Spy Stuff: How Does One of Your Neighbors Become a Spy?

Many stories can be found of otherwise seemingly solid folks becoming spies for America’s enemies. How does that happen?

The FBI offers some interesting insights in “The Case of the Friendly Neighborhood Spy.” The story of William Holden Bell being lured in by Marian Zacharski to hand over secrets to the Polish government, then firmly in the camp of the Soviet Union, is a classic case of a foreign agent preying on an individual in tough circumstances.

Toward the end of this interesting read, it’s noted: “Bell’s betrayal of his country mirrors the story of many others ensnared by foreign spies both past and present. Over time, vulnerable Americans are drawn in with money, companionship, attention, and other “carrots” in exchange for information, which gradually increases in importance, classification level, and quantity.”

- Ray Keating

Spy Stuff: The Valuable U-2 Spy Plane

When the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb, the U.S. was taken completely off guard. It suddenly became very clear that the U.S. needed the ability to gather information on what the Soviets were doing across their massive nation. As noted in a fascinating article in The National Interest, part of the answer came in the form of a new airplane:

“By the mid-1950s, though, an incredible new aircraft was about to change the odds of successful overflights and break through the Iron Curtain around the USSR. Built by the famous Lockheed ‘Skunk Works’ in Burbank, Calif., and designed by the legendary Kelly Johnson, the U-2 revolutionized the art of reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering. Flying over 14 miles high and able to photograph objects just a few inches across, the U-2 was the ideal tool to help open up the secrets of the Soviet heartland.”

Read “Forget the B-2 Bomber or F-15 Eagle: The U-2 Was the Best Plane of the Cold War.”

Spy Stuff: Spying on the Soviet Embassy in West Germany

An interesting article from RealLife.com offers a glimpse at CIA operations targeted at the Soviet Embassy in West Germany during the late 1960s.

I particularly found the following points interesting:

The declassified document describes the embassy as a potentially target-rich environment: 89 Soviets were assigned to the diplomatic facility in some form, and an estimated 60 percent of those were suspected to be connected to Soviet intelligence.

And there’s this:

    For Project CATOPHAT, the CIA was working with 12 assets “selected from American, German and third-country nationals in witting contact with target personnel to whom they have natural access.”

    A helpful Annex that comes with the declassified documents describes the assets: from a husband and wife couple who happen to live next to a suspected KGB officer, to an Austrian-born American medical school dropout who spied on his neighbors. 

    Another asset, a French citizen, was apparently “recruited” on a trip to Moscow by Soviet intelligence officers who were apparently unaware he was already working for the West. The Soviets wanted the Frenchman, in turn, to get himself recruited by the Americans.

Read the entire article here.

- Ray Keating

Reagan Country and the Moscow State University Speech 30 Years Later

Thirty years ago today, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at Moscow State University. That speech is highlighted and plays a central role in REAGAN COUNTRY: A PASTOR STEPHEN GRANT NOVEL by Ray Keating.