The Air Force would not confirm it. At a press conference last week Defense Secretary Wilson muttered, "I think we have talked too much about it." But the news had spread nevertheless along the quick-acting grapevine that connects aviation centers. The Bell X-2 rocket plane, insisted the grapevine, had flown to 126,000 ft. (23.9 miles), beating the official record of the X-1A by nearly 6.8 miles. Nothing firm had leaked about the details of the flight. One air-industry rumor held that the X-2 had merely been trying for 100,000 ft., and that it...
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