Collection of Insane and Fun Facts
In the 1950s, the Egyptian Secret Service had their spy in London buy all of the James Bond books so they could analyse British espionage methods believing it was based on reality. It’s not hard to believe since this was a time before the internet or modern television and the books were written by an ex intelligence officers.
14 squirrels were arrested by Iranian authorities for espionage. Officials said they succeeded in apprehending the suspects “before they were able to take any action”.
North Korean spies stationed abroad have to receive training on how to shop in supermarkets, use credit cards and visit clubs, as these amenities are not commonplace in North Korea.
Driving while drunk destroyed the Soviet spy network in the UK. After being arrested in London in 1971, Oleg Lyalin panicked and offered the names of every Russian spy. The UK government expelled 105 people from the country, and the USSR network in Britain “never recovered”.
A French man fell in love with someone he thought was a female Chinese opera singer, and had a decades-long affair that resulted in a child… only to discover that the whole time the singer had actually been male and a spy.
In 1953 a newspaper boy was paid with a coin which he found to be hollow and contain a coded message. He gave it to authorities but the code could not be deciphered. Years later, a Russian spy in the U.S. defected and during his interrogation was shown the coin and code. The message was for him.
In 1997, four years before being arrested for spying for the KGB, Robert Hanssen was caught using a password cracker on a federal computer. When asked about this, he said that he was simply trying to install a color printer, and so he needed the administrator password. They believed him.
In 1964 an Israeli spy convinced the Syrians to plant trees near military fortifications so that their soldiers had some shelter against the sun. The Israeli’s used those trees as targeting markers ensuring a swift victory in the Six-Day War.
The most wanted person in Nazi Germany was a pretty, 32 year old woman from New Zealand. Known to the Gestapo as “The White Mouse,” this woman worked for the French Resistance, during which she fought several German soldiers, commanded a group of guerrilla fighters, and even killed a Nazi commander with her bare hands. She was the most decorated woman of World War II.
Actress Greta Garbo worked as a spy for the Allies during World War II and made plans to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The plan fell through only when the Swedish government prevented her from traveling to Germany.