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(c. 1965, USSR, KGB issue) Referred to as "The Kiss of Death," the lipstick pistol was employed by KGB operatives during the Cold War. This 4.5 mm single shot weapon was disguised as a tube of lipstick, easily hidden in a purse. The existence of such a weapon was first detected at a border crossing into West Berlin. |
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(c. 1970s, USSR, KGB issue) The KGB used small, lightweight F21 cameras for various methods of clandestine photography. Concealing the camera behind coat buttons proved very effective. The camera lens was hidden behind a false button on the front of the user’s coat. When the remote shutter release was triggered, connected to the lens by a thin cable from a coat pocket, the center of the false button opened briefly to take the photograph. Spare buttons were provided to the user so that all the buttons on a coat could be replaced to match the false one. This concealment proved so successful, it remains in use today. |
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(WWI, US) 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 carried precious, tiny cargo high above enemy lines. 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. |
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(1964) The Aston Martin DB5 first appeared in the 1964 James Bond thriller Goldfinger. The ultimate spy car came fully loaded with machine guns, tire slashers, bulletproof shield, oil jets, dashboard radar screen, rotating license plate, and ejector seat. The Bond car not only captured the public's imagination, but inspired intelligence agencies to incorporate similar features into high security vehicles used in dangerous areas. |
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(c. 1960s, USSR, KGB issue) The shoe transmitter was produced by the KGB during the Cold War to monitor secret conversations. A transmitter, microphone, and batteries were imbedded in the heel of a target's shoe. Someone close to the target (usually a maid or valet with access to the individual's clothing) would lay out the rigged shoes for the target and pull a white pin from the heel to activate the transmitter. The target would then become a walking radio station, transmitting all conversations to a nearby monitoring post. |
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(c. 1942-45, US, OSS issue) Explosive coal was used in sabotage operations by the OSS during WWII. The device, shaped like a large piece of coal, was actually a hollow shell into which explosives were packed. Using the camouflage kit, the operative painted the device to match the local coal and then secretly deposited it into coal bins at ship or railroad yards. The camouflaged coal would detonate when burned in a locomotive’s furnace or a factory boiler. |
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(c.1944, Germany) The ability to break the legendary WWII German Enigma cipher is seen by historians as a major contributing factor to the Allied victory in WWII. Invented in 1923, the Enigma cipher machine was an electro-mechanical device for coding and deciphering messages. German refinements to the Enigma increased the complexity of the cipher continually throughout the war. In 1943 the first computing machine in the world, Colossus I, was needed to break it. |
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(c. early 1970s, US, CIA issue) Created by the CIA, a listening device disguised as a tree stump 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. |
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