Eye On CameraWare -- community

"Please don't tell me that, in all my trips to Washington DC, I missed the Spy Museum! "
"Would you believe they just opened it in July?"
"I asked you not to tell me that! I missed it by--that much."
"Sorry about that, chief. The old 'Open the Spy Museum' trick!"

Those of you old enough to remember the 1960's sitcom "Get Smart" might recall those silly lines well. Others may associate the spy game with James Bond, the suave secret agent, 007. Almost all movies and television series about the CIA or secret service are chock full of nifty gadgets, subversive plots, and agents who are masters of disguise. Now there is a museum that displays the real-life world of CIA agents.
In July of 2002, the Spy Museum opened its doors to reveal its secrets to the public. But this is no ordinary museum. When a visitor enters, they are assigned a new name, age, birthplace, etc. As the tourist wanders the museum, they are confronted by digital "Border Guards" at interactive stations, who interrogate visitors on what they have learned, places they have been--all the time trying to trip them up. If that isn't impressive enough, visitors are encouraged to pick up a pair of headphones and listen in on other visitors' conversations, picked up from microphones hidden all around the museum. Yes, there are disclaimers warning visitors that their conversations are monitored. But then again, the Spy Museum is probably not a good place to hold your top secret meetings anyway.
Throughout the museum, information about famous spies lurks around every corner. There is everything from Gary Powers (the U2 spy plane pilot who was shot down over Russian territory in 1960) to Austin Powers (International Man of Mystery). The museum covers the art of espionage through history, exhibiting Sun Tzu's Art of War, written 2,400 years ago, and Robert Hanssen, our most recent spy-caught-in-the-act.
One way spies avoid getting caught is to change the way they look. The art of concealing one's identity is uncovered in the museum. One museum board member is Jonna Mendez, a former chief of disguise with the CIA. Other board bigwigs include Oleg Danilovich Kalugin, a retired Major General in the Soviet KGB, and Christopher Andrew, one of the world's most foremost experts at information gathering.
Some of the most famous--and not-so-famous--tools of espionage are collected in the museum. There is a replica of James Bond's Astin Martin, complete with tire shredder for those 007 fans. Real gadgets are on display too, like a gun hidden inside a lipstick case, tiny cameras hidden in lapels or in walls. "Get Smart" fans will enjoy seeing a REAL shoe phone. They really did make one! Also on display are machines to make secret codes, machines to break secret codes, and surveillance equipment to keep track of those making and breaking codes in secret. Sadly, there is no Cone of Silence.
So the next time you are in Washington DC, you may want to take a trip to the Spy Museum. Just don't tell anyone.