ARTICLE OVERVIEW

The called it the "thing"

This was a gift from the Russians to the American embassy, and they accepted this nice trojan horse. They liked it so much, they hung it on the wall. However it was a spy transmitter, but inside is nothing which looks like electronics. But there is! Inside is only metal bar, which in fact seemed to hold the construction together. This bar however is an antenna also, because also it is isolated by the wood. So if a radio frequency was beamed on it from a distance, it would resonate, and its electrical Q-factor is very high, because nothing is connected to it. Then, there was a membrane near by, which acted as microphone, to modulate the transmitted frequency. And there you have, an FM spy transmitter. But there is nothing inside which looks like microphone or a transmitter, and nothing "electric" of any kind. Only a metal bar and small metal plate, obviously holding together.

This Trojan horse was in action for many years!

At one day it was discovered by a radio amateur, but could not be find the source it. He noted there were voices at an unexpected frequency, and it were talks from the embassy. So he alerted the officials.

However the device was impossible to find. This is because the Russians would operate from their spy car, parked in front of the embassy. In that car was the beam transmitter. So they could see (and hear) if there unuseual action going on, and stop transmitting. And then the spy bug becomes only a dead piece of wood, on the wall.

Later it was discovered, and "the thing" is now in a spy museum.

This is totally off topic, but have a look! An abandoned B29 airplane wreck from WW2 was frozen in time, after en emergency landing on the North Pole in 1947. A group of enthusiasts spend several YEARS to restore it into flying condition. In 1995, they flew in four original overhauled engines in, new propellers, and 1000's of other repairs it needed. One difficulty was, the location at the North Pole could only be used fore a few months during in the pole summer. After that, everything freezes again, and they had to leave until the next summer came. So total working time was just months. Another difficulty was, in WW2 the USA crew smashed all technical systems with an axe, to prevent the Russians from re-using the plane. But they repaired all of that! Imagine this incredible piece of restoration work, done at the North Pole. When you are short of some tools, you need to find a way to solve it. Also the fuel had to be flown in.... to the North Pole. And they did! Which is to me the craziest job I have ever seen. They got the engines running, many systems were still shut down, but all systems required for flying were working. For radio and navigation they used external emergency devices. They had it all fueled up, and were able to taxi the airplane through very deep snow, to the runway, on it's own engine power. Which was a risky part, because it got off the runway during the bad landing. But that worked. Then, when it was ready to take off, something went wrong which can make you sick. They had powered the electric systems by a normal electricity generator. Just of the kind everybody uses in the field. It was standing loose on the floor, in the cockpit, with some improvised hoses to a loose petrol tank, simply attached there. The generator was tied improperly, and during the prepartions for take off, it fell over. That leaked the fuel out, and it caused fire. With the supply of petrol inside the cockpit, the fire spread rapidly, destructing the airplane this time completely. There is a wikipedia page about this, and also a complete movie on youtube. More here