On the very same day as the downing of a U-2 over Cuba, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, another U-2 aircraft flying over the Arctic Sea accidentally violates Soviet territorial space and enters Siberia. The pilot, Charles Maultsby, had orders to take atmospheric samples over the Arctic Sea to check for traces of radioactivity and verify possible Soviet nuclear tests, as he had done dozens of times before. But this time, the route is different: the Northern Lights interfere with his instruments, and he loses his way. He finds himself over Siberia, pursued by MiGs, and American fighters scramble to rescue him from Alaska. It’s DEFCON 3, and the rules of engagement in this case state that fighters can use nuclear weapons to shoot down enemy aircraft. Somehow, a dogfight between the fighters is averted, and the incident ends without consequences. Washington orders an immediate suspension of U-2 flights.
