Former CIA Chief of Disguise Breaks Down Cold War Spy Cameras | WIRED

[@ratatataraxia]

Jonna Mendez needs her own channel, like yesterday.

[@individualwoman844]

Agreed

[@zip91187]

Her lectures are quite enjoyable. If ya don't already follow the International Spy Museum channel, ya might wanna check it out.

[@lunalee5843]

Yes!

[@dennisqin3261]

She already has one, if you can find out what her disguise is.

[@lytlechamberlain761]

@@dennisqin3261 She's been Philip Defranco this whole time.

[@Dazen101]

Knowing me, I would lose the microdot trying to put it on the lens

[@informal_variant]

Somehow I just know I'd end up swallowing at least 1 microdot.

[@gabrielvanderschmidt2301]

@@informal_variant "Well, Agent... you know were you need to look for your microdot now..."

[@GorochuVA]

@@gabrielvanderschmidt2301 **“The hub” intro plays** **confused screaming**

[@christianlane1047]

When u drop the weed nug

[@yoarushi306]

Johnny english would do that

[@brandonk1097]

With how old this technology is, I can’t imagine what they’re using today. People say “birds aren’t real” I wonder how many really aren’t.

[@tigerguy760]

.... birds are real. *or are they?*

[@AnimeFan-wd5pq]

@@tigerguy760 *Vsauce music starts playing*

[@opayke980]

@@AnimeFan-wd5pq *Hey Vsauce, Micheal here*

[@nirvdamage]

hide, quick!! the CIA, ICE, FBI, and THE SECRET SERVICE are after you. you figured their birds out

[@ilovehelldivers5317]

feels like y'all think birds are real, *foolishness*

[@seansengpiel8156]

It’s scary that they had that tech that long ago imagine what they have now

[@tigerguy760]

now they have quantum dots and real fake birds.

[@fredrikbermhed2529]

@@tigerguy760 r/birdsarentreal

[@knox7095]

Yea now we all have cameras, microphone, and gps on our person.

[@balazsbelavari7556]

Christopher Knox yes that scary, like click on a link and you can be monitored by your phone, the rest of your life, or rather your phone’s ...You know this video you clicked on was a link?

[@aaronpedrajas3147]

Its better to not know

[@myroslavasyrotenko4301]

That microdot is literally incredible! Can’t believe something like that existed at those times

[@jackdurden466]

I was blown away, and then some when she said it was waterproof. Or more specifically, put the stamp in some water, and it will come off. I’d assume that would include the microdot.

[@coondogg729]

incredible!!! I've never herd of that before. amazing

[@caseylocke4474]

No, no. It ENTERED at those times! ;)

[@gensimp1760]

@@caseylocke4474 maybe they meant existed?

[@gensimp1760]

exist*

[@aprilchiginsky7560]

This woman is so incredibly inspiring and such a joy to listen to her speak. Her stories are absolutely fascinating.

[@xonox_868]

you can only imagine what she couldn't tell or show us

[@twddersharkmarine7774]

Oh its 666 likes, and it is indeed sounds nice to hear

[@aprilchiginsky7560]

@@twddersharkmarine7774 Oh goodness, 666 my favorite number.

[@alancook1703]

Shell be a great audiobook reader for this stuff.

[@galaxy21a86]

What about 333 only Half evil

[@vansikapandey3718]

Somewhere an old Russian army guard "of course it was the f*cking pigeon."

[@juanmanuelpenaloza9264]

Russian guard: HA HA!! Look at pigeon with camera! It's dressed like news reporter for Pravda!

[@rize9406]

stolen

[@SwiatoslavaSalazar]

dude I'm russian and though I hadnt excisted during the Cold war I feel... betrayed and frightened heh

[@leiajiang7877]

@Alex Daniel yeah everyone knows everything

[@iliasKapa]

Hahaha I was thinking exactly the same when I saw the photo!

[@kingarthurkingofthebritons6377]

I wonder how many agents dropped the dot and spent hours looking for it on the floor

[@zanik8326]

Almost none because they are well trained

[@midorana2902]

@@zanik8326 lol I think that might’ve happened anyway

[@zanik8326]

@@midorana2902 thats why I said almost none

[@kishascape]

@@zanik8326 quite a lot since that doesn’t prevent anything considering it’s a tiny easily blown piece of paper and it’s not a big deal since you can just pick it back up.

[@potassium3948]

@@zanik8326 well trained police officers still miss almost 70% of the time so 🤷‍♂️

[@davidlambert6171]

I need that microdot technology for my final exams!

[@williamsinclair3574]

so truuuue

[@Ali-mv3jc]

Just whip out a lens and a big of cardboard on the middle of the exam. If only

[@hsiang7]

@@Willam_J They almost certainly use contact lenses now. It's probably a contact lens with a small slot where the pupil would be that you can place the dot into.

[@KpopLover1013]

@@hsiang7 probably what (super important) public speakers can use when they have hr long presentations to give and whatnot

[@kishascape]

@@Ali-mv3jc these days you can just use a pocket microscope more discretely. Though personally I would just the surveillance receiver and set up a transmitter in my room to play over the answers on a loop, which I’ve done before with a portable police scanner and invisible ear piece.

[@hindsightpov4218]

This lady is always a lot of fun. Keep bringing her back, please.

[@altalt3367]

Shes The Female James Bond, So Cool How Smart these tactics are

[@fraz727]

@@altalt3367 No, she's Joanna Mendez. Maybe you meant James Bond is the male Joanna Mendez

[@derlangsame7813]

@@altalt3367 She's the Q. Not Bond

[@chrisu.6649]

Fun Fact: Jonna's in disguise the entire time she shoots these.

[@carminemartino1197]

Very original and funny joke.

[@KingMikeUK]

@@carminemartino1197 Is it a joke tho?

[@MindOfFoolio]

Shhht. Don't tell anyone, but her real name is Jesus Mendez (a very bad hombre).

[@A-G-A-G]

She’s actually the chameleonic actor Daniel Day Lewis

[@sarshift2]

She was the pigeon.

[@mickeyomania8807]

THEY ACTUALLY USED PIGEONS?!?!

[@chickensoup1807]

birds aren’t real...they’re just spies for the government

[@RealZynexx]

@@chickensoup1807 apparently

[@4teenjelo128]

Chicken Soup I raise over 500+pigeons

[@afterlifexzero1724]

@@4teenjelo128 nice, now you have over 500 spy cameras at your disposal!

[@aaronpedrajas3147]

Yeah my poses in public was worth it

I'm amazed by the microdot

[@boarbot7829]

Same. I feel like it could be easily reproduced these days and would love to see it available, for people to make and buy...

[@ThePLAsticBoxxx]

@@boarbot7829 i believe a similar concept is being used in rings that say "i love you" in hundreds of different languages. I seen ads for it before

[@boarbot7829]

@@ThePLAsticBoxxx I know, but those are with shining light right?

[@NoNo-rj2hl]

Just watch as they make a camera the size of a micro millimeter Forget Microdot, Welcome Micron

[@callummclachlan4771]

@@NoNo-rj2hl Considering how small phone camera sensors are. I have no doubt there are smaller ones that provide DSLR (or better) quality photos. Yeah. A high megapixel phone camera isn't as detailed as a lower megapixel dedicated camera. Excluding the now extinct point and shoots.

[@sheepdawwg]

She needs a movie where it’s starts as her speaking as an older woman then transitioning in to a flash back of the whole movie of her life. Then the movie end by her closing a book and smiling fading in to the dark

[@soccerplayer3412]

Yes, I agree!

[@Zxvc2]

That's so cliche that Netflix will love it

[@dkroll92]

they'd have to include her husband Tony... they already made one of his books into a Best Picture winner, Argo. He already has a full autobiography that could be adapted.

[@franciscoguinledebarros4429]

So... Titanic but spy R&D

[@gopeking6122]

No she does not

[@LurkerPatrol5]

I love Jonna so much. She has such an endearing voice that makes you feel like you're listening to grandma's stories, but she's also a tough ex-CIA member. Love love love

[@EbonyPope]

Maybe the coolest grandma out there. :D

[@TheRCish]

there is no such thing as an ex-CIA agent

[@fynn4183]

Ikr

[@c1ph9r]

So, this is how the FBI/CIA pigeons meme started

[@anmolhaze]

This scares me I mean the things we see here was done in the 60s and just imagine what they're capable or rn

[@scjvz04d5]

@@DavidRobinson-ou8fh only my mother would know because mothers just know these things I guess

[@timtim6373]

@@DavidRobinson-ou8fh you mean I wouldn’t even know?

[@budalabudo2250]

We give everything away on our social media anyways.

[@callummclachlan4771]

60s through to the 80s.

[@Dr_Duck69]

We not going to talk about whos taking the photos of them taking photos?

[@TaurusWitch29]

Pigeons 🐦🐦🐦😂😂

[@madame_milky]

that microdot method is absolutely insane

[@caseylocke4474]

The Microdot...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! We actually had that kind of technology back then?! How in the world did they have technology advanced enough at that time to print distinct letters that didn't bleed together in such a tiny space??? I find this absolutely incredible! Can you even imagine what we have these days that won't be revealed for another 50 years or whatever?

[@snakeeye209]

calm redditor

[@beeble2003]

It's not printed. Essentially, you photograph the document and then project the image backwards through a microscope: you project the image through the eyepiece and that exposes film where the microscope slide would be.

[@RodrigoCh]

@@beeble2003 thanks! So basically physics

[@jantelopez5626]

yeah but it is depressing that we haven't been able to use all this technology to prevent mad people with daddy issues starting wars and blowing places up.. i think we need more weapon disabling innovations

[@rageagainstthebath]

@@RodrigoCh That's the same technology electronic chips were made since the 60s. Those nanometer transistor sizes (well, micrometer back then) are achieved the same way. I bet they could put even more text in there, however reading lens would have to be bigger and more sophisticated.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

We have our own pigeons too, I use them to go get KFC in Seoul since we don't have it here

[@aalam5747]

I'm surprised you didn't eat them all!

[@TheGreg6466]

That's an amazing story Supreme leader, KZbin is jealous which is why you only have 40 thumbs up, they deleted the other 3 million thumbs up. We're not worthy

[@jackdurden466]

Dude, let’s be real. A single pigeon couldn’t carry the amount of KFC you’d require. For that you would need a 747. Maybe disguised as a pigeon?

[@Artyomthewalrus]

@@jackdurden466 Don't be silly, the pigeons only need to be strong enough to bring back enough batter to coat itself. Pigeons are so loyal to supreme leader that they will pluck themselves, roll in the batter they stole, and cook themselves fresh for glorious leader.

[@puffin9709]

"The pigeons must have looked absolutely innocent." Camera zooms in on the photo pigeon's beady eyes and shakes while suspenseful music plays in the background. Me: Oh, yeah. Totally innocent, I'm sure.

[@josephtang8034]

Imagine taking a photo in a meeting while undercover and all of a sudden the flash goes off because you forgot to turn it off... 🔪😵

[@iggywaffle2186]

there would be no flash because they were made to be unseen or heard.

[@callummclachlan4771]

"It was indoor lightning."

[@stahze]

“Photo Operations Officer” So... a POO?

That microdot is some wizard magic.

[@AhhhhMyLeg]

Remember a few years ago when there were memes going around about pigeons being cameras?! Welp, it’s not a conspiracy anymore.

[@tttITA10]

Good god this series with Jonna is AMAZING. Also... that microdot stuff. I want to see one of those!

[@rswingman]

I've sold the same homing pigeon 15 times.

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

rswingman My schizophrenic friend tells me he keeps running into the same spy pigeons.

[@felixporter8335]

@@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive are you sure the schizophrenia isn't just a cover?

[@stargazer2504]

What really surprised me is how, way back then, they could get photos in focus. Like, today if you take a "spy" photo with your Iphone and it's not still, the pic will come out blurry enough not to be able to read documents. These photos are sharp and centered. If you were to take that body cam and take a photo, you'd have to look a little awkward standing completely still at a weird angle taking the photo.....

[@beeble2003]

It's because of exposure time. The iPhone will say "it's dark here" and use a slow shutter speed, which means that any motion will blur the photograph. The cameras these guys were using had a fixed shutter speed, so they'd take dark photographs if it was dark, and this would be corrected in development.

[@A-G-A-G]

She exudes badassery

[@caseylocke4474]

We asked for more of Jonna and you supplied. KEEP THEM COMING! We want even more! :) :) Thank you so much! This woman is AMAZING. She'd be making big bucks if she had her own channel.

[@harveysanchez6993]

The microdot actually surprised me beyond belief.

[@ng-jg6cm]

imagine she was like “theres many ways to conceal those cameras- actually im wearing one right now”

[@loserlivvy]

We need a Jonna Mendez video weekly. Give the people what they want!

[@Steven-xd1xz]

In his old age she's still professional on telling a story, I can't just imagine on how skilled she is in her prime.

[@spartygirl121]

Old age? How old do you think she is?

[@hmngghh]

@@spartygirl121 she's 77

[@BeantownMrs]

When a pigeon can take a better photo than me.

[@kingsinbad]

God, I love these videos with her.

[@helpimlost84]

Just wish she would have explained how they got the info onto the microdot.. otherwise another amazing segment

[@beeble2003]

You can look it up on Wikipedia. But, basically, you take a photograph of the document, and then project the negative backwards through a microscope onto a second piece of film. A large image at the eyepiece corresponds to a tiny image where the slide would be.

[@JoseLuisRodriguez-vh8uy]

The guy who zoomed in the "innocent pigeon"

[@fierceANM]

I think she just blew my mind with the microdot because HOW

[@beeble2003]

Roughly speaking, you photograph the document, and then project the negative backwards through a microscope onto another piece of film. The large image at the eyepiece corresponds to a tiny image where the slide would be.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Told ya pigeons are spy cameras

[@MicahPotts]

Thumbs up for this BOSS of an amazing woman.

[@xifel72]

They should have used African swallows to carry the camera. They could have used two of them, with a string between them. Then they could carry a camera that weight as much as a coconut

[@urban_gse_]

But in Russia, African Swallows would stick out like sore thumb.

[@user-dq9cn1cq9q]

These videos are some of the most interesting on whole KZbin!! Please do more! Absolutely love them!!

[@trick7024]

Does anybody else find it funny that pigeons were used to spy? xD Edit: yall are idiots I said it as a joke since pigeons are considered to be the dumbest bird by most peoples standards

[@ziangli4836]

They where used all the way back during the 17th century to send secret messages so no

[@georgplaz]

mildly

[@Belioyt]

No, not funny at all, ingenious actually

[@Himmyjewett]

You failed history

[@joybreegaming8781]

Pidgeons are incredibly intelligent animals with an amazing sense of direction

[@bruh03162]

i’m a simple person, i see jonna, i click

[@ghazghkullthraka9714]

Anything: exists CIA: I can put a camera in that

[@470jr]

Fun fact: Everyone is "first" until they reload the page🤣

[@jadelhaddad1451]

first is very relative, like i am the first reply to this comment but that's not as cool

[@scootersplace2524]

Fun fact: no one asked

[@scootersplace2524]

Another fun fact: stolen comment

[@jonnybravo9003]

Bot

[@MortyMortyMorty]

I am not first, you lying bi

[@rayunmahbub]

I thought microdots were just Mission Impossible jargon

[@beeble2003]

No, they're a real thing, invented in the 1800s and refined in the 1920s.

[@MindOfFoolio]

*"You can put a camera anywhere"* Little known fact: Some had to infiltrate NASA and were instructed to put a camera in Uranus.

[@dqualen]

🥁

[@watermelonwishes4193]

*budumpbump*

[@kevink1575]

BOOOOO

[@jackdurden466]

Did anyone hear the guys statement about a week ago in Unsolved Mysteries? And I quote: “Scientists confirm that Uranus smells like garbage” endquote. I have rarely if ever laughed so hard...

[@Cian66]

Ok, how tf did they have pen cameras with amazing images back in the cold war yet today's crime security footage still looks like 144p

[@sparkyonroxy77]

These CIA folks are amazing story tellers. Kinda makes you wonder, huh....

[@Gazmus]

"They will always come back" How could you forget British world war hero Speckled Jim? :(

[@phototelic]

The Tessina Camera was also commonly used by the Stasi. It was available in different versions. Noiseless without a spring motor, noise reduced with nylon gears etc....

[@raghunathsinghrajpurohith4894]

Still am the only one thinking that what Is Their present advancement camera in a hair 😂

[@Pankkeli]

I bet that’s not even her real face

[@Bacopa68]

If you saw her earlier videos I can understand how you could doubt that. Pretty sure that's not her real hair and the glasses have always been fake. She doesn't dress like that in real life.

[@dkroll92]

there's a picture of her taking off a mask while briefing Bush Sr in the Oval Office. Her mask had black hair, she looked kind of like a fair skinned Latina or maybe Italian. The photo quality isn't the best but it looks effective

[@mattmayo3539]

“It was fabulous” her story telling is world class.

[@pigeon1178]

See I knew the birds worked for the bourgeoisie

[@v12shane]

I adore this woman's insights. I went to the spy museum when I was a kid. I wish I appreciated it more back then

[@lollyholly3005]

I could honesty listen to this woman talk about being a spy for hours, can we get an hour long special so i can listen while i go to sleep???

[@BabyK18316]

I love when videos with Jonna get uploaded she’s a delight to listen to

[@t0xcn253]

Agreed, she brings levity to some rather dark subject matter. Equal parts adorable gran and spycraft expert.

[@squidnuggets01squidy64]

I agree!!

[@mariacargille1396]

I was really hoping she was going to say that the matchbox camera had room in it for a few real matches so as to avoid awkward situations: "Oh, I see you've got a matchbox there, can you spare one?" "No, I'm sorry. I'm- uh, I'm all out. I just remembered." * tucks camera back into pocket * That's okay, I can iterate on the idea in a piece of writing sometime, and make it so. :)

[@AmericanArgonaut]

This lady could be anyone’s neighbor.

[@jeanharper9683]

I'd go to her house for cookies and cyanide.

[@Celisar1]

Whenever people talk derogatorily or disrespectfully about old people I think of someone as impressive as this woman. We keep forgetting that people stay great, impressive and good or despicable and bad no matter age. Also we keep forgetting how invaluable solid life experience is.

[@tfi6279]

Anyone see the movie Argo? Jonna is the real Tony Mendez’s wife.

[@Bacopa68]

Yep, not sure she was involved in that. She hasn't said and I think they became involved later. BTW, I remember the whole "Thank You Canada" thing when I was a kid. I also remember why Carter said his only regret was "two more helicopters". I really think a successful Eagle Claw would have changed things.

[@tfi6279]

She says it in another video she does. I became curious when I saw her last name.

[@lunalee5843]

She is, was, his wife (RIP Tony Mendez)

[@dkroll92]

@@Bacopa68 correct, she didn't marry him until after they both retired. Tony was married to another woman who passed away after a few years after Argo went down

[@Bacopa68]

@@dkroll92 Thanks for letting me know. It's good for spies to marry spies I suppose. Seemed to end weirdly for the Alice Sheldon/Huntington Sheldon marriage of two former CIA employees. Ended with Alice killing her husband and then herself in a kind of self-euthanasia pact. You might better know Alice Sheldon by her science fiction pen-name, James Tiptree Jr. "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" is her most widely published story and also very much her best.

[@SketchyTigers]

Jonna needs some sort of documentary or docu series. Everything she talks about is so fascinating!

[@gaveintothedarkness]

We need more of her stories, they are simply amazing.

[@andyblakeley4575]

im curious about how much of this info she is able to talk about because they don't use it anymore or to get people to believe they don't use it anymore.

[@alduinbb]

I TOLD YOU GUYS THAT PIGEONS ARE ROBOTS IN DISGUISE!!

[@Fyreflier]

Jonna Mendez is amazing and I love her. The stories she can tell are so interesting that it makes me want to hear the ones she _can't_ tell

[@osamabatsh2984]

this feels illegal just for me to know about it

[@soup5344]

POV: its 3 am but you found something to watch before you resort to road rage videos

[@samweII]

Somewhere an old Russian agent is watching this and crying out: "THE PIGEON! OF COURSE IT WAS THE PIGEON!"

[@julievanderleest]

Seriously I wish Jonna had more videos. Yet I understand that there’s probably far too much classified information that she could never share with anyone, especially KZbin. I just love learning about this stuff and my childhood dream was to join the CIA or FBI.

[@NearyDead]

Imagine finding out a tiny dot could be your doom

[@HyperionStudiosDE]

lol at everybody in the comments wondering what kind of technology the alphabet soup has now. i mean surely it's impressive but it can't beat the device that almost every human has on him 24/7, namely the smartphone. smartphones must be the biggest gift to intelligence agencies in human history.

[@WekBenHelix]

This video was super well-edited. Good stuff.

[@mats7492]

They had that 50-60 years ago.. imagine what they have NOW

[@RalfStephan]

WW2 to be exact so 80 years

[@oikakeakabei2982]

Augustin Jean Fresnel was a frensh physicist. The s is silent: fʀɛˈnɛl

[@rivalpiper]

He revolutionized lighthouses with the Fresnel lens!

[@sct_spaaz330]

The most impressive part of this is that these are OLD tactics.

[@DTLamia]

CIA to the Pigeons after building ones with Cameras inside them: I don't wanna play with you anymore

[@Zoom_1012]

What a fascinating woman. I could listen to her speak for hours. 🌴☀️🌴

[@rayberczik7251]

I could listen to her all day. I can only imagine what kind of stories she could tell, the ones not classified. Very intelligent and interesting woman. I bet she was a blast at Halloween lol

[@anthonysandoval2895]

In the 1970's my Grandmother had a small Cross on a chain, no bigger than an inch or so, it had a tiny jewel in the center and if you held the cross up to a light and looked through the tiny jewel you could read the text of the Lords prayer. Now I know it was a microdot and fresnel lens.

[@maddyaurora]

imagine what kind of technology they have now, today fricking amazing

[@Megamare1]

This woman could make MacGyver blush like a 14 year old school girl 🤦🏼‍♀️😆

[@BlenderStudy]

Amazing update..!! Best 8 minutes spent this month..!! :)

[@KingKong11730]

Fun fact: Jonna Mendez is actually a young man named Johnathan Mathews in an old lady disguise.

[@user-sn5jr1ji9h]

I'm obsessed with this series and Mrs. Mendez. More, please!

[@ericaschannel2599]

It’s crazy to me that at those times these things even existed so before we people us normal folk even knew of technology they were using it absolutely incredible! What’s scary though is I can’t even imagine the things they are using today

[@SarahEggers]

I love these spy videos with Jonna Mendez! Please keep making more.

[@mattclark7825]

I believe the microdot viewing lens was called a "bullet” lens or Stanhope lens. (Maybe the lens crafter was Stanhope). I think Fresnel lenses are the ones with the circular ridges like those used in lighthouses.

[@beeble2003]

They were invented by the Earl of Stanhope. I think you're right -- Fresnel lenses are flat.

[@LadyMiir]

Love Jonna! Please have her on more often, she's fascinating.

[@M-UltraInstinct]

So what are they using now instead of pegions? Mosquito, Bacteria, Viruses.

[@jorellelouis1551]

I have never clicked anything so fast in my life than this vid. Love seeing her again.

[@Meta369]

Hahahahah YOU WERE THE ENEMY ! of the civilised state. You only managed who controlled the state.

[@outdoorattack8241]

Keep this spy series going its so interesting

[@youngmoney4693]

Have her react to call of duty cold war

[@KG-vi2mv]

Love watching Jonna Mendez! I could listen to her stories all day! It would be cool is they had her in some documentaries!

[@kawannahardy2924]

I love watching Anything that she's in. She's fascinating