- In 1961, the CIA discovered an abandoned Soviet drift station in the Arctic, but extraction appeared impossible due to inaccessibility.
- Robert Fulton developed the Skyhook aerial retrieval system in 1958, using a balloon-lifted cable to lift people from the ground into a passing aircraft.
- During Project Coldfeet, the CIA successfully used the untested Skyhook to extract two operatives and 150 pounds of Soviet research materials from an abandoned station.
- The operation proved the practicality of paradrop and aeroretriever recovery for accessing otherwise inaccessible areas.
- Skyhook technology was used by the U.S. military until the mid-1990s and later appeared in films such as Thunderball and The Dark Knight.