Basic Encyclopedia

The Basic Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia of the United States Air Force that lists places that are targets for bombing. During the Cold War, this publication was called the Bombing Encyclopedia and included over eighty-thousand potential targets around the world. This included their B.E. number (which consisted of an eight digit identifier), a brief description, longitude and latitude, elevation, category (i.e. military, industrial, or an airfield). During the planning of the National Strategic Target List, this encyclopedia was used to select twelve thousand targets, in China, the Soviet Union, and the Eastern bloc.