TIME LAPSE

The CIA dreamed up what they thought was the perfect plan to topple Fidel Castro in 1961.

They recruited 1,400 exiled Cubans with insider knowledge and a desire for revenge, trained them, named them Brigade 2506 and sent them to secure a full-scale invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. But for unknown reasons, their aircraft flew an hour ahead of schedule, leaving back-up jets on the aircraft carrier USS Essex.

By the time the jets got there it was too late. Without air cover the invasion had been crushed.