The Why Files: Operation Podcast - 35: The Thing Embassy Incident: How Russian children and the KGB trolled America for years

Episode Date: June 26, 2022

FOR SEVEN YEARS, SOVIET AGENTS SPIED ON THE AMERICAN EMBASSY UNDETECTED   In 1945, Soviet children presented the ambassador with a gift to commemorate the friendship of the US and the Soviet Union. A hand-carved wooden replica of the Great Seal of the United States.   The ambassador was so pleased with the carving that he hung it in his office at the official ambassador residence in Moscow: the Spaso house.  But the wooden carving was more than just a decoration.   Now hanging on the wall, just behind the ambassador's desk was a state of the art, high-frequency listening device that was completely undetectable.  The intelligence community called the device "The Thing".    And The Thing was on the office wall of five different ambassadors over 7 years.   This was an electronic listening device that -- didn't require electricity.   Let's find out why. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

You searched for your informant, who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth. While curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. Hey, it's your buddy AJ from the Y-Files. And Hecklefish.

Right, and Hecklefish. We just wanted to tell you that if you want to start a podcast, Spotify makes it easy. It'd have to be easy for humans to understand it. Will you stop that? I'm just saying. Spotify for Podcasters lets you record and edit podcasts from your computer. I don't have a computer. Do you have a phone? Of course

I have a phone. I'm not a savage. Well, with Spotify, you can record podcasts from your phone, too. Spotify makes it easy to distribute your podcast to every platform and you can even earn money. I do need money. What do you need money for? You kidding? I'm getting killed on guppy support payments. These 3X wives are expensive. You don't want to support your kids? What are you need money for? You kidding? I'm getting killed on guppy support payments. These 3X wives are expensive.

You don't want to support your kids? What are you, my wife's lawyer now? Never mind. And I don't know if you noticed, but all Y-Files episodes are video, too. And there's a ton of other features, but you... But we can't be here all day. Will you settle down? I need you to hurry up with this stupid commercial.

I got a packed calendar today. I'm sorry about him. Anyway, check out Spotify for Podcasters. It's free, no catch, and a packed calendar today. I'm sorry about him. Anyway, check out Spotify for podcasters. It's free, no catch, and you could start today. Are we done? We're done, but you need to check your attitude. Excuse me, but I don't have all day to sit here and talk about Spotify. This would go a lot faster if you would just let me get through it. After six long years of fighting, the Allies finally defeated the German war machine in 1945. In July of that year, the leaders of the Allies, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin,

met at the Potsdam Conference to decide what would become of Germany and how to divide the spoils of war. Now, publicly, the Allied leaders were friendly and respectful, but privately, it was a different story. When the cameras were off, there was anger, mistrust, and hours of arguing. Stalin felt that Churchill was weak and deceitful. And Roosevelt threw a fit when he heard Stalin's demands for war reparations. But even though the Soviet Union and the United States were allies, they weren't friends. The Potsdam Conference marked the end of the last war. But it was the beginning of a new one. On August 4th, 1945, just a few days

after Potsdam, the United States ambassador, William Avril Harriman, received a gift from a group of Soviet children who belonged to the Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization. The Vlad-a-what? They were like Russian boy scouts and girl scouts, but more patriotic. I'm Mikheyeva Ira. I'm Gerasim Vadim. I'm Gorskaya Natalya. I'm in the ranks of the All-Union Pioneer Organization

named after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Young pioneers, be ready to fight for the cause of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Be ready! Whoa. Yeah. Something tells me these kids don't sell cookies. Nope.

Intense. The kids presented the ambassador with an impressive gift to commemorate the friendship of the U.S. and the Soviet Union. A hand-carved wooden replica of the Great Seal of the United States. The ambassador was so pleased with the carving that he hung it in his office at the official ambassador residence in Moscow, the Spazzo House. What Harriman didn't realize is that the wooden carving was more than just a decoration. Now hanging on the wall, just behind the ambassador's desk, was a state- art high frequency listening device that was completely undetectable. Ambassador Harriman held private meetings with military, diplomatic and intelligence officials there.

He had top secret conversations with generals, the secretary of state and the president and the Russians. They could hear every word. Oh, boy. How long before they found this bug? Seven years. Oh, boy. How long before they found this bug? Seven years. Oh, for crying out loud. Yep. The intelligence community called the device the Thing. You've got to be f***ing kidding.

And the Thing was on the office wall of five different ambassadors over seven years. How did they finally find it? Well, by accident, actually. And that's what makes the Thing so interesting and so effective. This was an electronic listening device that didn't require electricity. Diplomats serving at the American embassy in Moscow were very concerned about Soviet spying. All staff, from the cooks to the cleaners, were background checked. They were constantly sweeping for bugs.

And even people visiting the embassy were given cards on arrival that warned them that they should assume all rooms and even outdoor spaces were being monitored. Even with all these security measures in place, the Soviet secret police were somehow able to listen to the American ambassador's private conversations for years, completely undetected. The thing was created by Leon Theremin, a Russian inventor most famous for developing one of the world's first electronic musical instruments, which he called the Theremin. Name checks out. It's all about branding. I don't think I've ever heard of a Theremin.

Oh, you have. Okay, I know that one. Bring back David Tennant. Sorry, sorry, I get emotional about Doctor Who. I understand. In the 1920s, Thurman was touring the world showing off his invention. He even performed with the New York Philharmonic and at Carnegie Hall. Now, eventually, he set up a lab in New York

and developed one of the first metal detectors for Alcatraz Prison. He also created an electronic burglar alarm and was the first person to demonstrate interlaced video. Now, this was advanced stuff for the 1920s. Theremin was churning out inventions, working with Thomas Edison and really making a name for himself. But in 1938, he suddenly disappeared. When Leon Theremin suddenly and mysteriously disappeared from New York in 1938, it was reported that he was executed. But eyewitnesses said that they saw him talking to several tough-talking Russians who encouraged him to return to the Soviet Union.

Did he go back? Well, the other option was a firing squad. He went back. He did. In Russia, Theremin was put in a Siberian gulag and given a choice. He could work a gold mine, breaking big rocks into smaller ones. Or he could work at a sh, breaking big rocks into smaller ones, or he could work at a shurashka, which is a secret lab for detained scientists and engineers.

He chose the lab? He did. At the secret lab, Thurman was tasked with developing new surveillance technology to bug the U.S. Embassy and the Spazzo house. His first success was an infrared microphone called a boron eavesdropping device, which inspired the modern laser microphone. And it worked by emitting a low power IR beam to detect vibrations on glass windows. Now, the boron system worked well, but it required good line of sight, which the Russians didn't have at the Spaso house in Moscow. They needed to get something inside. So Thurman invented the thing, the first resonant cavity microphone. The thing was light, hollow, and it was made of wood so it would vibrate when sound passed into it. And this is a lot like how a guitar body generates sound when strings vibrate.

But the thing was shaped so that sound wouldn't amplify outwards like a guitar, but instead sound waves were focused on an interior membrane that acted as a microphone. And the microphone was attached to a small antenna, which could broadcast radio waves. But radios need power to broadcast, and that's why the thing is so unique. It didn't have its own power source and wasn't connected with wires. Instead, it was activated externally. The NSA calls this technique illuminating a device. And when the Russians knew an important meeting was happening at the embassy, they would park

an unmarked van somewhere close by. And then using a strong radio transmitter, agents could activate the thing's antenna remotely and listen to conversations at will. Once the thing was no longer illuminated, it was completely inert. And this was genius, cutting edge and highly effective. And that's why it operated for years undetected until. In 1951, a full six years after the thing was installed in the American embassy in Moscow, a British Army radio operator was randomly scanning frequencies coming from the Moscow airport. And suddenly he heard what sounded like an American conversation.

Now, as he tuned the signal, he realized he recognized one of the voices as the British air attache. Now, completely by accident, he had tuned into the KGB frequency. Now, he alerted the embassy who conducted a full bug sweep, but they found nothing. Then about a year later, another operative was scanning Soviet military radio traffic when he picked up a conversation in English that seemed to be coming from the Spaso house. The new ambassador, George Kennan, called in a special anti-espionage unit to perform a sweep, but this time they focused on radio traffic. So, Kennan went to his office and pretended to dictate an important message to his secretary. The American radio tech switched on their equipment and picked up the signal almost immediately.

And it was coming from something very close by. It's coming from inside the house. Exactly. A few minutes later, they triangulated the signal and found the source hanging right there on the wall. It was the thing. So you remember my name now, do you? During those seven years, the thing gathered top secret information from some very high level guests, including General Eisenhower, White House staff, and a dozen congressmen. A member of the Soviet team that monitored the Spaso house later said, the thing allowed the KGB to get specific and very important information, which gave us certain advantages in the prediction and performances of world politics in the difficult period of the Cold War. That night, a radio technician slept with the thing under his pillow just in case the KGB tried to retrieve it. The next day, it was sent to Washington to be studied. And what did the Russians say about this? Oh, nothing. The Americans and the British

didn't say a word for years. No? What did they do with it? They reverse engineered it to use on the Soviets. Yeah, I saw that coming. Whatever information the thing provided to the Russians, it eventually came back to bite them. In May 1960, an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over Soviet airspace. A few weeks later, at a U.N. National Security Council meeting, the Soviets accused the United States of spying and drafted a resolution that would have the U.N. officially condemn the U.S., called the violation of Soviet airspace an aggressive act, and forced American flights to stop. So for three days, the Soviets presented arguments attacking the U.S. The United States was accused of warmongering, being an untrustworthy nation, and threatening world peace. The Soviets argued that countries who spied on each other should

be condemned, and espionage and surveillance are considered acts of aggression. Right, right, right, right. The Americans quietly took the punishment. Then on day four, when it was finally time for the U.S. to present its rebuttal, it simply brought out the thing. Ambassador Large counters repeated denials of Soviet spy activities with a concrete and dramatic example. He tells how the Soviet planted a listening device in America's Moscow embassy, concealed inside a wooden carving of the Great Seal, presented as a gift by the Russians. The thing was top secret for almost 10 years, but now the entire world was shown. Spying goes both ways. Don't open it up. And here is the clandestine listening device.

You can see the antenna in the area, and it was right under the beak. The UN voted against the Soviet Resolution 702. And now, thanks to a wooden carving delivered by children as a gift of peace and friendship, the Cold War was in full swing, and nuclear war seemed more likely than ever. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. My name is AJ. That's Hecklefish. a swing, and nuclear war seemed more likely than ever. are appreciated.