A Letter From The Publisher: Feb. 2, 1968

NOT since May 1, 1960, when U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers paid an unexpected visit to the Soviet Union, has an official security screen dropped so thoroughly over a major news event. No sooner was the capture of the U.S.S. Pueblo reported last week than high-placed and usually accommodating news sources became tight-lipped or inaccessible. From Washington to Tokyo, no one in the know was talking—at least not for the record. Everywhere, TIME'S correspondents had to work overtime, patiently questioning, prodding reluctant officials, prying out the facts that would raise their reports above...