SPY: The Secret World of Espionage, offers visitors the first-ever public exhibition of treasures from the collections of the CIA, the FBI, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and H. Keith Melton, the renowned author, historian, and international authority on spy technology. Visitors will see real gadgets and real artifacts from spies and spy catchers. They will observe real spy technologies, and learn the real tools-of-trade, some recently declassified.
It was the last day of school and we got invited to preview a Spy exhibit. My son was thrilled. My parents were in town as well to celebrate graduation, so they joined us on our Spy adventure.
Money in a rat? This was something my son loved seeing at the exhibit. Spies hiding money to pay operatives in the field by placing money in a rat carcass, then leaving Tabasco sauce around it so no other animals would come by until the spy came and got their payment.
Other “drops” could have been made in bricks, you, the unsuspecting public, would never know!
My son loved viewing the various exhibits, I must say, as a 9 year old boy, he was attracted to the things such as above, money stuffed in rats, etc.
Towards the end of the visit there is a laser maze. We have all seen these on shows like Mission Impossible. The laser sensors are very delicate and can easily be tripped to reveal the spy’s whereabouts. The kids, and some of the adults, went into this maze and where surprised to see how much more difficult this is in real life, it was a hoot to watch some folks crawling on the floor to avoid detection!
My parents also enjoyed the exhibit. They were both born in the 1930’s, so there was a lot of relevance for them re the artifacts – a larger portion of the history that they lived through was represented here. We had to pull my mom out at the end, she was admiring every part of the exhibition.
“In addition to the fascinating artifacts, SPY will allow visitors the unique opportunity to experience first-hand the technologies and tools utilized by intelligence agencies across the globe. Visitors will see and hear from real spies telling their personal stories, including from Oleg Kalugin, the former head of KGB Counterintelligence in Washington.”
I enjoyed talking to our guide and finding out 5 German spys landed off of Long Island during WW2, with instructions to harm America. If not for the guilt feelings of one of the American raised men, we might be living in quite different circumstances today! This was very intriguing to me because I grew up thinking of America as being far removed from the actual war in the 1940’s. Truth be told, while visiting a naval base at the Jersey Shore, we were told other spies had come across the Atlantic as well.
And do you know what countries do not spy on each other? If I tell you, your life may be in danger! It is common knowledge that Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States share information gathered from around the word and do not spy on each other. Very interesting…..
SPY opened on May 18, 2012 at Discovery Times Square, located at 226 West 44th Street. The interactive exhibition is open Sunday – Thursday, from 10am – 8pm, and Friday – Saturday, from 10am – 9pm, with the last allowed entry 45 minutes prior to closing each night. Stop buy during your visit, it will hold the interest of all your family! For more information visit the website here.
Disclosure: We received free admission into the exhibit. All opinions are always 100% our own and honest.
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