How pigeons, cats, whales, and even the robot catfish have acted as spies through the ages.

Spies’ deaths rarely make the news because of their secrecy. But when a beluga whale suspected of spying for Moscow was found dead in Norwegian waters in September, the animal quickly became a minor celebrity.

An official necropsy of Hvaldimir (a play on the Norwegian word for whale Hvar and the Russian president’s first name) was also conducted by the Norwegian Directorate General of Fisheries.

The whale was arrested as a spy in 2019 and is one in a long line of animals used by intelligence agencies. Among them was a Soviet program to train marine animals as spies and assassins, but it collapsed in 1991.

Similar animal experiments have been conducted in the United States, some dating back to the 1960s. One of the CIA’s more unusual attempts to use animals as spies was Operation Acoustic Kitty.

The idea was to implant a microphone and antenna in a cat and use it to eavesdrop on potentially interesting conversations. Testing of the “prototype” was a fiasco when a cat wandered off and was hit by a taxi, and the program was quickly discontinued.

History of spy pigeons

A more successful example was the use of spy pigeons. Equipped with miniature cameras, the pigeons were able to easily access restricted areas, “take pictures” without arousing suspicion, and then use their extraordinary homing abilities to return safely to their home base. .

The CIA program, which was highly successful during the Cold War, was inspired by British efforts during World War II.

Over time, technology has created opportunities to take advantage of animals’ stealth while eliminating their unpredictability. Project Aquiline aimed to create a fully equipped bird-like drone in the style of a more traditional reconnaissance aircraft, but smaller, more versatile, and able to get closer to its targets. .

Another, even smaller version is the flying flight device developed by the CIA in the 1970s. Although neither the eagle nor the insect flight designs were ever fully operational, they are recognized as the forerunners of today’s drones.

Fast forward to the 1990s, and the CIA’s robot catfish Charlie emerges as one of a long line of successfully operational underwater drones, more effective and less vulnerable than the ill-fated Hvardimir.

exploding dead rat

However, its effectiveness is not always best assessed by the success of unusual espionage techniques.

A British plan during World War II to distribute dead rat bodies stuffed with explosives into the boiler rooms of German factories, and push them into the boilers to detonate them, started with about 100 dead rats sent. It appeared to be doomed when it was taken over by the German army. .

However, the discovery of the rats and the sheer ingenuity behind their plan led to paranoia that the problems they caused were a far greater success than if the rats had actually been used. Ta.

Working with animals often proved problematic, but attempts to profit from devices by making them appear inanimate also proved to be a source of embarrassment. One such effort involved Moscow’s MI6 bureau attempting to improve its “dead letter drop” technique for obtaining classified information from Russian spies.

Rather than risk leaving sensitive information in a predetermined location, MI6’s version of James Bond Q sends the information to a receiver hidden inside a fake rock placed near the Ministry in question. I came up with the idea that it could be sent electronically. It was downloaded by subsequent walkthroughs.

However, the intensive activity of many men in suits in this part of the park led to the discovery of this rock. The revelation of this operation in 2006 caused great embarrassment to the British government. That this was not MI6’s finest hour was suggested by a headline deriding Moscow’s Spylock as “more Johnny English than James Bond”.

Intelligence organizations are constantly seeking innovative means to enhance their espionage techniques, but perhaps the most successful applications of intelligence come in the form of human improvisation. A striking example of this is the secret extraction of Oleg Gordievsky in 1985 after the cover-up of one of the West’s most valuable double agents working for British intelligence was exposed. .

convenient bag of potato chips

The team, consisting of two British diplomats and their wives, had to pass through three checkpoints on the Soviet side and two on the Finnish side. As the first guard dog approached, one of the party offered the sniffing Alsatian a cheese and onion crisp, neatly removing Gordievsky’s scent from him, who had been hiding in the trunk of the car.

The most ingenious and successful method of spying was introduced when another dog started sniffing the boots. The wife of one of the diplomats placed her 18-month-old baby in the trunk of her car, changed its diaper, and then dropped the full, steaming baby onto the ground, distracting the dog and its handler. It was successful.

These actions were not part of Gordievsky’s rescue plan, but were similarly instinctive actions by those accustomed to operating in hostile environments and trained to deceive the unwanted attention of enemy agents. It was a creative improvisation.

Large research budgets and promising technological advances can provide advantages in certain situations, but the most effective spying techniques may still rely on quick thinking and the application of bold, fearless action. There is.

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