Today's class centered on technological spycraft of the 20th century. It's history of a different kind, when recorded history and personal memories intertwine.

U-2 and Gary Powers. Krushchev and the Cuban Missle Crisis. DEFCON2. SR-71 Blackbird. Aurora or not. Satellites with incredible powers of detail definition.

The oldest member of our group served in the armed forces during WWII. The rest of us have childhood memories of WWII or adolescent memories of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Memories are very good for correcting or adjusting the official versions of events, reviewed from personal perspectives.

Lots of discussion of historical fact mingled with memories. Things that I remembered as I was growing up, revisited now as an adult, seem quite different in retrospective. Removed from the immediate threat of nuclear annihilation, some of the precautions and research efforts seem quaint or unnecessary.

However, the Skunk Works facility lives and thrives, projects still cloaked in secrecy.