Who among us has not been captured by spy stories, whether it was real in the news, documentaries, fictional in one of the books and novels, or the famous James Bond films such as “Casino Royale” or the “Mission Impossible” series by Tom Cruise.
Just as the espionage hero’s skill in disguise, his wit, his clever tactics and his acumen, also amaze us with his tools, devices and small and invisible weapons to those around him but effective in rescuing situations and helping him out of trouble or escape or even eliminating his opponent without anyone noticing.
Learn with us in this report some of the most exciting spy and intelligence devices used by secret intelligence agencies throughout history and which appeared in some famous spy movies.
Lipstick, the weapon of the “kiss of death” ..
Who would have suspected that a small tube of lipstick was a lethal weapon?
In a scene from the famous spy movie You Only Live Twice, the film’s heroine, Helga Brandt and James Bond are traveling in a small plane. Meanwhile, Helga applies some lipstick and casually says to Bond, “I’m so sorry for leaving you, but I have to get off.”
Next, she drops her lipstick to release a confusing gas, and then parachutes out, leaving Bond trapped in a plane on the verge of crashing.
The use of lipstick is not fictional in films. In the 1960s, the KGB used lipstick as 4.5 mm single-shot pistols that it distributed to female workers in its institutions. Soviet lipstick pistols were known as the “Kiss of Death”.
Shoe heel as transmitter
In addition to walking, if you’re a customer of Max Wellsmart’s Get Smart play, you can make a phone call in your shoes, too.
And while a well-known sitcom spy had a phone in his heel, you could have had a secret transmitter even in the real world of espionage.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the Romanian Secret Service worked with the Postal Service to place transmitters in the heels of Western diplomats in Eastern Europe who mailed their shoes from Western European stores.
They also planted agents in hotels where they gained access to the rooms of American diplomats and hid microphones and battery-powered transmitters in the heels of their shoes, enabling them to listen in on meetings attended by diplomats.
Pigeons.. Surveillance cameras
Throughout the ages, pigeons played an important role in communicating and sending messages before the invention of telephones and the Internet. It seems that these birds also deserved medals of honor for their distinguished military service in gathering and exchanging information.
In 1908, Dr. Julius Neubrunner patented with the German Patent Office for his bathroom camera, which he initially used to sell aerial footage of pigeons as postcards.
But in World War I, cameras attached to pigeons were used for a completely different purpose, as cameras were attached to pigeons to locate enemy locations and weapons in their possession and to create topographic maps.
They were also used to deliver messages and information when radio signals were weak or intercepted.
Because these brave birds were responsible for so much of the vital information they could obtain, which is considered the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor or the Victoria Cross, the Deakin Medal of Honor was created to honor animals that aided in the war effort. Of the 54 medals awarded, 32 were awarded to pigeons.
Helicopter insect
Undoubtedly, spy agencies have to be good at eavesdropping on conversations, so the Insectothopter , the first CIA drone used in the 1970s, was invented.
This tiny dragonfly-like robot has been shaped with a motor and a tiny microphone inside its head. It could fly 650 feet for about 30 seconds, enough to land next to a person to hear their conversation.
The invention proved to be successful indoors, but it was too light to fly in open spaces, which prevented it from being controlled.
But with the development of technology, the CIA has been able to develop remote-controlled insects that are much smaller than the original dragonfly.
the fish charlie
In the 1990s, the CIA’s Office of Advanced Technologies developed an underwater eavesdropping technology known as Charlie Fish.
Charlie was a remote-controlled robotic catfish. And like all secret spy gadgets, Charlie had a microphone inside and was so realistic you’d think it was a real fish.
It was one of the CIA’s early attempts to create underwater spying devices for intelligence purposes. Charlie was supposed to collect water samples near nuclear power plants.
The idea has since spawned other robot fish that universities and institutions use for environmental and research purposes.
Bulgarian umbrella to carry out assassinations
In the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only, a device resembling an ordinary parachute appears. But when opened, the thorns come out and fall on top of the person’s head, causing death. But for the writer Georgi Markov, he died on September 7, 1978, by a real Bulgarian parachute rifle.
Markov was a Bulgarian dissident writer who took refuge in Italy in 1968, then settled in London to work for the BBC World Service.
To punish him for his betrayal, the communist dictator of Bulgaria, Todor Zhivkov, had him killed in a way no one would have imagined. Markov was walking in broad daylight when he felt a sharp pain in his leg. Turning around, he saw a man behind him with an umbrella quickly getting into a taxi and disappearing.
Markov’s death was neither quick nor pleasant. An autopsy revealed that his lungs were filled with fluid, his liver damaged and his blood poisoned. In addition, his intestines, heart and other organs were bleeding and his white blood cell count was very high.
Forensic investigations revealed that the wound in his right thigh did not come from an ordinary pistol, but from an instrument that fired a ball shot filled with the poisonous substance ricin.
Dissident agents later admitted that it was the KGB that gave the parachute-like weapon to Bulgarian Secret Service agent Francesco Golino to carry out the assassination. An entire room full of parachute guns was also discovered in Bulgaria in 1991.
Escape tools in anal can
The world of espionage is a deadly world, where capturing a spy means not only death and torture, but also the possibility of information getting into the hands of enemies.
For this reason, in the 1960s the CIA created a small rectal kit that was placed in a canister. This rectangular box contains many items that can be used for escape, such as locking bolts, drill bits, knives and mini saws.
