AHC: CIA Infiltration

[Ramontxo]

There is the often quoted affirmation that if the Soviets would have to choose between having a mole in the cabinet or an subscription to the NYT they would choose the later. Losing in deep but gaining a lot in the amount of fields covered. Anyway I suppose that the best intelligence operations are the ones we don't know about.

 

[Michel Van]

Azorian/Jennifer was actually one of the CIA's biggest blunders and a major failure. In '68 the Navy found K-129 with a remote controlled mini sub from USS Halibut. The Navy spent a few months testing a way for Halibut's minisubs to cut into K-129 and get out the code books, comm equipment and some electronics, they didn't care about the rest as the Golf class sub was obsolescent in 1968, so was its weapons

So far i understand the CIA wanted study the Submarine for some reason, the Navy was not interested.
Also were relationship between CIA with US Navy and USAF intelligence or NRO, let me say problematic.
Speculation went from study the sub hardware and missile or to find the reason why the sub sank so far out in pacific ?

Not new that CIA trow billion into questionable projects like Electric Kitty or Castro LSD cigar.
like salvaging of sunk CORONA capsule from bottom of Pacific, so Soviet not try it, despite the water pressure destroyed it content.

According Bosco Nedelcovic, who in 1978 claimed to be former CIA operative.
He maintain to be part of Operation Mirage under MKULTRA in South America during 1950s-1960s.
So Nedelcovic they simulated here UFO encounter and Alien abduction by using psychoactive drug on victims,
To make them believe there see a UFO (helicopter) or encounter Aliens (CIA operative in protective gear).
in 1978 Nedelcovic wrote several letter to News papers, TV stations and UFO researcher about Operation Mirage.
if this is true i don't know, but i would not surprised if Operation Mirage apear in released declassifed CIA papers...

 

[Major Major]

There was the tunnel under the lines into East Berlin and the Soviets knew from DAY ONE since they had an asset in the meeting discussing it.

The KGB did have an asset in the planning, George Blake, who was in British Intelligence, MI-6, not CIA. They didn't tell because they didn't want to possibly compromise Blake, and besides it was the army which was being listened in to, so let them find out.

 

[Dancing Fool]

the Navy said that it wouldn't work, the sub would break up and they might lose the valuable stuff on the way, and it would take years and cost a fortune. Lo and behold Azorian doesn't launch until 1974, and when they try and salvage the sub, it breaks up and they only get a piece of it, which incidentally had no useful intelligence

Is this related to the Glomar Explorer which tried to raise a Soviet sub? And whether to proceed or not was one of President Gerald Ford’s first decisions as president after Nixon had resigned.

 

[ajm8888]

The KGB did have an asset in the planning, George Blake, who was in British Intelligence, MI-6, not CIA. They didn't tell because they didn't want to possibly compromise Blake, and besides it was the army which was being listened in to, so let them find out.

Sorry if I got confused.

 

[RamscoopRaider]

Is this related to the Glomar Explorer which tried to raise a Soviet sub? And whether to proceed or not was one of President Gerald Ford’s first decisions as president after Nixon had resigned.

Yes, the Glomar Explorer was funded by Jennifer/Azorian to try and raise K-129

 

[Alien and Sedition Bat]

Azorian/Jennifer was actually one of the CIA's biggest blunders and a major failure. In '68 the Navy found K-129 with a remote controlled mini sub from USS Halibut. The Navy spent a few months testing a way for Halibut's minisubs to cut into K-129 and get out the code books, comm equipment and some electronics, they didn't care about the rest as the Golf class sub was obsolescent in 1968, so was its weapons, they figured they'd have it in a few months and a low budget as they were already paying for Halibut anyways. The CIA then proposed Azorian to get the whole sub, and the Navy said that it wouldn't work, the sub would break up and they might lose the valuable stuff on the way, and it would take years and cost a fortune. Lo and behold Azorian doesn't launch until 1974, and when they try and salvage the sub, it breaks up and they only get a piece of it, which incidentally had no useful intelligence on board and all the useful stuff was scattered far and wide. And even if it had worked, it would have cost a fortune and gotten the intelligence 5-6 years after the navy would have, because the CIA forbid them from going in first to collect it to avoid sharing the glory. It was a disaster

By contrast Electric Kitty wasn't a complete failure, it was an R&D project that produced a fully functional prototype, so at worst a partial failure, as I doubt they just burned all the research and development data after its cancellation

Why was the CIA involved in what should have been the Navy's job in the first place?

 

[ajm8888]

Why was the CIA involved in what should have been the Navy's job in the first place?

CIA meddled in everything back then, pre-Church Committee

 

[Workable Goblin]

What information agencies prior to the 50 year rule of 1973 were successful in terms of information gathering? How were they successful?

What 50 year rule? There’s no 50-year rule, there are well-known spy actions following that and classified ones before that, there’s no reason to put an arbitrary time restriction on it.

Anyway, the obvious answer, other than the previously mentioned NRO, is the NSA. It has been very successful in obtaining signals and communication intelligence by all accounts. It maybe isn’t so surprising that this is another primarily technical method, like the NRO, rather than HUMINT…