Revealing her technology Cold War era espionage: Spy pigeons, hidden cameras and other gadgets.
In an interview with Wired, former head of spy technology at the CIA, Jonah Mendez, talked about some of the most critical photography tools used for Cold War espionage. Some of the gadgets he describes sound like myths, but they were actually very useful in business collectionof information.
During the Cold War, surveillance of Moscow was one of the most difficult missions faced by CIA agents. The service found many different methods for obtaining critical information, many of these methods involved photography. One such tool was the pigeon camera, which was a small, lightweight camera attached to pigeons by a leash. The camera was programmed to take pictures at regular intervals as the pigeons flew around their targets.
Because pigeons could be trained to return to their original locations, spy pigeons were particularly useful for taking aerial photographs of targets and competed with or surpassed the quality of satellite imagery at the time.
However, conspiracy theorists have been inspired by this true story and claim that in modern times, governments have been pigeonholed robot that record our movements!!
Mendez in video also describes a number of different hidden cameras, such as the one that was hidden in one's body pen, the Tropel Pen Camera. He says this particularly impressive piece of technology was handmade and took pictures through a set of stacked lenses that were on the body of the pen.
According to Mendez, photography as a means of espionage was a valuable source for the CIA during the Cold War. They could be hidden in incredible places, such as ties, books, etc.
If you find yourself in New York and you like these period gadgets then visit it espionage museum.
