On May 1, 1960, an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union and its pilot, Francis Gary Powers, was captured. The Eisenhower administration initially attempted to cover up the incident but was soon forced to admit that the U.S. had been conducting reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union for several years. The ensuing diplomatic crisis ended a period of warmer relations between the two superpowers and heightened Cold War tensions. Francis Gary Powers was eventually swapped for KGB agent Rudolf Abel, which was portrayed in the 2015 Spielberg movie, "Bridge of Spies."

In 2010, CIA documents were released indicating that “top US officials never believed Powers’ account of his fateful flight because it appeared to be directly contradicted by a report from the National Security Agency. He was posthumously awarded medals for fidelity and courage in the line of duty, including the Silver Star. 

Vladimir I. Toumanoff was serving as a political counselor in Moscow at the time. He was interviewed by William D. Morgan in 1999.  You can read the Moment here.