CovertCouncil

Methodology and sources

Covert Council is a reference to the history of intelligence written from the documents. This page sets out which sources we use and why, how the pages are checked, and every place where the checks found a disagreement.

Source policy

Every page starts from primary sources, in this order of preference:

Where sources disagree, the page says so: in the text, in a Contested box, and in the cross-check at the end of every operation. Claims that rest only on memoirs, defector testimony or journalism are labelled as such.

What we do not publish

Cross-check: 80 operations against two sources

For every operation we compared the dates and outcome given by a government source (a declassified document, FRUS, an official history or a court record) with those in Wikipedia. 72 of 80 agree in substance; the 8 that differ are listed first, with how each page handles the difference.

OperationGovernment sourceWikipediaResult
Operation Sindikat-2 Savinkov arrested in Minsk on 20 August 1924; trial ended 29 August; died 7 May 1925.
Sentenced to death with a recommendation for mercy, commuted to ten years; died after a fall from a window of the Lubyanka.
Official history		 Operation set out in a circular of 12 May 1922; Savinkov crossed the border on 15 August 1924 and was arrested in Minsk on 16 August; sentenced 29 August 1924; died 7 May 1925.
Death sentence commuted to ten years; official version suicide, disputed; People's Union cells liquidated.		 Differ
The outcome and the trial and death dates agree, but the arrest date differs (20 August in the Naval Postgraduate School thesis and the Wikipedia article on Savinkov, 16 August in the Wikipedia article on the operation, which follows Russian archival histories). This page gives 'mid-August 1924'. The CIA reviewer folds the operation into the Trust; this page treats it as a parallel operation, as the Russian sources do.
Operation Monastery Demyanov met the writer Boris Sadovskoy on 11 January 1942, crossed the front in February 1942, was dropped back by the Germans on 15 March 1942; first radio contact 9 April 1942; German award announced 18 December 1942.
German couriers arrested or turned; German money confiscated; disinformation prepared with the General Staff reached the Abwehr; the case was split into 'Couriers' and 'Berezino'.
Official history		 1941–1944; Demyanov crossed the front at the end of 1941 and was sent back in March 1942; operation ended in summer 1944.
About fifty saboteurs captured and seven accomplices arrested; large volume of disinformation passed; continued as Operation Berezino.		 Differ
The sources agree on the March 1942 return, the method and the outcome but disagree on when Demyanov first crossed the front (end of 1941 in Wikipedia, February 1942 in the documents quoted by the FSB archivists) and on how many agents were caught. This page follows the archival documents for dates and gives the range for numbers.
The Lucy spy ring Swiss network in radio contact with Moscow about August 1941 to May 1944; Lucy's material first reached it in the late summer of 1942; Lucy's group last cited as a source in October 1943; Roessler arrested 19 May 1944 and released 6 September 1944.
Lucy was a cut-out, not a master spy; his sources were probably anti-Nazi officers using Abwehr channels; identities of the four main sources unproven.
CIA		 First major contribution May 1941 (Barbarossa warning); ring ended summer 1944 with the 20 July plot arrests. The article also reports the CIA study's contrary dates.
Supplied Soviet high command with German plans including Case Blue and Kursk; sources unidentified.		 Differ
The Wikipedia narrative repeats the older Foote/Accoce-Quet story of a 1941 Barbarossa warning and an end with the July plot, while noting that the CIA study contradicts both. This page follows the CIA study because it rests on the surviving radio traffic rather than memoirs.
Project MKUltra Program conducted 1953–1964; records destroyed January 1973; surviving financial files found in 1977.
149 subprojects; 185 non-government researchers and 80 institutions named; unwitting testing discontinued after the 1963 Inspector General report.
Congress		 1953 to 1973 (the article treats the follow-on work as part of the program).
Revealed by the Church Committee and Rockefeller Commission in 1975; records largely destroyed on Helms's order in 1973; about 20,000 pages surfaced in 1977.		 Differ
The end date differs. The 1977 hearing and the Church Committee treat MKULTRA as ending in 1964, with related work under MKSEARCH until 1972; Wikipedia runs the program to 1973, and the Supreme Court in CIA v. Sims gave 1953–1966. This page follows the 1977 hearing, which drew on the recovered files.
The capture of Adolf Eichmann Seized in May 1960 (USHMM gives 20 May); trial opened 11 April 1961; convicted 11–12 December and sentenced 15 December 1961; hanged 1 June 1962.
Taken from Argentina by Mossad officers, tried before a special tribunal of the Jerusalem District Court on 15 counts, convicted and executed.
Other		 Seized 11 May 1960; flown out on 20 May; Ben-Gurion announced the capture to the Knesset on 22 May; hanged on the night of 31 May to 1 June 1962.
Abducted by a Mossad team, tried and sentenced to death; Argentina protested to the UN Security Council.		 Differ
The outcome agrees, but the USHMM entry dates the seizure to 20 May 1960, the day of the flight. Harel's account, the Wikipedia article and other histories put the seizure on 11 May and the departure on 20 May; this page follows them.
Project Coldfeet Station sighted May 1961; target switched to NP-8 in March 1962; parachute drop 28 May 1962; failed recovery attempts 31 May and 1 June; pickups on 2 June 1962.
All three pickups (cargo, LeSchack, Smith) succeeded; intelligence of 'very great value' on Soviet acoustic work and polar research.
CIA		 Drop on 28 May 1962; pickup on 1 June 1962.
Success; information on Soviet Arctic research including acoustic systems to detect US submarines.		 Differ
Outcome agrees; the recovery date differs by a day. Leary, using the participants' accounts and a photograph captioned 2 June 1962, has a second fruitless search on 1 June and the pickups the next morning; the CIA Museum also says the pickups began a day late. This page follows 2 June.
The Walker spy ring Walker volunteered at the Soviet embassy in late 1968; arrested 20 May 1985; pleaded guilty 28 October 1985; sentenced 6 November 1986.
Life sentence for John Walker; Whitworth 365 years; Arthur Walker life; Michael Walker 25 years. KGB rated the operation its most important.
Official history		 Spied from late 1967 to 1985; arrested 20 May 1985; plea bargain late 1985.
Life sentence; ring members convicted; Walker died in prison in 2014.		 Differ
Arrest, plea and sentences agree, but the start date differs by a year. The counterintelligence reader says late 1968 and the Whitworth opinion says Walker had been selling secrets for six years by 1974; Wikipedia, the AP obituary citing court documents, and Walker's own account say late 1967. This page uses December 1967 as the likelier date and flags the conflict.
The Farewell Dossier Vetrov supplied about 4,000 documents from 1981; Mitterrand told Reagan in July 1981; Weiss proposed the deception to Casey in January 1982; Weiss says Vetrov was executed in 1983.
About 200 Soviet intelligence officers and their sources expelled or compromised; Line X operations in Europe collapsed; altered technology fed to Line X.
CIA		 Documents passed early 1981 to early 1982; Ottawa summit meeting 19 July 1981; Vetrov executed 23 January 1985.
Mass expulsion of Soviet technology spies; CIA deception operation; pipeline explosion alleged by Reed.		 Differ
The span of the operation and the outcome agree, but Weiss dates Vetrov's execution to 1983. Wikipedia, French and Russian accounts and the CIA's own 2012 book review give January 1985, which this page follows; Weiss also gives Vetrov's age as 53, which does not fit a 1932 birth.
Operation Trust Directed against the emigration from 1922 to 1927; collapsed in 1927 after Opperput's apparent defection.
Savinkov lured into Russia in 1924 and died in prison; Reilly lured to Moscow in 1925 and executed; Trust lay in shambles after Opperput's revelations.
CIA		 Ran from 1921 to 1927.
Lured Savinkov and Reilly into the Soviet Union, where they were captured; Shulgin's monitored trip; operation ended 1927.		 Agree
The sources agree on the course and end of the operation but differ on its start: Wikipedia and the Harris thesis date the first contacts to 1921, the CIA reviewer dates the campaign from 1922. This page uses 1921 for the earliest contacts. The CIA reviewer also rejects the Soviet line, which Wikipedia partly repeats, that the OGPU took over a pre-existing monarchist group.
Ultra and the breaking of Enigma Polish, French and British cryptanalysts met near Warsaw on 25 and 26 July 1939; the first British bombe was working at Bletchley Park by the German offensive in the West (May 1940).
The Polish disclosures transformed GC&CS's attack on Enigma and led directly, through Turing's talks with Rejewski in January 1940, to the British bombe.
Official history		 Poles broke Enigma in December 1932; handover to the French and British on 25 July 1939; first bombe delivered 18 March 1940; codeword Ultra adopted June 1941.
Ultra became the Allies' standard term for high-grade decrypts; German traffic was read through 1945 and the secret held until 1974.		 Agree
The sources agree on the sequence. GCHQ gives the Pyry meeting as 25–26 July 1939, Wikipedia gives the handover as 25 July, and the FCDO historians' blog dates the Polish revelation to 26 July; this page uses GCHQ's two-day span.
The Sorge spy ring Operated in China and then Japan before the Pacific war; Hero of the Soviet Union by decree of 5 November 1964.
Network exposed by the Japanese investigation, which remained the main non-Communist source on the case; Soviet Union later glorified Sorge without publishing an accurate history.
CIA		 Arrived in Yokohama 6 September 1933; arrested 18 October 1941; hanged 7 November 1944; Hero of the Soviet Union November 1964.
Ring broken in October 1941; Sorge and Ozaki hanged; Soviet acknowledgment only in 1964.		 Agree
The CIA review gives no arrest or execution dates but agrees on the outline and supplies the exact date of the 1964 decree. Sources disagree on whether Ozaki was arrested on 14 or 15 October 1941; this page says mid-October. The German Wikipedia article supplies the 29 September 1943 sentencing date, which the English article omits.
The Cambridge Five Philby recruited by Arnold Deutsch in 1934; Burgess and Maclean defected in 1951; conclusive evidence against Philby only in 1963, after which he defected.
Philby made a partial confession and, with Soviet help, defected to the Soviet Union.
Other		 Recruitment from 1934; Burgess and Maclean fled 25 May 1951; Philby vanished from Beirut 23 January 1963; Blunt exposed November 1979; Cairncross confirmed as the fifth man in 1990.
All five were exposed; three defected to Moscow and none was prosecuted.		 Agree
The National Archives catalogue and Wikipedia agree on the main dates. The catalogue describes Philby's 1963 admission as a partial confession, which this page follows; the Heath statement of 1 July 1963 likewise says the new information came only partly from Philby himself.
The Red Orchestra (Rote Kapelle) Brussels transmitter seized 13 December 1941; Schulze-Boysen arrested 30 August 1942; first eleven Berlin executions at Plötzensee 22 December 1942; Trepper arrested 5 December 1942 (per a German report quoted in the study); Trepper escaped September 1943.
Belgian, Dutch, German and French networks largely destroyed; captured operators played back against Moscow.
CIA		 Rue des Atrébates raided 12/13 December 1941; Schulze-Boysen arrested 31 August 1942; executions from 22 December 1942; Trepper arrested 24 November 1942; escaped 13 September 1943.
Networks destroyed; about 65 death sentences carried out in Germany; Funkspiel ran until May 1945.		 Agree
The sources agree on sequence and outcome but differ by a day on the Brussels raid and the Schulze-Boysen arrest, and by eleven days on Trepper's arrest; this page gives month-level dates where they conflict. The CIA study, compiled largely from German and Allied interrogations, treats the Berlin circle as a Soviet espionage network; this page follows the German Resistance Memorial Center in describing it as a resistance network that also passed intelligence.
Magic and the breaking of Purple Type B machine in effect from 20 February 1939; first indication of a solution on 20 September 1940; first two messages solved by 27 September 1940.
Machine's principles reconstructed and an equivalent machine built; by mid-October 1940 over a third of the 120 indicators solved.
National Archives		 Type B messages began to appear in February 1939; breakthrough in September 1940; two messages decrypted by 27 September 1940.
SIS built an analog machine without seeing the original; Purple traffic was read through the war and the Japanese never believed it broken.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. Wikipedia credits the September 1940 breakthrough specifically to Genevieve Grotjan; Friedman's contemporary report lists her among the team but describes the result as collective, and this page follows both by naming her without assigning sole credit.
The Double-Cross System SNOW turned shortly after the outbreak of war in 1939; Twenty Committee coordinating from January 1941.
About 120 German agents turned; MI5 ran and controlled the German espionage system in Britain and used it to deceive Germany about D-Day.
Official history		 Abwehr campaign from 1940; Twenty Committee under Masterman; TATE in contact with Germany until May 1945.
Post-war records showed every German agent sent to Britain was caught or surrendered, with the possible exception of one who killed himself; the network carried the Fortitude deception.		 Agree
The two agree on dates and outcome. MI5's own page gives the figure of 120 agents; Wikipedia adds the single possible exception, which MI5's page does not mention.
The Duquesne spy ring Sebold arrives in New York on 8 February 1940; radio contact with Germany from May 1940 for 16 months; trial opens 3 September 1941; verdicts 13 December 1941; sentencing 2 January 1942.
33 spies arrested; 19 plead guilty, 14 convicted at trial; total sentences of over 300 years.
FBI		 Trial from 3 September 1941, verdicts 13 December 1941, sentences 2 January 1942; Sebold sent to New York on 8 February 1940.
33 convicted, 19 by plea and 14 by jury; more than 300 years in total.		 Agree
The two agree on every date and number. The FBI page gives the arrests only as June 1941; Wikipedia's Canaris article dates them to 28 June 1941. This page follows the FBI wording and gives the month.
Soviet atomic espionage (Enormoz) Soviet interest from September 1941; Fuchs confessed January 1950; Greenglass confessed 15 June 1950; Soviet test in 1949.
Soviet spies penetrated Los Alamos and other sites and helped speed the Soviet bomb; Fuchs, Greenglass and the Rosenbergs were caught, Hall was not prosecuted.
Official history		 Wartime espionage 1942–1945, continuing to 1949; arrests 1950; Rosenberg executions 19 June 1953.
Fuchs, Gold, Greenglass, Sobell and the Rosenbergs convicted; Hall and others identified later through Venona.		 Agree
Both agree on the sequence and outcome. The DOE history dates Soviet awareness to September 1941 via John Cairncross; Wikipedia's article is organized by person rather than date, so this page takes its chronology from the DOE and court records.
Operation Anthropoid Attack on 27 May 1942; Heydrich died 4 June 1942; Lidice destroyed on the night of 9–10 June 1942.
Heydrich killed; Hitler ordered Lidice annihilated as a reprisal; men shot, women deported to Ravensbrück, most children murdered.
Official history		 Parachuted 28–29 December 1941; attack 27 May 1942; death 4 June; church siege 18 June 1942.
Heydrich died of his wounds; the seven parachutists in the church were killed or took their own lives; Lidice and Ležáky destroyed; an estimated 5,000 killed in reprisals.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. The two differ on the number of Lidice men killed (173 on the spot plus more than 20 later in the USHMM account, 199 in Wikipedia's); this page gives the USHMM figures and flags the difference.
Operation Pastorius Long Island landing about 12:10 a.m., 13 June 1942; Florida landing 17 June; all arrested by 27 June; six executed 8 August 1942.
All eight convicted by military commission; six executed, Dasch given 30 years and Burger life; both granted clemency and deported in 1948.
FBI		 Long Island landing night of 12/13 June 1942; Florida landing 16 June; trial ended 1 August, verdicts 3 August; executions 8 August 1942.
Same convictions, sentences, executions and 1948 clemency.		 Agree
The outcome is the same. Wikipedia dates the Florida landing to 16 June and Dasch's call to 15 June, where the FBI and the Supreme Court say 17 June and 14 June. Wikipedia ends the trial on 1 August with verdicts on 3 August; the FBI says the trial ran to 4 August. This page follows the FBI and the court record.
Operation Bernhard Begun as Operation Andreas in 1940; revived as Operation Bernhard in 1942; first forgery detected in 1943; prisoners liberated by US forces on 6 May 1945.
Forgeries paid spies and bought supplies; most stock thought to have been thrown into Lake Toplitz; the Bank withdrew notes above £5 and later reissued higher denominations in new designs.
Official history		 Operation Andreas from early 1940 to early 1942; revived July 1942; production from January 1943; unit moved to Austria in March 1945; Ebensee guards fled on 5 May and US troops arrived the next day.
Between £132.6 million and £300 million printed; notes laundered abroad, used to pay Cicero; much dumped in Lakes Toplitz and Grundlsee.		 Agree
The Bank of England is the institution the forgeries targeted, not a government archive; no declassified US or UK file on the operation could be opened. Its account agrees with Wikipedia on dates and outcome but disagrees on the serial numbers: Wikipedia says the forgers worked out the system, the Bank says they reused genuine numbers. This page reports both.
The Venona project Program created 1 February 1943; Gardner broke the spell table late in 1946; effort formally closed in 1980; translations released July 1995 onward.
More than 2,900 Soviet telegrams partly read; identifications of Fuchs, Gold, Greenglass, Rosenberg, Maclean, Coplon; Hall identified but not prosecuted.
CIA		 1 February 1943 to 1 October 1980.
Approximately 3,000 messages decrypted and translated; exposed Manhattan Project espionage and the Cambridge Five.		 Agree
Dates agree. Counts differ slightly (CIA/NSA say 'some 2,900' messages; Wikipedia and NSA's later web page say about 3,000). This page uses the 1996 CIA/NSA figure.
Operation Mincemeat Body put into the sea by a British submarine off Spain (spring 1943); OKW priority order of 12 May 1943; invasion of Sicily July 1943.
The Germans accepted the letter as authentic and on 12 May gave Sardinia and the Peloponnesus priority over other defensive measures.
Official history		 Body released from HMS Seraph early on 30 April 1943; documents reached the Germans on 8 May; Ultra confirmation on 14 May; Sicily invaded 9–10 July 1943.
Germans fooled; reinforcements sent to Greece and Sardinia rather than Sicily.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. The 1965 US Army history repeats Montagu's 1953 cover story that the body was a pneumonia victim; later-released files show Glyndwr Michael died of phosphorus poisoning, which this page follows.
Operation Gunnerside Gunnerside party parachuted in February 1943, joined the Swallow party on 23 February, attacked on the night of 27/28 February 1943.
Vital machinery destroyed; five men reached Sweden and five stayed in Norway; plant repaired by August 1943 and later bombed by the USAAF on 16 and 18 November 1943.
Official history		 Dropped on the night of 16 February 1943; attack on the night of 27–28 February 1943.
Electrolysis chambers and over 500 kg of heavy water destroyed; all saboteurs escaped; plant repaired by April 1943.		 Agree
Dates and the immediate outcome agree. They differ on when production resumed (August in the SOE material, April in Wikipedia); this page says 'within months' and flags the difference.
The Cicero affair Von Papen's telegram of 4 November 1943 reports a new walk-in with British documents; Kolbe brings copies to Bern at the end of December 1943; the British query the Cicero reports on 25 January and 29 February 1944.
OSS passes the Cicero telegrams to MI6; the British reaction is slow.
CIA		 Bazna approaches the German embassy on 26 October 1943; stops selling by the end of February 1944; leaves the embassy around April 1944.
Never caught; identified as Cicero after the war; much of his pay counterfeit.		 Agree
The CIA history covers only the American side and does not say when Cicero stopped; Wikipedia gives the full span. The dates fit together, so this page uses Wikipedia for the start and end and the CIA history for the German telegram and the OSS warning.
TICOM Committee organized in England in autumn 1944; teams in the field April–June 1945; final report dated 1 May 1946.
German Army, Air Force, Navy, Foreign Office and Nazi Party signals agencies exploited; German successes against Allied medium-grade systems documented.
NSA		 Formed during the Second World War; Russian FISH tip received 21 May 1945.
Six teams seized German cryptologic material, including Kesselring's communications train and the 'Russian Fish' receivers.		 Agree
The NSA release and the 1946 synopsis date TICOM's founding to 1944; Wikipedia gives no start date but agrees on the teams and captures. This page uses the synopsis and NSA's release for dates and Rezabek's study of the declassified volumes for the team details.
Operation Fortitude Deception effective throughout June and most of July 1944.
Belief in a second landing by 'Army Group Patton' immobilized the Fifteenth Army in the Pas-de-Calais.
Official history		 Planning from December 1943; plan approved February 1944; deception maintained after 6 June and formally ended 28 September 1944.
German reserves held near Calais for weeks after D-Day, letting the Allies consolidate in Normandy.		 Agree
The outcome agrees. The US Army history dates the deception's effect, while Wikipedia dates the plan's life; this page uses January–September 1944 for the operation and the Army's 'June and most of July' for its effect. MI5's own account says German divisions waited in the Pas-de-Calais through July and August, which is longer than the Army history allows.
Operation Jedburgh First team deployed the night before D-Day (5/6 June 1944); more than 90 teams dropped into France in 1944.
Teams coordinated airdrops, guided Maquis attacks and sabotage, and linked resistance groups to Allied command.
CIA		 Team HUGH dropped 5/6 June 1944; 93 teams in France June–September 1944; eight teams in the Netherlands September 1944–April 1945.
Teams provided liaison, leadership and, above all, arms drops to resistance groups; several arrived in areas already liberated.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. The CIA gives 'more than 90' teams for France and describes teams of two to four men; Wikipedia gives 93 three-man teams. This page uses about ninety-three.
Operation Sunrise Local surrender signed at Caserta on 29 April 1945 (8 a.m. Washington time), effective 2 May 1945.
Unconditional surrender of all German forces in Italy except Venezia Giulia east of the Isonzo, and of western and part of central Austria.
FRUS		 Negotiations February to May 1945; surrender signed 29 April 1945, hostilities ceasing 2 May.
Local surrender of German forces in northern Italy after Vietinghoff stalled; Wolff escaped prosecution at Nuremberg.		 Agree
Both give the same dates and outcome. Wikipedia places the 8 March meeting at Lucerne. Dulles's own cables, quoted by Halbrook, put it in his Zurich apartment. A FRUS footnote (vol. III, d525) puts the 19 March meeting at Bern, where the OSS cables say Ascona. This page follows the OSS cables.
Operation Paperclip Secretary of War approved Project OVERCAST in July 1945; shipments began late 1945.
German rocket specialists brought to the US largely to keep them from Soviet recruiters; von Braun and Dornberger held the group together.
Official history		 Overcast established by the Joint Chiefs on 20 July 1945; Truman approved Paperclip on 3 September 1946; arrivals 1945–1959.
More than 1,600 specialists brought to the US; major role in the missile and space programs; controversy over Nazi affiliations.		 Agree
Dates agree on July 1945 for Overcast. Totals differ: NARA counts dossiers on 'over 1,500' people, Wikipedia gives 'more than 1,600'; this page uses NARA's figure. Wikipedia gives two different dates for the renaming to Paperclip, so this page does not state one.
Operation Shamrock Army representatives approach the companies 18–21 August 1945; ITT and Western Union begin by 1 September, RCA by 9 October 1945; terminated 15 May 1975.
Terminated by order of Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger; NSA said the program had lost its value and the risk of exposure had grown.
Congress		 August 1945 to May 1975 (with a 1940 RCA precursor).
Terminated in May 1975 by NSA Director Lew Allen as congressional critics began to investigate.		 Agree
Dates agree. Wikipedia credits Lew Allen with ending the program on his own authority; the Church Committee cites Allen's own handwritten memorandum of 12 May 1975 recording that the Secretary of Defense had decided to end it, and this page follows the committee. The Wikipedia article also muddles Shamrock with its sister program Minaret in places.
The Gouzenko affair Gouzenko left the embassy on the night of 5 September 1945; Commission appointed by P.C. 411 of 5 February 1946; hearings 13 February to 27 June 1946.
Commission found an organized Soviet military-intelligence espionage network in Canada using Canadian officials and scientists.
Official history		 Defection 5 September 1945; detentions 15 February 1946; final report 27 June 1946.
21 people arrested; ten of twenty Canadians convicted; Nunn May convicted in Britain.		 Agree
Dates and findings agree. The Commission's report does not give final trial outcomes, which came later; conviction counts on this page follow Wikipedia's tally, which draws on the court records of 1946–49.
Operation Redsox Attempts to infiltrate agents into the Soviet Union, codenamed Redsox, recognized as of very limited success by 1954
Replaced by REDSKIN, a program using legal travelers for short-term observation.
FRUS		 British parallel program, 1949–1955
Soviet security penetrated the network and captured or turned most of the agents.		 Agree
Wikipedia has no article on REDSOX itself, so the cross-check uses its article on the British program running in parallel against the same targets. The two sources agree that the émigré infiltration programs of 1949–55 largely failed. The dates here follow FRUS and the National Archives study.
Operation Silver (the Vienna tunnels) In 1951 the British told CIA they had 'for some years' been tapping Soviet cables through tunnels in the Vienna area.
The British offered to share the take and suggested Berlin; skills developed in Vienna were used for the Berlin Tunnel, which far exceeded the Vienna tunnels in length.
CIA		 1949 to 1955.
Soviet army landlines in Vienna tapped; revealed to the Americans in 1951; led to the joint Berlin operation; compromised by Blake in 1953; ended when Austria regained sovereignty in 1955.		 Agree
The CIA history is consistent with Wikipedia but gives no start or end date. Other accounts end the operation in 1951 or 1952, so this page gives 1955 only as the latest possible end and flags the dates as uncertain.
Operation Valuable (Albania) Project outline approved June 1949; CIA plans for further agent operations in 1952; operation still producing intelligence in December 1952.
Ultimate objective stated as overthrow of the Albanian government; no overthrow followed (later CIA and State papers treat Albania as still under Hoxha's control).
CIA		 Talks in 1949; first British landing October 1949; infiltrations to 1952–53; trials in April 1954.
A failure; most agents were caught; often cited figure of about 300 killed.		 Agree
The CIA files and Wikipedia agree on the 1949 start and the failure to dislodge Hoxha. The Wikipedia article includes claims (French participation, a precise toll of 300 dead) that the government sources here do not support; this page does not repeat them as fact.
Operation Washtub Code word WASHTUB assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations for the stay-behind program; FBI letters of 8 and 17 September 1951 announce its withdrawal; file runs to 1954.
Program continued under OSI after the FBI pulled out; agents recruited and trained for an invasion that never came.
Other		 1 July 1951 to 3 January 1959; FBI withdrew in September 1951.
Operation terminated; 89 agents in place; caches converted to survival use.		 Agree
Both agree on the September 1951 FBI withdrawal and the Air Force carrying on. The released file stops in 1954, so the 1951–1959 span and the figure of 89 agents rest on the OSI historian quoted by the AP; Wikipedia's exact start and end days are uncited and this page does not use them.
The Portland spy ring Houghton spied from 1951; arrests of Houghton, Gee and Lonsdale near the Old Vic and of the Krogers at Ruislip (MI5 page gives the date as 7 January 1960).
Houghton and Gee sentenced to 15 years; Lonsdale and the Krogers later exchanged in prisoner swaps.
Official history		 Active 1953–1961; arrests 7 January 1961; Old Bailey trial 13–22 March 1961.
Lonsdale 25 years, Krogers 20, Houghton and Gee 15; Lonsdale swapped for Greville Wynne in April 1964, Krogers exchanged October 1969.		 Agree
The outcome agrees. MI5's history page dates the arrests to 7 January 1960, which conflicts with MI5's own 2019 release note, the National Archives file dates (Gee's file ends 10 January 1961) and the March 1961 trial record. This page follows 7 January 1961 and treats the MI5 page's year as an error.
Operation Ajax (TPAJAX) First attempt night of 15–16 August 1953 failed; Zahedi in control of Tehran on 19 August (Waller memorandum, 20 August)
Zahedi in control of Tehran, Mosaddeq ousted; Shah to return from Rome.
FRUS		 15–19 August 1953
Mosaddegh overthrown on 19 August; Zahedi formed a government; Mosaddegh tried and imprisoned.		 Agree
Both give the failed attempt of 15–16 August and the success of 19 August. The CIA documents stress the 'spontaneity' of the crowds, while Wikipedia reports the scholarly debate about how far CIA-paid crowds drove events; this page presents both.
The Hollow Nickel case Nickel found 22 June 1953; Hayhanen defected in Paris early May 1957; arrest 21 June 1957; verdict 25 October 1957; sentence 15 November 1957.
Message decoded by 3 June 1957; Abel convicted on three conspiracy counts, sentenced to thirty years; exchanged for Francis Gary Powers on 10 February 1962.
FBI		 22 June 1953; defection May 1957; verdict 25 October 1957; sentence 15 November 1957.
Fisher (alias Abel) convicted on all three counts and later exchanged for Powers.		 Agree
Both follow the FBI's account closely. They differ only in detail: the FBI describes Hayhanen's coin as a hollow 50-markka piece, while one Wikipedia article calls it a 5-mark coin. This page follows the FBI.
Operation PBSuccess Castillo Armas launched his attack on 18 June 1954; FRUS editorial note gives the hour as 8:20 p.m.
Árbenz resigned (Embassy telegram of 28 June, Document 256); military junta formed.
FRUS		 Invasion 18 June 1954 ("8:20 am"); Árbenz resigned 27 June
Árbenz resigned; Castillo Armas became president ten days later after talks in San Salvador.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. The hour of the crossing differs (FRUS 8:20 p.m., Wikipedia 8:20 a.m.); this page gives only the date.
Operation Gold (the Berlin Tunnel) Tunnel completed 28 February 1955; cables tapped 11 May, 21 May and 2 August 1955; discovered 22 April 1956 after 11 months and 11 days of operation.
Source lost when the Soviets dug up a faulty cable; Blake later said he had told the Soviets of the plan in late 1953; no evidence the Soviets fed deception material.
CIA		 Construction began September 1954 and took about eight months; Soviets 'discovered' the tunnel on 21 April 1956.
Betrayed from the start by Blake; Soviets left it running to protect him; no known attempt to feed disinformation.		 Agree
Outcome agrees. Wikipedia gives 21 April for the discovery; CIA's history and its 2009 feature give the early hours of 22 April, when the digging party reached the tap chamber, which this page follows. Start-of-digging dates differ between CIA accounts (February, August or late August 1954); this page uses CSHP 150's late August.
The Lavon affair Death sentences pending on 27 January 1955; the US embassy in Cairo reported the executions carried out on the morning of 31 January 1955.
Two men convicted in the Cairo trial were executed despite a US appeal for commutation.
FRUS		 Bombings 2 and 14 July 1954; trial 11 December 1954 to 27 January 1955; Lavon resigned 17 February 1955.
Two operatives executed, two suicides in custody, two acquitted, the rest imprisoned; Lavon forced to resign.		 Agree
The two sources agree on the trial's outcome and dates. FRUS does not name the condemned men or describe the bombings; those details come from Israeli and secondary accounts, and the State Department record confirms Lavon's resignation was announced on 17 February 1955.
The U-2 program and the 1960 shoot-down Powers took off from Peshawar at 0159Z on 1 May 1960 and was downed near Sverdlovsk; Khrushchev announced the shoot-down on 5 May; Eisenhower took responsibility on 11 May; the Paris summit ended after the 16 May session.
Cover story destroyed, overflights of the USSR suspended, summit and Eisenhower's visit to the USSR cancelled; Powers tried in August 1960 and exchanged for Abel on 10 February 1962.
CIA		 Shot down 1 May 1960 near Kosulino; NASA cover release 5 May; Khrushchev revealed the pilot was alive 7 May; summit talks 15–16 May.
Summit cancelled; Powers convicted 19 August 1960 and exchanged for Abel on 10 February 1962.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. Sources differ on when the cover story first went public (the CIA history says late on 2 May at Adana; FRUS cites a NASA statement of 3 May; Wikipedia a NASA release of 5 May) and on how many missiles were fired; this page follows the CIA history and FRUS.
The Guillaume affair Brandt resigned on 6 May 1974 and was succeeded by Helmut Schmidt on 16 May (editorial note to the document).
Brandt left office after the Guillaume spy case; reports of possible blackmail circulated in the German press.
FRUS		 Guillaume arrested 24 April 1974; Brandt resigned 6 May 1974.
Brandt resigned as chancellor but remained SPD chairman; Guillaume was exchanged to East Germany in 1981.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. The German Historical Institute's caption gives 7 May 1974 for the resignation; Brandt's letter went to the federal president late on 6 May and was announced the next day. This page uses 6 May, as FRUS does.
COINTELPRO Program begun in August 1956 (Belmont memorandum of 28 August 1956); all programs terminated 27–28 April 1971.
2,370 actions approved across five programs; ended because of the threat of public exposure after the Media break-in.
Congress		 1956 to 1971; secret until the Media, Pennsylvania, burglary of 8 March 1971.
Exposed by the burglary and investigated by the Church Committee; formally ended in 1971.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. Wikipedia goes further than the Committee on the Black Panthers, describing some deaths as assassinations; this page follows the Committee's documented findings and marks the Hampton question as contested.
Operation Gladio Founding act of Gladio dated 28 November 1956; Chamber of Deputies order of 2 August 1990 gives the commission the matter; interim report sent to Parliament 9 July 1991.
Commission investigation hampered by NATO-classified records; the Senate on 1 August 1991 committed the government to hand over all Gladio documents.
Other		 Set up under Defense Minister Paolo Taviani (1953–1958); revealed by Andreotti on 24 October 1990.
Network acknowledged; parliamentary investigations in Italy, Belgium and Switzerland; allegations of links to terrorism disputed.		 Agree
The sources agree in substance. The founding agreement between Italy's military intelligence service (SIFAR) and the CIA is dated 28 November 1956 in the parliamentary report and 26 November 1956 by Il Post; this page follows the parliamentary document.
ST CIRCUS: the CIA in Tibet Operation began in the second Eisenhower administration (1957–61); reduced in 1971
Judged 'an unsuccessful irritant' to China; force cut from about 1,800 to 300 men.
FRUS		 Spanning almost twenty years; ended after Nixon's 1972 visit to China
Program ended with US–China rapprochement; annual cost over $1.7 million by 1964.		 Agree
Both tie the end of the program to rapprochement with China. FRUS records a reduction decided in 1971 rather than a clean end in 1972. Wikipedia says training at Camp Hale ended in 1961, but the CIA's 1964 review still budgets $400,000 for the Colorado training site and 133 trainees; this page follows FRUS.
CORONA First film recovered from Mission 9009 (DISCOVERER XIV), launched 18 August 1960 and caught in midair on 19 August 1960; 145th and final launch 25 May 1972, last recovery 31 May 1972.
CORONA imaged all Soviet MRBM, IRBM and ICBM complexes and supported NIE 11-8/1-61, which cut the estimate of Soviet ICBM launchers to 10–25.
CIA		 Operated June 1959 to May 1972; Discoverer 14 launched 18 August 1960 and its film recovered by a C-119; last launch 25 May 1972.
First clear picture of Soviet strategic forces; ICBM estimate refined to 10–25; replaced by KH-9 HEXAGON.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. Wikipedia counts from the first camera launch in June 1959; this page also counts the 1958 decision to split CORONA from the Air Force WS-117L program, as the CIA history does.
Operation Holystone Times article published the Sunday before 27 May 1975; code word obsolete since 1972.
Ford orders an FBI investigation of the leak; operations not ended by the exposure (Navy recommends continuing, source 1).
National Archives		 Hersh article 25 May 1975; program had run for at least 15 years.
Program exposed; the Ford White House considered action against Hersh.		 Agree
The two agree on the date of exposure and the reaction. Wikipedia's platforms article gives 1959 as the start and says the program ended with Pelton's compromise in 1981, while the Ford Library record says the code word Holystone had been obsolete since 1972; this page uses 1972 as the end of the code name and treats later operations as its successors.
Project Oxcart Lockheed design selected 29 August 1959; first flight 26 April 1962; BLACK SHIELD from 31 May 1967; last mission May 1968; last A-12 flight to storage 21 June 1968.
29 operational missions (24 over North Vietnam, 2 over Cambodia, Laos and the DMZ, 3 over North Korea); program ended in favor of the SR-71.
Official history		 Selected 1959; first flight 26 April 1962; BLACK SHIELD began 31 May 1967; final mission May 1968; retired June 1968.
Retired after Vietnam and Pueblo-crisis sorties, superseded by the SR-71.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. Counts of aircraft differ: CIA sources speak of 15 built under OXCART, Wikipedia of 18 airframes (13 A-12s, 3 YF-12As, 2 M-21s); this page uses CIA's mission figures from Archangel.
The Bay of Pigs invasion Landings began at 1 a.m. on 17 April 1961; by the morning of 19 April the situation was desperate and evacuation was being considered (FRUS Documents 112 and 142)
Cuban Expeditionary Force defeated; Navy rescue operations ended 26 April.
FRUS		 17–20 April 1961
Invading force defeated within three days and surrendered; 1,113 prisoners later exchanged for $53 million in food and medicine.		 Agree
Outcome agrees. Wikipedia dates the surrender to 20 April; most accounts and the FRUS record put the collapse of the beachhead on the afternoon of 19 April. This page uses 19 April.
The plots against Fidel Castro The effort to assassinate Castro began in 1960 and continued until 1965
The efforts to assassinate Castro failed.
Congress		 Eight proven CIA attempts between 1960 and 1965 (citing the Church Committee)
No attempt succeeded; Ford banned political assassination by executive order in 1976.		 Agree
Both rest on the Church Committee. Wikipedia also reports Cuban figures of 634 to 638 schemes, which include non-CIA plots and are not documented in US records; this page treats them as a contested claim.
The CIA and the Congo crisis, 1960–61 Plot conceived in the latter half of 1960; Lumumba transferred to Katanga 17 January 1961 and killed that day according to the UN investigation
Poisons never administered; 'no evidence that the United States was in any way involved in Lumumba's death at the hands of his Congolese enemies.'
Congress		 Lumumba killed 17 January 1961
Tortured and executed by Katangan authorities with Belgian participation; CIA had earlier plotted to poison him.		 Agree
Both give 17 January 1961 and Katangan responsibility. Wikipedia stresses Belgian participation, documented by the 2001 Belgian inquiry; the Church report predates that inquiry. This page follows the Church findings on US involvement and notes the Belgian conclusions.
The secret war in Laos Colby's report of August 1966 describes CIA-supported guerrilla operations in north and south Laos under the 1963 action plan
Holding action in Laos alongside the air war; by 1972 Vang Pao's irregulars were 'weaker than in previous years' (source 4).
FRUS		 Training began 17 January 1961; operations dampened by the July 1962 Geneva agreement; US support until 1973
Hmong guerrillas suffered irreplaceable losses; 2,500 evacuated to Thailand in May 1975, most left behind.		 Agree
The sources agree on the arc of the program. Wikipedia supplies the start date and casualty estimates, which FRUS does not document; those are marked as estimates here.
IRONBARK: the Penkovsky case IRONBARK-based joint evaluation issued 18 October 1962; Penkovsky arrested 22 October 1962 and executed 16 May 1963 (CIA).
Penkovsky's material let analysts identify the SS-4 and SS-5 systems in Cuba; he was caught, tried and shot.
FRUS		 First approach July 1960; recruited April 1961; arrested 22 October 1962; executed 16 May 1963.
Supplied missile data used with U-2 photography in the Cuban Missile Crisis; convicted of treason and executed.		 Agree
The sources agree on recruitment, arrest, execution and the Cuban use of the material. Wikipedia dates his first approach to July 1960; the CIA History Staff review places his approach to two American students on the Moskvoretsky Bridge on 12 August 1960, and this page follows the CIA.
TOPHAT: the Polyakov case Hanssen's first espionage, for the GRU, ran from November 1979 to spring 1981; its most significant disclosure was the identity of a long-time FBI asset in the GRU.
The asset (not named in the unclassified report) was compromised; FBI and CIA lost nearly every significant Soviet asset in 1985–86.
Official history		 Approached the FBI in late 1961; recalled to Moscow 1980; arrested 1986; executed 15 March 1988.
Betrayed by Hanssen and Ames; executed for treason.		 Agree
The unclassified government record does not name Polyakov; Wikipedia, the CIA-cleared Grimes and Vertefeuille account and Russian sources identify him as the asset. Russian sources say the sentence was announced officially only in 1990, while Grimes recalled learning of it from Pravda in 1988; this page leaves the date of the announcement open.
Operation Mongoose Program authorized by President Kennedy's memorandum of 30 November 1961; disbanded after the October 1962 missile crisis (Church Committee)
No revolt; program disbanded and replaced by a Cuban Coordinating Committee.
FRUS		 Officially authorized on 30 November 1961; name agreed at a White House meeting on 4 November 1961
Operation failed to overthrow Castro; a factor in the Soviet decision to deploy missiles to Cuba.		 Agree
Both give 30 November 1961 for authorization. Wikipedia dates the naming meeting to 4 November; FRUS dates the White House meeting to 3 November 1961. This page follows FRUS.
Operation Northwoods Memorandum signed by General Lemnitzer for the Joint Chiefs, 13 March 1962; JCS approval of the paper at their meeting of 13 March
Forwarded to the Secretary of Defense as 'a preliminary submission suitable for planning purposes'.
Other		 Presented to McNamara on 13 March 1962; made public 18 November 1997
Approved by the Joint Chiefs, rejected by President Kennedy; none of the operations carried out.		 Agree
The sources agree on dates and outcome. Wikipedia describes Kennedy's response as rejection of Northwoods; the contemporaneous record shows him rejecting overt military intervention in general, which made the pretexts moot. This page reports what the documents say.
Operation Anadyr Plan approved by Malinovsky 4 July and Khrushchev 7 July 1962; first SS-4s at Mariel 8 September; first warheads 4 October; U-2 discovery 14 October; Khrushchev agrees to withdraw 28 October.
About 41,900 Soviet personnel in Cuba by late October; missile bases dismantled after Khrushchev's agreement.
CIA		 Defense Council meeting 21 May 1962; plan approved 4 and 7 July; U-2 photographs 14 October; Kennedy informed 16 October.
Planned force of about 50,874 personnel (infobox: 47,000); the deployment was discovered and led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.		 Agree
Dates agree. Troop figures differ because they measure different things: 50,874 was the July plan, 41,900 the strength actually reached by late October (Hansen, citing Gribkov). This page uses the CIA study's figure for the force in Cuba.
Intelligence in the Cuban Missile Crisis U-2 flown by Maj. Richard D. Heyser over western Cuba on the morning of 14 October 1962; MRBMs confirmed by the CIA to Bundy at 8:30 p.m. on 15 October; President told the next morning.
Three MRBM sites found near San Cristóbal on the first film; a fourth MRBM site and two IRBM sites at Guanajay found on 15 October flights.
FRUS		 Heyser's U-2 photographed the sites on 14 October 1962; NPIC identified MRBMs on 15 October; Kennedy briefed 16 October.
Discovery led to the quarantine and the Kennedy–Khrushchev settlement; the US did not know of tactical nuclear warheads in Cuba until 1992.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. Wikipedia credits DIA analysts with the flight path; Holland's CIA article shows the target area came from a CIA agent report passed to DIA so that it would not carry only CIA fingerprints. This page follows Holland, who used declassified CIA records.
Operation Diamond Defection flight on 16 August 1966; aircraft lent to the United States in January 1968.
Iraqi Capt. Munir Radfa defected with his MiG-21 after Mossad recruitment; Israel evaluated it and lent it to the US, which tested it at Groom Lake (Area 51).
National Archives		 Operation from mid-1963 to 16 August 1966; aircraft lent to the US in January 1968.
Redfa landed at Hatzor; Israel and the United States studied the aircraft under the HAVE DOUGHNUT program.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. The National Archives text spells the pilot's name Radfa; this page uses Redfa, the more common form. The loan period of 23 January to 8 April 1968 comes from the National Security Archive's summary of the declassified records.
Project Mockingbird (1963) 12 March 1963 to 15 June 1963.
Taps on the office and two homes of two Washington newsmen; sources identified included 12 senators, 6 representatives and 16 government employees.
CIA		 12 March to 15 June 1963.
Warrantless wiretap ordered by McCone in coordination with Robert Kennedy, McNamara and DIA's director; made public with the Family Jewels in 2007.		 Agree
Both follow the Office of Security summary. The Rockefeller Commission and a separate memorandum in the Family Jewels file place the decision in 1962; this page gives the 1963 dates for the taps themselves and marks the discrepancy.
Operation Neptune (1964) StB proposal 5 May 1964; night deposit of four chests reported 22 June 1964; press conference 15 September 1964 (StB files as reported by Walton).
Chests of blank paper planted and 'discovered' for TV; genuine German documents from Soviet intelligence, with forgeries mixed in, shown at the press conference; West Germany extended its statute of limitations to 1969.
Other		 1964.
StB and KGB disinformation operation with fake Nazi-era documents found in submerged chests; temporary success.		 Agree
No US-government record of Neptune was found; the 'gov' slot uses Czechoslovak StB files as cited by the historian Calder Walton. Wikipedia gives no detailed dates and calls the papers fake; this page follows the StB files and Bittman's account, which agree that the chests held blank paper and that the documents shown later came from Moscow.
Acoustic Kitty Memo dated March 1967 (handwritten '3-67'); copy stamped released September 1983.
Cats could be trained to move short distances, but the technique 'would not be practical' for the Agency's purposes.
CIA		 Project of the 1960s, cancelled in 1967; disclosed in 2001.
Abandoned as impractical; cites the closing memorandum.		 Agree
Both put the end in 1967 with the same conclusion. Wikipedia dates disclosure to 2001, when the National Security Archive published the memo; the copy itself carries a September 1983 release stamp, so this page treats 2001 as the date it became widely known.
The Phoenix Program Program in operation by 1968; reviewed by the 303 Committee in December 1969
In August 1969 the program as a whole 'killed or captured 1,381 communist cadre'; the CIA judged it effective but politically risky.
FRUS		 ICEX created June 1967; Phung Hoang decree December 1967; program ran 1968–1972
81,740 'neutralized', of whom 26,369 were killed, by official figures; CIA responsibility phased out from 1970.		 Agree
The sources agree on the program's span and purpose. FRUS gives partial contemporary figures, Wikipedia the official cumulative totals, which are disputed; this page marks the totals as contested.
Operation CHAOS Special Operations Group established August 1967; activity reduced by mid-1972; formally terminated March 1974.
Some 13,000 files, 7,200 on American citizens; 300,000 names indexed; some activities 'unlawfully exceeded the CIA's statutory authority'.
Official history		 1967 to 1974 (the article also says it had 'been closed in 1973').
Files on 7,200 Americans and an index of 300,000 people; exposed by the New York Times in 1974; led to the Rockefeller Commission.		 Agree
Figures and outcome agree. Wikipedia is internally inconsistent on the end date; this page follows the Church Committee, which quotes Colby's termination cable of 5 March 1974. Wikipedia's staff figure of 60 differs from the Rockefeller Commission's maximum of 52, which this page uses.
Project Minaret Army request of 20 October 1967; MINARET charter 1 July 1969; dissemination suspended August 1973; officially terminated fall 1973.
About 1,200 Americans on the civil disturbance list over the period; about 2,000 reports disseminated; ended amid doubts about its legality.
Congress		 1967 to 1973.
About 1,650 US citizens targeted; disclosed by the Church Committee in 1975; contributed to FISA in 1978.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. The numbers differ because the Committee counted the civil disturbance list alone while other counts combine all watch lists; this page gives the Committee's figures and marks the difference as contested.
Project Azorian (the Glomar Explorer) Submarine sank March 1968 and was located August 1968; Nixon authorized recovery 7 June 1974; mission began about 15 June 1974; second mission cancelled by Ford 16 June 1975.
Recovery only partially successful; cover blown in early 1975; program terminated; ship mothballed 30 August 1976.
FRUS		 K-129 sank about 8 March 1968; Glomar Explorer left Long Beach 20 June 1974, reached the site 4 July 1974.
A portion of K-129 recovered; mechanical failure of the capture vehicle let about two-thirds of the raised section fall back.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree in substance. FRUS's 'on or about June 15' is the planned start; this page follows the CIA Museum and Wikipedia for the ship's arrival on site on 4 July. The CIA Museum dates the Los Angeles Times story 7 February 1975, while the National Security Archive's archival note says it ran on 8 February; the page says 'early February'.
Track II and Chile, 1970 CIA contact with Viaux from 9 October 1970; Viaux group's abduction attempt on 22 October killed Schneider; Congress confirmed Allende on 24 October
Track II failed after Schneider's death; CIA later passed $35,000 to the Viaux group.
CIA		 Shot 22 October 1970, died 25 October 1970
Killed in a botched kidnapping; his death rallied support behind Allende's confirmation.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. US documents disagree on Allende's inauguration date: FRUS papers of October 1970 say 4 November, the Hinchey Report says 3 November; this page does not depend on it.
Operation Ivy Bells Pelton at NSA 1965–1979; sold information to Soviet officials from January 1980 through 1983; interviewed by the FBI and arrested 24 November 1985.
Convicted of conspiracy, espionage, attempted espionage and disclosing communications intelligence; three life terms plus ten years; conviction affirmed.
Court record		 Halibut sent into the Sea of Okhotsk October 1971; Pelton approached the Soviet embassy January 1980; Soviet ships over the tap site 1981; Yurchenko defected July 1985.
Tap lost to the Soviets in 1981; Pelton arrested and convicted.		 Agree
The court record and Wikipedia agree on Pelton's dates and fate. The court record does not name Ivy Bells (it calls the compromised program 'Project A') or date the tap itself, so the 1971 start and the 1981 loss rest on Wikipedia, the National Security Archive and Campbell's 1999 report; Campbell dates the end to 1982.
The Stargate Project CIA program 1972–1977; DIA involvement from about 1985; program named Star Gate in the early 1990s; AIR contracted June 1995, reported 29 September 1995.
Remote viewing 'failed to produce actionable intelligence'; continued use 'not warranted'.
CIA		 Army unit established 1977 at Fort Meade; SRI research from 1972; renamed Stargate 1991; terminated 1995.
Terminated and declassified after a CIA-commissioned review found it was never useful in any intelligence operation.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree in substance. Wikipedia dates the unit from the Army's 1977 GONDOLA WISH effort and the Stargate name from 1991; the AIR report gives the CIA's own program as 1972–1977 and the Star Gate name as early 1990s. This page uses 1972 for the start of government-funded research.
Operation Wrath of God Killing in Lillehammer on 21 July 1973; public trial of six team members; five released within 22 months.
Five convicted of the killing, one acquitted; sentences from two to five and a half years.
Other		 Killing on 21 July 1973; convicted agents released and returned to Israel in 1975.
Six arrested, five convicted of complicity, sentences from one to five and a half years.		 Agree
The sources agree on the date, the arrests and the convictions. They differ on the shortest sentence (one year in Wikipedia, two in the Marine Corps study, which relies on secondary accounts); this page gives only the upper figure. The Marine Corps study's account of the wider campaign draws heavily on the disputed book Vengeance and is used here only for the Lillehammer case.
The Tolkachev case First approach January 1977; first meeting 1 January 1979; arrest announced by TASS on 20 September 1985 as having taken place the previous June; executed 1986.
Huge volume of intelligence on Soviet military R&D; agent compromised, almost certainly by Edward Lee Howard; executed for high treason.
CIA		 Approaches from January 1977 to February 1978; provided documents 1979–1985; executed 24 September 1986.
Compromised in 1985, probably by Howard and also by Ames; executed in Moscow.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. The exact execution date comes from the Politburo transcript of 25 September 1986, where the KGB chief said the sentence had been carried out 'yesterday'; Royden gives only the year.
Operation Cyclone First findings signed 3 July 1979 ($695,000 non-lethal); lethal finding 28 December 1979; Saudi matching funds authorized February 1980.
By May 1980 Soviet-made arms were flowing via Saudi Arabia to Pakistan for distribution by Pakistani intelligence.
FRUS		 Program 1979–1992; $695,000 in mid-1979; first weapons shipped December 1979; Stingers from 1986; Soviet withdrawal completed 15 February 1989.
The mujahideen, armed through Pakistan's ISI with US and Saudi money, outlasted the Soviet army; funding continued at reduced levels after 1989.		 Agree
Agree on the July 1979 start and figures. Wikipedia says the first weapons shipped in December 1979; FRUS dates the lethal finding to 28 December and the State Department memo describes arms moving by early 1980. This page follows FRUS.
The Hanssen case Espionage in 1979–81, 1985–91 and 1999–2001; arrested 18 February 2001; pleaded guilty 6 July 2001; sentenced 10 May 2002.
Compromised dozens of human sources, at least three of whom were executed; life imprisonment.
Official history		 Spied 1979–1981, 1985–1991 and 1999–2001; arrested 18 February 2001; sentenced 10 May 2002.
Fifteen life sentences without parole; died at ADX Florence on 5 June 2023.		 Agree
Dates and outcome agree. Wikipedia gives total payments of about $1.4 million; the affidavit counts over $600,000 in cash and diamonds plus escrow the Russians said was worth $800,000, which this page follows.
The Canadian Caper Embassy seized 4 November 1979; escape on Swissair on Sunday 27 January 1980; La Presse story 29 January 1980.
All six escaped; Canadian embassy closed; Taylor awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Official history		 Swissair flight on the morning of Sunday 27 January 1980.
Six diplomats and two CIA officers escaped to Zurich.		 Agree
Canada's history and Wikipedia agree on 27 January. The CIA sources (Mendez's 1999 article and Robarge's 2013 review) both say Monday 28 January 1980; this page gives the Canadian date in the front matter's crosscheck, the CIA date as the end date because the CIA account is the participant's record, and flags the discrepancy as contested.
Operation RYAN Announced at a closed KGB conference in May 1981; first requirements to residencies November 1981; urgency raised 17 February 1983.
A joint KGB–GRU collection effort, unprecedented in scope, aimed at early warning of a US surprise attack; Fischer judges the underlying fear genuine but exaggerated.
CIA		 Initiated May 1981; expanded after March 1983; maintained until at least April 1989.
Soviet program to collect intelligence on presumed US first-strike plans; peaked during the KAL 007 crisis and Able Archer 83.		 Agree
Start dates and purpose agree. Fischer (1997) did not have the Stasi records showing RYAN ran past 1984; this page follows the later Wilson Center finding that it continued to at least April 1989.
Operation INFEKTION Patriot letter mid-1983; Literaturnaya Gazeta article 30 October 1985; at least 32 Soviet media replays January–June 1987.
A sustained Soviet campaign, rejected by Western and Soviet scientists; ongoing as of the report's date (August 1987).
Other		 Patriot letter July 1983; KGB telegram to Bulgaria 7 September 1985; Literaturnaya Gazeta October 1985; officially disowned August 1987; occasional replays to 1988; Primakov admission 1992.
Story spread to more than 80 countries; Soviet coverage halted after 1987; KGB role later acknowledged.		 Agree
Dates and course agree. The State Department report was written while the campaign was still running; the later chronology (disavowal in late 1987, fade-out in 1988) comes from Boghardt, whose account Wikipedia follows. Wikipedia now titles its article 'Operation Denver' after the archival finding on the codename.
Able Archer 83 and the war scare Exercise play 7–11 November 1983 (PFIAB); the British assessment dates it 2–11 November including pre-exercise communications; Soviet air alert from 2 November, withdrawn by 11 November.
Exercise ended normally; Soviet forces returned to normal status on 11 November.
FRUS		 7–11 November 1983.
Exercise ended on 11 November without incident; Soviet nuclear forces stood down.		 Agree
Both agree on 7–11 November for exercise play and on a peaceful end. The FRUS editorial note adds that pre-exercise communications began on 2 November, which is why some sources give 2–11 November; this page lists that wider span.
The Iran–Contra affair Contra support during the October 1984 – October 1986 ban; arms sales to Iran 1985–1986; exposed 5 October – 25 November 1986; independent counsel appointed 19 December 1986; pardons 24 December 1992.
Fourteen charged; officials 'violated laws and executive orders'; cover-up crimes; six pardoned by President Bush.
Court record		 Arms trafficking described as 1981–1986, with the main sales in 1985–1986; exposed November 1986.
Fourteen charged, eleven convicted, some vacated on appeal; the rest pardoned by Bush.		 Agree
The outcome agrees. Wikipedia's 1981 start date reflects earlier Israeli arms transfers to Iran; the independent counsel's mandate and findings concern the operations from 1984, which this page follows.
1985, the Year of the Spy Walker arrested 20 May 1985; Howard charged 23 September 1985 after fleeing; Pollard arrested 21 November, Chin 22 November and Pelton 25 November 1985.
Over 60 Americans arrested or neutralized for espionage in the 1980s; Walker, Pelton and Pollard given life sentences; Howard granted Soviet asylum in 1986.
Official history		 Walker arrested 20 May 1985; Pollard arrested November 1985; Chin and Pelton arrested late 1985.
Eight major spies exposed; heightened US–Soviet tension; Howard fled to the Soviet Union.		 Agree
The cases and outcomes agree. Small date differences exist: Wikipedia's article gives Pollard's arrest as 18 November and its Chin article 23 November, against 21 and 22 November in the US summary, which this page follows.

Dates against Wikidata

Every page names its Wikidata item. Each weekly rebuild fetches the item's dates (birth and death, founding and dissolution, start and end) and compares them with ours; last fetched 31 October 2026. For people and agencies the dates must match at the precision both give; for an operation, Wikidata's dates must fall inside the span we give. 156 of 168 pass. The rest are listed below. Most come from a Wikidata item with a different scope (a whole campaign, or only the day of the climax); where a birth or founding date differs, the page follows the primary sources it cites; we checked each of these by hand.

PageFieldThis siteWikidata
The Bay of Pigs invasionWikidata point17 March 1960 – 19 April 19611961-04-20
The Hollow Nickel caseWikidata point22 June 1953 – 15 November 19571950
The Iran–Contra affairWikidata endOctober 1984 – 25 November 19861987-03-04
Operation FortitudeWikidata startJanuary – September 19441943-12
Operation GunnersideWikidata start16–28 February 19431940
Operation GunnersideWikidata end16–28 February 19431944
Gehlen Organization and BNDfounded1946-061956-04-01
Office of Strategic Services (OSS)dissolved1945-10-011945-09-20
SDECE and DST (French intelligence)founded19461944-11-06
Eli Cohenborn1924-12-261924-12-06
Juan Pujol García (GARBO)born1912-02-141914-02-14
Sidney Reillyborn18741873-03-24

Verified FRUS excerpts

Excerpts on "read the document" pages drawn from FRUS are checked word for word against the text published at history.state.gov on every rebuild (53 excerpts across 15 documents); a page whose excerpt no longer matches is not published. Excerpts from other documents were copied from the government's own copy or a facsimile, named on each page.

Hosted documents: 60 declassified files

60 of the 74 "read the document" pages carry the released file itself: the PDF, a picture of its first page and its full text, page by page (224 MB in all). They were chosen one by one, at least one for each operation where a fitting record exists; this is a reading room of key documents, not a mirror of an archive.

Every source link was opened by the writer, except where a government site blocks automated access or was down when the page was written (the CIA reading room was offline for maintenance; nsa.gov and the FBI Vault refuse scripts). Those links were taken from a reliable citation instead: 43 of 1352 links. An automated check on 26 October 2026 found 675 of 770 links (sources, originals and Wikipedia comparisons) answering normally; 94 are on sites that refuse automated checks; 1 need attention and are rechecked by hand. Sources by type: wikipedia 350, other 205, frus 198, cia 196, official-history 118, congress 74, fbi 53, nara 43, court 41, nsarchive 39, nsa 33, book 2.

Licences and credits

How the site is made

The pages were researched and drafted with the help of AI writing tools, then checked against the sources cited on each page; the cross-checks above are part of that checking. The site is rebuilt every Tuesday: Wikidata dates and FRUS texts are fetched again, the checks are re-run, and the document of the week changes. It sets no cookies and loads nothing from other sites; see privacy.

237 pages · 178,654 words · rebuilt 31 October 2026