The Thing (listening device)

[1][2][3] The Thing consisted of a tiny capacitive membrane connected to a small quarter-wavelength antenna; it had no power supply or active electronic components.[3] An American State Department employee was then able to reproduce the results using an untuned wideband receiver with a simple diode detector/demodulator,[9] similar to some field strength meters.Two additional State Department employees, John W. Ford and Joseph Bezjian, were sent to Moscow in March 1951 to investigate this and other suspected bugs in the British and Canadian embassy buildings.[9] The CIA ran a secret research program at the Dutch Radar Laboratory (NRP) in Noordwijk in the Netherlands from 1954 to approximately 1967 to create its own covert listening devices based on a dipole antenna with a detector diode and a small microphone amplifier.[12] Although initially they could not get the resonant cavity microphone to work reliably, several products involving passive elements (PEs) were developed for the CIA as a result of the research.In 1965, the NRP finally got a reliably working pulsed cavity resonator, but by that time the CIA was no longer interested in passive devices, largely because of the high levels of RF energy involved to activate them.[13] In May 1960, The Thing was mentioned on the fourth day of meetings in the United Nations Security Council, convened by the Soviet Union over the 1960 U-2 incident where a U.S. spy plane had entered their territory and been shot down.
Replica of The Thing which contained a Soviet bugging device, on display at the NSA 's National Cryptologic Museum
Design of The Thing's cavity resonator.
The seal opened exposing the Soviet bugging device, on display at the NSA 's National Cryptologic Museum .
National Cryptologic Museumcovert listening devicesSoviet UnionW. Averell HarrimanUnited States Ambassador to the Soviet Unionquarter-wavelengthantennaactive electronic componentscavity resonatorcapacitancemodulateddemodulatedmonopole antennamegahertz330 MHzhigh-Qinductancenanohenriesamplitude modulationfrequency modulationharmonicGreat SealsoundboardLeon ThereminthereminGreat Seal of the United StatesSoviet governmentWorld War IIYoung Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Unionwar allySpaso HouseGeorge F. KennanBritish Embassycountersurveillancesignal generatoraudio feedbackFederal Bureau of InvestigationCentral Intelligence AgencyNaval Research LaboratoryMarconi CompanyPeter WrightcounterintelligenceQ factorNoordwijkdipole antennadetector diodeEasy Chairpassive elementsUnited Nations Security Council1960 U-2 incidentHenry Cabot Lodge Jr.Nikita Khrushchev1960 Paris SummitLaser microphoneMoscow SignalNonlinear junction detectorRagemasterSoviet espionage in the United StatesTEMPESTTrojan HorseHarford, TimUnited Business MediaUnited NationsKennan, GeorgeWright, PeterEspionageAssetsAgent handlingAgent provocateurDouble agentField agentResident spySleeper agentSpymasterCutoutCoopteeIntelligence assessmentcompeting hypothesesBurn noticeConcealment deviceCovert listening deviceCryptographyComputer and network surveillanceCyber espionageDead dropInvisible inkNumbers stationOne-way voice linkPhone surveillanceShort-range agent communicationsSteganographymicrodotSurveillance toolsTradecraftCanary trapFront organizationLimited hangoutChinese intelligence activity abroadChinese espionage in the United StatesCold War espionageRecruitmentBlack operationblack bagwetworkEavesdroppingSIGINTMASINTFalse flagIndustrial espionageInterpersonal (HUMINT) intelligenceinterrogationsafe houseCOINTELPROMINARETSHAMROCKSexpionageStay-behindSting operationSurveillanceGlobalTargeted surveillance