Powers, piloting the secretive U2 spy plane, was shot down by Soviet missiles on May 1, 1960. The US first reports a "weather plane" had been reported missing only to be embarrassed when they learn that not only had the pilot survived and was captured, but the aircraft had been recovered largely intact. Furthermore, Powers had in his procession not only a survival kit, but also 7500 Soviet rubbles and "jewelry for women." The Cold War escalated when it was proven that the US had been spying on the Soviet Union. Tried and convicted as a spy, Powers along with an American student Fredric Pryor is swapped for Soviet Spy KGB Colonel Vilyan Fisher. He died in 1977 at age 47 covering fires in Santa Barbara when his helicopter ran out of fuel. Parts of the US Spy Plane remain on display at a Moscow museum.
