Cia Releasing Spy Satellite Photos

The CIA announced Friday it will release 800,000 formerly classified Cold War-era photographs taken from spy satellites over the former Soviet Union.

It is the first such declassification since the early generation American reconnaissance satellites began monitoring Soviet military sites in August 1960.

The photos cover virtually the entire territory of the former Soviet Union as well as much of the rest of the Earth. The full collection will not be publicly available for another 18 months because the photos first will be catalogued by the National Archives.