12 Cool Spy Tech Instances Before Computers

Paper maps tear and crumble easily. Wet paper maps become useless, which hurts spies in rain. During World War II, Allied servicemen got cloth or silk maps. Cloth maps were sturdier and stayed usable when wet. These maps sometimes reached POWs in care packages.Carried Monopoly games.Or used cards that could peel apart to show the tightly folded map.

The CIA invented technology for portable electronics. Espionage needs mobile gear for long missions to beat the Russians. The lithium-ion battery solved this. The CIA shared it publicly in the early 1960s. The first commercial battery appeared in 1968. This led to the first everyday cardiac pacemaker, introduced in 1972. Now, lithium-ion batteries are everywhere.

Before satellites and drones, the U-2 plane dominated intelligence gathering. These planes flew high over areas of interest, snapping photos from above. Many U-2s flew over the USSR during the Cold War. A major diplomatic crisis hit when a U-2 was shot down in Soviet air space. Pilot Francis Gary Powers was captured, forcing President Eisenhower to admit to covert aerial reconnaissance missions.Eisenhower had to trade Powers for a captured Russian spy in American custody.Almost two years later, a U-2 plane confirmed the Soviet Union built missiles in Cuba. This caused another standoff between the superpowers.

Spy work works best in private. Sneaking up on someone is the key. So, the CIA developed...A seismic intrusion detection device.This device detects movement up to 300 meters away. Almost anything relevant triggers it: people, animals, or objects hitting the ground. The detector sends its data to the spy via coded impulses. Detectors looked like anything, blending in, from a potato to fecal matter.

The CIA sought casual ways to pass information. They chose passing change as a casual method. So, they decided to...They made a silver dollar that was actually hollow.This allowed something concealed inside. The CIA claimed it was nearly undetectable.

The one-time pad is a simple, unbreakable field cryptology system if used correctly. Users keep one pad each. Encode a message with one pad, then destroy that pad as you send the message.That pad is destroyed after the message sends.The recipient, using their pad, decodes the message before destroying their own pad. Both pads must match and use truly random variables for encryption. If both pads are used once, the code cannot be broken. Next time, a new random encryption must be used.

Military intelligence sometimes appears on the ocean floor, not in a diplomat's bedroom. The Navy searched for enemy ships, submersibles, planes, or missiles that sank to salvage them. They also sought undersea cables or listening equipment for this goal.The Navy built submarines dedicated to deep diving and recovering military intelligence.The submarine Halibut was one of the first missions. It scouted a Soviet sub that sank in the Pacific in 1968. Satellites could not find subs, so they used these vessels often for spy operations during the Cold War.

Thomas Jefferson, the future U.S. president, invented the wheel cipher.The wheel cipher.The wheel cipher encoded and decoded sensitive messages during the American Revolution. Jefferson used the cipher while serving as America's minister to France to hide diplomatic messages from European powers. The device has 26 spinning wooden pieces. Users create a message, look at the line above, and copy the matching letters. Someone with the correct cipher looks at the line below and sees the true message.

The CIA took the phrase “fly on the wall” seriously to spy on the Russians. In the 1970s, they made a robotic dragonfly called an “Insectothopter” that actually flew. It used a miniature listening device and a gas-powered fluidic oscillator to move its wings. It sent audio through a laser beam data link. The drone flew for one minute, but the project stopped when they saw wind could ruin its flight.

After getting intelligence in the field, agents needed a way to send it to handlers. Slipping it in mailboxes was not always easy. They needed a covert system using special package spots called “dead drops” that another person could retrieve later.The hollow spike.The hollow spike pictured above gets filled with intelligence, pushed into the ground, and retrieved later.

The CIA sometimes needed big, detailed film. If an agent needed to sneak film during an operation, they needed something tiny. The Microdot Camera answered how small the pictures could be; it took photos so small they fit inside book letters.These small photos could sneak out on mail or clothing.You need a special viewer to read the photo; it greatly magnifies the image.

When you needed a picture of secret documents, a regular camera drew too much attention.A regular camera attracted too much attention.Covert groups hid cameras in plain sight. Cases for hidden cameras included matchboxes and cigarette cases.

The CIA wanted a bird's eye view. They built cameras to get that view. This device was lightweight enough to hang on a pigeon without slowing its flight.The pigeon could fly while the camera took pictures.Julius Neubronner invented this in 1907 to create aerial photography. World militaries later took it.

The CIA made a covert letter opener to read letters without detection. This pincer-like device was designed to go into an unsealed letter, roll it up, and pull it out without breaking the seal. The trick is putting the letter back.This pincer-like device.It works by going into an unsealed letter, rolling it up, and pulling it out without breaking the seal. The real trick is putting the letter back.

The CIA used a special underwater vehicle to send two agents behind enemy lines when a submarine was too big. This craft had no weapons. It deployed from a larger ship, made of wood and aluminum, making sonar or radar detection hard. It reached 4.1 knots, carried 120 pounds of gear, and could dive to 30 feet. Without anyone inside, it could stay at that depth for three to four weeks.

During the 1950s and '60s, audio surveillance was not simple. Agents could not just tap wireless phones for conversations; they needed close access and personal gear. Agents received a kit enabling them toAgents had to press the drill against their stomach while drilling into the wall. This action earned them the name 'Belly Busters.'This kit helped agents create openings to place hidden audio devices. Drilling operations proved hard. Agents kept the drill against their stomach while drilling into the wall, earning the nickname “Belly Busters.”

The CIA built a robot spy fish named Charlie. In the 1990s, the agency studied using a robotic catfish. Designers focused on the robot's needed speed and maneuverability in the field. The robot included depth control, using a ballast system. A wireless line-of-sight radio signal controlled the robot via a handset. This signal sent commands to a communications system in the body and the propulsion system in the tail. Charlie's mission involved secretly taking water samples.