Six Star Magazine Six Star Magazine Winter 2008/2009 | Page 30

FEATURE
MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH...

Photos: Courtesy of International Spy Museum

Anyone who likes reading spy novels or who laughed uproariously at Steve Carell’s
Maxwell Smart will be intrigued by the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.
To bring together the largest collection of international espionage artifacts ever placed
on public display, the International Spy Museum called on the expertise of former CIA and
KGB chiefs. In fact, the Museum’s Executive Director, E. Peter Earnest, is a 36-year veteran
Visitors to the museum adopt a cover, break codes, identify disguised spies,
and become the subjects of covert surveillance throughout their visit. Through these
interactive experiences and immersive environments, the Museum examines actual
events, reveals true stories, and presents hundreds of authentic tools of the spy trade.
And these tools are fascinating! “The Kiss of Death” was the name given to the
4.5-mm single shot weapon disguised as a tube of lipstick used by KGB operatives during
the mid-’60s. The existence of the weapon was first detected at a border crossing into
West Berlin.
Lipstick was one of many options for concealing weapons during clandestine
operations – lighters, pens, tobacco pipes and cigarette packs were also used, but if we
had to choose one device NOT to use, it would be the KGB’s 4.5-mm single shot Rectal
Pistol which was encased in rubber and hidden exactly where the name suggests.
Certainly not something you would want going off prematurely!
The Spy Shoe with Heel Transmitter is 1960s KGB issue and looks like something
right out of Get Smart. With a radio transmitter concealed in the heel, it was used to
monitor secret conversations of the unknowing wearer! A maid or valet with access to the
individual’s clothing would be given the job of planting the rigged shoes and activating
the transmitter by pulling out a white pin from the heel. The target would then become a
walking radio station, transmitting all conversations to a nearby monitoring post.
There seemed to be no shortage of ways those spy types listened in on conversations
they were not meant to hear! A Tree Stump Listening Device, created by the CIA in the
early 1970s, was placed in the woods near a Soviet military base to capture secret military
radio transmissions. This device was solar powered and the exterior resembled tree bark.
A satellite was used to extract the information contained in the stump.
Listening was not the only sense used by spies to gain restricted information.
Since the earliest days of espionage, homing pigeons have been a spy’s best friend.
Distinguished by their speed and ability to return home in any weather, pigeons outfitted
with tiny cameras were released over military sites. As the birds flew, the cameras
continuously clicked away, snapping pictures to be developed and interpreted when the
pigeons reached their destination.
Now, if you have always fancied yourself more as a James Bond than whatever it is
you do for a da