I had a call from the Radio Society of Great Britain. BBC Television were looking for someone to make a replica of the Great Seal Bug found in the US Ambassador’s residence in Moscow in 1952. It had been there for SEVEN YEARS. I made some Youtube videos about the initial stages of the project under the code name Project Swordfish, but then after the programme was broadcast, I was able to create a series of videos about the whole project.
It’s a story of spycraft, cutting edge tech, celebrities, gulags, sharaskas and some extremely clever PsyOps work. This was one of the first really clever bugging operations, known as JUNE, although GUNMAN, Buran, EASY CHAIR, SATYR and many others were to follow.
Awesome video! As a collector of espionage memorabilia, I was wondering do you sell replicas of this device?
Hi Bill, I hope to make some once my new Syil X5 CNC mill arrives in a few weeks. I ordered it back in July, it’s now in a ship near Madagascar on it’s way round the Cape to Europe.