Spy Stuff at the Museum

One of my favorite things at Wright Patterson is the display of spy tools.
These spy “tricks of the trade” were used by members of the Air Force OSI (Office of Special Investigations).
The OSI has been the Air Force’s major investigative agency since 1948 and they report to the Inspector General, located at headquarters in Andrews Air Force Base.
They have 221 locations strategically placed around the globe and provide service to commanders of all Air Force activity by identifying, exploiting, and neutralizing criminals, terrorists, and intel threats to the Air Force, Dept. of Defense, and our government.

Today the techniques the OSI uses are very high tech and employs every kind of technological advancement you could imagine… but the old school spy gear is what fascinates me most.

Here’s a couple of examples of clothing worn by agents. There are fabric “roll up” identification tags sewn into the flaps or pockets of garments. Upon meeting someone, if they wished to identify themselves, they’d simply pull a flap down to display it, and it would retract back into the flap when they let go.
In this photo, the identifying swatches have been pinned down on the “raid jacket” so you could see what they looked like.

Here’s a “Bomb Training” briefcase. These were used in the 80s as a training aid to show various ways of possibly being detonated. There were different switches and triggers under diverse circumstances. If the lid was opened, a light sensitive photocell set it off. X-ray machines would activate a brass sensor and a mercury filled switch would detonate it if the case was moved. Touch sensors could also trigger it. During training, if a real bomb would have exploded, it would be indicated by the speaker making a bomb explosion noise.

Here are some other items with explanatory tags. One of the impressive pieces didn't turn out well so I didn't add it, but it's a piece of baseboard from an office that was hollowed out, filled with listening devices, and replaced to look normal.
Click the picture to make it big enough to read the tags.







I think one of the things that intrigues me most is that specially weighted hollowed out coin for passing secret messages.

I want one!