The Central Intelligence Agency

Office of Scientific Intelligence The Central Intelligence Agency

The Office of Scientific Intelligence was created in 1949, driven by the concerns of technological surprise in nuclear weapons, biological warfare, and guided missiles. OSI was formed by expanding the Scientific Intelligence Branch of the Office of Reports and Estimates (ORE) and combining it with the Nuclear Energy Group of the Office of Special Operations (OSO). It was one of the longest-standing offices in the Directorate of Intelligence, surviving over 31 years until it was merged with the Office of Weapons Intelligence (OWI) on 25 February 1980 to form the Office of Scientific and Weapons Research. The collection is centered on the three-volume history of OSI. It includes selected National Intelligence Estimates, other intelligence reports drafted by OSI, pertinent Studies in Intelligence articles, and other early OSI historical documents. The collection provides a glimpse of the CIAs overall contributions to science and technology during the Cold War.