April 8th 1950. Soviet Pilot Anatolij Gerasimov has the US Navy PB 4Y2 Privateer neatly positioned in his sights and fires the guns of his fighter plane. The Lavochkin 11 shudders, and a hail of bullets hits the giant American four-engined spy plane. Airmen bail out of the fatally damaged Privateer, parachutes blossom. While a Soviet rescue operation swings into operation, Gerasimov and his 3 wingmen return to their base to sign the pilot reports prepared for them, which assert the deliberate lie that the plane exploded - with no survivors.