ARMED FORCES: Mystery Plane

Two crashes, less than 100 miles apart in Texas and New Mexico, last week put the spotlight on a military plane that the Pentagon tries not to talk about. The plane: the Lockheed U2. Its mission: high-altitude reconnaissance. The U-2s, flying out of Laughlin A.F.B. near Del Rio, Texas on separate missions, crashed within a 24-hour period, killing their pilots. Air police rushed in, set up roadblocks to screen both crash sites from view. The Air Force ruled out sabotage, tersely ordered the grounding of some 25 sister ships, and clammed up....

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