Cuban Missile Crisis Briefing Boards
National Photographic Interpretation Center
1992
1962
The annotated U-2 photographs shown to President Kennedy on 16 October 1962, with hand-lettered arrows identifying missile erectors and tent areas in the San Cristóbal valley.
Why it was classified
The imagery revealed the precise resolution of American overhead reconnaissance at a moment when that margin was strategically decisive.
Why it matters
Thirteen days of world history turned on how well analysts could read shadows in a photograph.