to Swedish protests against the Norwegian authorities, which meant that the activity was stopped for a few days. Most of the balloons still came in over the Soviet Union. It is known that some were spotted and shot down by Soviet MIG fighters at an altitude of 10,000 meters. Four balloons from Gardermoen to Japan The plan was for the balloons to be remotely controlled when they came over Japanese territory. Remote control would release the undercarriage with film rolls and in the air be picked up by American planes or be picked up from the sea. Four of the balloons from Gardermoen flew into the airspace over Japan, but no balloon parts from Gardermoen were recovered. On February 4, Russia strongly objected to what was officially called a scientific meteorological experiment. Russia’s protest caused US President Dwight D. Eisenhower to order the entire operation to be stopped immediately. After that, only four new balloon drops were carried out at Gardermoen in June. It was all over the summer of 1956. 163 Americans were involved in the secret operation at Gardermoen, although the Norwegian authorities had set a ceiling of 100. The Norwegian government also knew at this time what was really going on there. That was not the case when the project was started. The Contact Committee, the government’s committee for defense and security issues led by Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen, approved the initiation of “GENETRIX” as a meteorological project. Used to take pictures of the back of the moon “GENETRIX” is mentioned in the book “CIA i Norge” written by Geir Jan Johansen, and among other things also by the website stratocat.com. Author Geir Jan Johansen says that advanced altitude equipment under the balloons meant that they flew at the right height to be able to take interesting photos. He is also impressed that the Soviet Union managed to shoot down some of the balloons. Thus the Soviet Union secured advanced and very valuable film equipment from the Americans. – The equipment was later used by the Russians to take pictures of the back of the moon, says Geir Jan Johansen. – Is it true that Norwegian intelligence initially misinformed the government? – It is not unknown. I also suspect that the minutes found in various archives were added afterwards. The minutes are therefore not to be trusted either, says Geir Jan Johansen. After the United States shot down a Chinese balloon suspected of espionage on February 4 this year, China has claimed that American balloons have flown over Chinese territory more than ten times in the past year. Whether the US has really had spy balloons over China in the past year has not been documented.
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Spy balloons both from Finnmark and Gardermoen in the 1950s – news Troms and Finnmark
