From Stage to Shadows: How Magic Influences Espionage
Harry Houdini prepares to do the overboard box escape c. 1912, courtesy of the Library of Congress. Magic and espionage are really kindred arts.” — John E. McLaughlin, former CIA…
Covert Cartoon: The CIA’s Role in the Production of “Animal Farm’”
Cel from “Animal Farm”. Public Domain. The animated film adaptation of renowned British writer George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a significant piece of cinema history, not just for its artistic…
National Museum of Intelligence and Special Operations: Honoring Those at the Tip of the Spear
Aerial rendering of the National Museum of Intelligence and Special Operations. Courtesy of Charles Pinck / The OSS Society. The National Museum of Intelligence and Special Operations® is a future…
The CIA Museum: A Journey into the Hidden World of US Intelligence
The CIA Museum was established in 1988 to give employees a sense of the unique history of their profession. This collection focuses on the CIA’s World War II predecessor, the…
BRIXMIS: Espionage and Diplomacy during the Cold War
An Opel Senator ‘touring’ saloon car used by BRIXMIS in East Germany, ca. 1985. Collection of the National Army Museum, London. Photo: Brigade Piron / CC BY 3.0 DEED. The…
John Ford: Hollywood & the OSS
John Ford with Oscar® statuette, circa 1946. He is the essence of classical American cinema. Any serious person making films today, whether they know it or not, is affected by…
Operation Bernhard: The Secret Nazi Counterfeiting Operation
The entrance to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where the forgers operated. According to an article in The New York Times published on December 13, 2001, the SS experimented with mass killing…
Low-Tech Tactics in a High-Tech World: The Undying Art of Spycraft
This (replacement) mailbox is identical to the one, and in the same location, that convicted spy Aldrich Ames used to signal his Russian counterparts. Ames would place a horizontal chalk…
SERE: Essential Survival Skills for the Modern World
Capt. Allison Ohlinger, a 36th Airlift Squadron instructor navigator, uses a compass to navigate for her team during a survival, evasion, resistance and escape combat survival course at Tama Hills…
Operation Shocker: Counterintelligence, Deception & the Cold War
J. Edgar Hoover Building, the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, D.C. Credit: Audie / CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED. Counterintelligence is, in effect, chasing ghosts, which is…