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New CIA Tech Museum: Spy Scat and Robo-Fish 91

Posted by CmdrTaco from the marshall-will-provide-the-op-tech dept.
PSaltyDS writes "According to this AP story, the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology is celebrating its 40th anniversary by revealing a few dozen of its secrets for a new museum inside its headquarters near Washington. When the CIA's secret gadget-makers invented a listening device for the Asian jungles, they disguised it so the enemy wouldn't be tempted to pick it up and examine it: The device looked like tiger droppings. Besides the jungle transmitter, the exhibits include a robotic catfish, a remote-controlled dragonfly and a camera strapped to the chests of pigeons and released over enemy targets in the 1970s. There is also an International Spy Museum in D.C. with more pics, including an early version of the Pigeon-Cam."
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New CIA Tech Museum: Spy Scat and Robo-Fish More

New CIA Tech Museum: Spy Scat and Robo-Fish

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  • Reminds me more of a photo I saw in a copy of Bird Fetish Weekly.

  • Tiger droppings? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Brahmastra ( 685988 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @10:33AM (#7821563)
    device looked like tiger droppings.

    Wouldn't it find its way into traditional Chinese medicine or something?

  • If these cool gadgets are in a museum NOW... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pdaoust007 ( 258232 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @10:39AM (#7821575)
    Imagine what kind of gadgets the CIA have available to them today...

    What's also interesting is that the gadgets are not the type you would expect. I.e., not what we are used to see in movies and all.
  • That goes so far in explaining the guests reactions at my last three dinner parties. Thank you /. for helping me through this whole socialization process.

    By the way, is that limited to tiger scat? Are there acceptable scats to pick up, paw through, wear at a business casual dinner party?

  • Hrmm (Score:5, Funny)

    by acehole ( 174372 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @10:49AM (#7821604) Homepage
    And we mustnt forget that famous cat that they stuffed full of wires and gadgets for spying on and spent millions of dollars developing only to have the cat run over before it got to where it was supposed to go.

    • You mean Acoustic Kitty? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Robber Baron ( 112304 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @01:05PM (#7822021) Homepage
      Here's a link. [telegraph.co.uk]
      • Victor Marchetti, a former CIA officer, told The Telegraph that Project Acoustic Kitty was a gruesome creation. He said: "They slit the cat open, put batteries in him, wired him up. The tail was used as an antenna. They made a monstrosity. They tested him and tested him. They found he would walk off the job when he got hungry, so they put another wire in to override that."

        I sure hope Corporate America does not get a hold of this technology. Then again, it may be the only way to make citizen coders be able
    • That's a shame, they spend millions of dollars to make ONE cat USEFUL, and it's still a total failure.

      That really says something about cats. :)

  • In a related story: (Score:4, Funny)

    by SeXy_Red ( 550409 ) <Meviper85.hotmail@com> on Sunday December 28, 2003 @10:52AM (#7821615)
    ...and in a related story, video proof of the existence of yeti's was found today by a camera carrying pigeon. Sources say that the owner of the pigeon was tipped off that there may be a yeti in the area due to the eaves dropping tiger dung that he had accidently dropped in the area.
  • Would you like to highlight publications or Internet sites that we should know about?
    Shouldn't we point them to the goatse.cx page? They're asking for dangerous sites, aren't they?

    from Alumni [cia.gov]

  • Tiger crap? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Drakin ( 415182 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @10:55AM (#7821625)
    I bet the reception was shitty....

  • Interesting, but ... (Score:5, Informative)

    by richg74 ( 650636 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @10:57AM (#7821634) Homepage
    This new museum sounds really interesting, but just to avoid disappointment for anyone who is planning a visit to the DC area:

    It is accessible only to CIA employees and guests admitted to those closed quarters.

    The International Spy Museum mentioned is open to the public, but admission is quite pricey: about $10 per head, if I recall correctly.

    • I visited the International Spy Museaum during Thanksgiving week. I was less than whelmed.
    • The Internation Spy Museum is a private thing. The CIA museum is on at CIA headquaters in Langly.

      BTW, the ISM is pretty cool.
    • The International Spy Museum is very cool...

      The lines to get into this place literally go around the block. When I was in Washington in October we had taken the Metro to Chinatown for lunch, and literally ran into this place while walking around.

      It looked alot like people lined up waiting to get into a nightclub. Buy your tickets in advance, online... and expect it to be packed like the Smithsonian's on Saturday or Sunday.
    • The International Spy Museum mentioned is open to the public, but admission is quite pricey: about $10 per head

      A mere pittance when I recall the hilarity at seeing the rectal tool kit on display (I kid you not). I've had less laughs at some movies I've been to!

  • Accomplished super secret research project (Score:4, Funny)

    by AtomicBomb ( 173897 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @10:57AM (#7821635) Homepage
    In another news, the DARPA sponsored a secret project in TCPIP development to support the pigeon-cam early in the 90's. Due to its confidential nature, the details remain sketchy. To the best of my knowledge, it is the most comprehensive document [faqs.org] leaked from the project so far. If you are onto spying technology, I recommend you to learn it by heart. It can be taken offline anytime....

  • I loved the NSA museum (Score:5, Informative)

    by way2trivial ( 601132 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @11:02AM (#7821645) Homepage Journal
    http://www.nsa.gov/museum/

    this place has a enigma you can touch, and free coloring books for the kids (free as in tax dollars)

  • In the 70's, the USSR had a spycam... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...secreted in an over-sized novelty hat. Could only be worn for 10 minutes at a time or the agent would suffer permanent neck damage. Don't know if it was ever used after the fall.

  • Spy scat? (Score:5, Funny)

    by evilad ( 87480 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @11:17AM (#7821685)
    Lends a whole new meaning to the term "eavesdropping".

  • Do they show (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by Lars T. ( 470328 )
    any drug smuggling gadgets?

  • The Dark Side (Score:4, Interesting)

    by handy_vandal ( 606174 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @11:48AM (#7821794) Homepage Journal
    Cool spook toys -- all very sexy.

    But what about the assassination devices -- shellfish toxins [aarclibrary.org], flechette umbrellas [uri.edu], that sort of thing?

    What about MK-ULTRA [druglibrary.org] -- the covert testing of hallucinogens on unsuspecting civilians?

    What about CIA/Mafia alliances [rose-hulman.edu]?

    What about Operation Phoenix [serendipity.li]?

    -kgj

    • Re:The Dark Side (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      1. The CIA has never killed anyone - only in the movies.

      2. The CIA never tested drugs on anyone - it was an Army doctor that did the testing (only once) on his own.

      3. The CIA only asked the Mafia for help once - it didn't work out.

      4. Operation Phoenix was operated *by South Vietnam agents* the CIA only offered intelligence.

      I suggest you pick up a couple of good history books and turn off the TV.
  • Private: Was that a pigeon with a camera?

    Officer: No, the enemy would never make it THAT obvious!

    -----
    Who are they trying to fool? The camera is hardly covert!

  • Tiger poop (Score:3, Informative)

    by Lord Kano ( 13027 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @11:57AM (#7821817) Homepage Journal
    When the CIA's secret gadget-makers invented a listening device for the Asian jungles, they disguised it so the enemy wouldn't be tempted to pick it up and examine it: The device looked like tiger droppings.

    Vietnam vets have talked about these for years, I also heard stories that they disguised radio beacons as tiger droppings as well. Special forces could call in air strikes and guide the fighter/bombers to the target with a beacon that looked like tiger poop.

    LK

  • Spy Museum not that great...yet. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SpaceRook ( 630389 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @12:10PM (#7821853)
    I went to the Spy Museum in DC a couple months after it opened. I wasn't that impressed. It seems like they still have some kinks to work out.

    A lot of stuff was recreations. Few of the exhibits seemed to be the actual items. There is a "James Bond" car exhibit which is literally just a car that has spotlights shined at certain parts while a radio says what secret weapon could be hidden inside.

    There is one section where children can climb through air ducts. The racket that is created as dumb parents let their children stomp and yell through the air ducts ruins the whole exhibit room.

    I think all museums are a little rough around the edges when they first open. Maybe I'll check out the Spy Museum again in several years. As it currently stands, you'll learn more about spies by surfing around on google.
  • Besides the jungle transmitter, the exhibits include a robotic catfish, a remote-controlled dragonfly and a camera strapped to the chests of pigeons and released over enemy targets in the 1970s. The secret gadgets currently used by CIA are left to the imagination of visitors."

    "The pigeons' missions remain classified, made possible only after the CIA secretly developed a camera weighing only as much as a few coins. An earlier test with a heavier camera in the skies over Washington failed after two days whe

  • One of the electronics surplus houses used to sell the WTF-is-this-radio-stuff-in-rubber-shit in their ads in the back of Popular Electronics during the late 70's.
  • But can the pigeons send the pictures back over IP?
    rfc1149 info [interbug.com]

  • National Cryptological Museum (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 28, 2003 @01:01PM (#7822015)
    If you live around Washington, or are visiting the area, you might also be interesting in seeing the National Cryptological Museum near the NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, MD. More information is available here. [nsa.gov]


  • ...the other guys chose "Look, there's another tiger dropping!" as the code phrase for launching the invasion, so the CIA never saw it coming.

  • has anyone seen the remote-controlled dragonfly? I cant find it anywhere, links?

  • We win again (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Doc Ruby ( 173196 ) on Sunday December 28, 2003 @03:20PM (#7822715) Homepage Journal
    Thanks to its technological superiority, the CIA war in Vietnam was a stunning success. Combined with vehement Presidential and Congressional backing, the decade-long committment of massive troops, air superiority, and compelling kill-ratios turned the tide in Vietnam. We immediately brought the War on Communism to a healthy, decisive close, with millions of Vietnamese dancing in the streets to the tune of "Yankee Doodle Dandy".

    Now our 21st Century CIA is again rising to the occasion in the War on Terrorism. Just as their partnership with justice in the War on Drugs has eliminated that scourge from the American prospect, our tech supremacy in Afghanistan and Iraq is swiftly delivering peace and freedom from the forces of fear. We can learn so much from the CIA museum, with its smart turds and omniscient birdbrains. With our arsenal and steely-eyed leaders, not to mention god on our side, American supremacy will remain as unsullied as it has been since the 1960s.
    • The CIA was effective in South Vietnam. They inflicted a lot of damage on the VC leadership.

      South Vietnam was conquered by NVA regulars, not by the VC, who were effectively destroyed during the Tet Offensive.

      • The CIA is effective in making gadgets. Winning a war, especially a guerilla war of counterinsurgency, requires policies, strategy, and for America, the whole truth about the reasons to go in, and when to get out. Tech superiority is not enough. If we learned from Vietnam, we wouldn't be in the mess in Iraq we've got. Rumsfeld is especially amnesiac, as he was the guy in charge when we finally admitted defeat 30 years ago.
  • The best part about ePoop is not that you can hide it, but that the intelligence officers of the other side now have to check each and every one to make sure it is real. That makes it tough to hire and keep the "best and brightest".

  • During the months leading up to Pearl Harbor, the ONI (Office of Navel Intelligence) spotted pigeons flying over critical installations on the West Coast. After bringing them down, they found cameras (ingenuously small considering this was the late '30s) with timers, rigged to take pictures of the installations.

    Apparently, the Japanese would send out pigeons until they got what they wanted (since, of course, the pigeons might be eaten by predators or just decide to avoid the installation). This was descr

  • CIA is one of the most evil organizations in the last 50 years. Following in the footsteps of other similar spy organizations like the SS and the KGB, the CIA is responsible for hundreads of thousands of deaths and for torturing many more.

    I would urge Americans to limit their agents to WITHIN their country. Overthrowing other governments, killing innocent people, and spreading torture techniques is not my idea of defense. You want to protect your country? Use the agents to track and monitor people WITHI
  • Has anyone mirrored this elsewhere, so my DNS client doesn't request spymuseum.org from my ISP?

    I guess I'm that paranoid...
  • They tried to use to assasinate Fidel Castro?

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