# Basic Encyclopedia

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{{Short description|US Air Force list of potential targets}}
{{italic title}}
thumb|An example (with a fictitious target) of a Consolidated Target Intelligence File (CTIF) form with an example of a (fictitious) ''Bombing Encyclopedia'' target data (including the "B.E." number), from 1958.
The '''''Basic Encyclopedia''''' is an encyclopedia of the [US Air Force](/source/US_Air_Force) that lists places that are targets for bombing. It was begun in 1946 during the [Cold War](/source/Cold_War) as the '''''Bombing Encyclopedia''''' and included over 80,000 potential targets around the world during the [Cold War](/source/Cold_War). It included their B.E. number (which consisted of an eight digit identifier), a brief description, longitude and latitude, elevation, and category (military, industrial, or an airfield).<ref name=Schlosser>{{cite book|last1=Schlosser|first1=Eric|title=Command and Control Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety.|date=2014|publisher=Penguin Group USA|isbn=978-0143125785|page=204|edition=1st|quote=They began by poring through the Air Force's ''Bombing Encyclopedia'', a compendium of more than eighty thousand potential targets located throughout the world. The book gave a brief description of each target, its longitude and latitude and elevation, its category—such as military or industrial, airfield or oil refinery—and its "B.E. number," a unique eight-digit identifier. From that lengthy inventory, twelve thousand candidates in the Soviet Union, the Eastern bloc, and China were selected.}}</ref><ref name=Gregory>{{cite news|last1=Gregory|first1=Derek|title=Bombing Encyclopedia of the World|url=http://geographicalimaginations.com/2012/08/03/bombing-encyclopedia-of-the-world/|access-date=1 June 2015|publisher=geographical imaginations|date=3 August 2012}}</ref> The title was changed to ''Basic Encyclopedia'' in the 1960s or 1970s before its publication ended in 1973. The encyclopedia was computerized and used in the [Defense Intelligence Agency](/source/Defense_Intelligence_Agency)'s Automated Installation File.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Eden|first=Lynn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qzfLEpFSMMQC&q=%22Basic+Encyclopedia%22+bombing+encyclopedia&pg=PA323|title=Whole World on Fire: Organizations, Knowledge, and Nuclear Weapons Devastation|date=2006|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-7289-3|pages=323|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
*[Operation Dropshot](/source/Operation_Dropshot)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Category:United States Air Force publications
Category:Aerial bombing
Category:United States Department of Defense publications

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Basic Encyclopedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Encyclopedia) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Encyclopedia?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.