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…
AI in Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) Collection
Pexels photo by Danny Meneses. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a crucial component of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) collection, providing a suite of capabilities that enhance the speed and accuracy…
The CIA’s Secret Art Patronage: Abstract Expressionism in the Cold War
The Key 1946. Jackson Pollock. Oil on linen. Art Institute of Chicago. It’s believed that painting was named “The Key” to signify a new beginning in American art, during an…
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…
Kryptos: The Enigma of CIA’s Secret Sculpture
Kryptos by Jim Sanborn / CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED. Kryptos is a fascinating sculpture by the American artist Jim Sanborn. The sculpture is located on the grounds of the Central…
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…