Operation Matador (1975)
Operation Matador was a Central Intelligence Agency plan in 1975 to utilize the recovery barge Glomar Explorer to recover the remainder of the Soviet submarine K-129 left on the sea floor by the earlier Project Azorian. The operation was never conducted.
A discussion about the operation was recorded on March 19, 1975 in the Cabinet Room of the White House. President Gerald Ford, Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger, Philip Buchen, John O. Marsh, Jr., Ambassador Donald Rumsfeld, Lt. General Brent Scowcroft, and William Colby discussed the operation and the leak to the press about "Project Jennifer". During the meeting, the director of CIA, William Colby proposed to keep the operation secret, saying:
The result of the meeting was to stonewall, causing the Los Angeles Times to publish a four-page story the next day by Jack Nelson with the headline, "Administration Won't Talk About Sub Raised by CIA." The document that identified "Operation Matador" as the subject of the cabinet meeting was made public by the National Security Archive on June 15, 2012.
