So, claiming it was for meteorological research: > Initially, American authorities acknowledged the incident as the loss of a civilian weather research aircraf

So, claiming it was for meteorological research: > Initially, American authorities acknowledged the incident as the loss of a civilian weather research aircraft operated by NASA, but were forced to admit the mission's true purpose a few days later after the Soviet government produced the captured pilot and parts of the U-2's surveillance equipment, including photographs of Soviet military bases.