Spycraft - Melton [251]
Ultrathin-base (UTB) films were used for the subminiature cameras provided to agents and officers for clandestine photography; the thinner backing (base) allowed a standard film cassette to contain hundreds of exposures and increased the volume of information passed in a dead drop exchange. UTB film could not withstand the rigors of passing through automated processing and developing equipment, however, and required OTS techs to hand roll, spool, and later process the exposed film at remote field photo labs. The combination of UTB film and reliable OTS subminiature cameras produced some of CIA’s best Cold War intelligence.
For further enhancement of operational security for clandestine photography, TSD developed special processing film (SPR) that looked and performed exactly like a standard cassette of 35mm film. However, after the film was exposed, any attempt to develop the images by a person without knowledge of the counterintuitive steps required, would result in a completely black or transparent strip on any part of the film that was SPR treated. The advantage of SPR film was that the agent could photograph secret documents and keep the film in his camera with the knowledge that even if it should be searched and the film processed, the compromising evidence on the roll would not be discovered.
During operational meetings, both the agent and handler would make and retain written notes for reminders, specific instructions, phone numbers, and names. Because the notes were sensitive and potentially compromising, a means to destroy the notes quickly and thoroughly, if necessary, was required. OTS developed a variety of secure note-taking capabilities for protecting such information.
Water-soluble paper was produced by a small CIA-owned paper-making machine and cut and bound into forms required by operations. Visually, the special paper resembled thin copy or tracing paper although it could also be made in a variety of weights. When dropped in water or any other liquid, the paper, together with the ink or pencil markings, dissolved immediately. Splashing water on the soluble paper left an instant gooey remainder that could not be restored to recover the original writing.
The CIA agent Ryszard Kuklinski had a pad of water-soluble paper onto which he copied his exfiltration plan to study and memorize. The original plan was passed to Kuklinski on a microfilm that he kept hidden. However, by copying the plan on water-soluble paper and taping it beneath his kitchen cabinet, it was more readily accessible and Kuklinski felt confident he could destroy the information quickly if necessary by dropping it into a waiting pan of water in the kitchen sink.40
A case officer driving through a city to identify new dead drop and signal sites would need a way to make notes but also required a quick destruction method if stopped by local police or involved in an automobile accident. Water-soluble paper and a handy bottle of water provided the solution. If a problem arose, the water could be doused on the notes, reducing them to a mushy residue.
An alternative was flash paper, a form of nitrocellulose that burned quickly and completely with a bright flame without smoke or ash. Any printing or writing on the paper would be destroyed when ignited. Because agents and case officers often smoked, a lit cigarette could be used to ignite flash paper carrying operational notes, one-time pads, communications plans, and other sensitive material. The effectiveness of instant destruction was offset by the reality that the “flash” of the ignited flash paper would assuredly attract attention, limiting its operational use.
Another option available to case officers was the so-called more-or-less-invisible (MLI) writing instruments developed