1 00:00:01,543 --> 00:00:02,920 [William Shatner] Covert operations 2 00:00:03,045 --> 00:00:04,755 hidden in plain sight... 3 00:00:05,797 --> 00:00:09,801 ...classified experiments on unwitting test subjects... 4 00:00:09,968 --> 00:00:12,846 and elaborate conspiracies 5 00:00:13,013 --> 00:00:16,099 to conceal the truth. 6 00:00:16,308 --> 00:00:19,811 It's common knowledge that nations around the world 7 00:00:19,978 --> 00:00:22,189 pursue top secret projects 8 00:00:22,356 --> 00:00:24,441 in an attempt to protect their citizens, 9 00:00:24,566 --> 00:00:26,735 outmaneuver rival powers, 10 00:00:26,902 --> 00:00:29,071 or develop new technology. 11 00:00:29,238 --> 00:00:31,281 And throughout history, we've learned 12 00:00:31,406 --> 00:00:33,784 about some of these black budget programs 13 00:00:33,951 --> 00:00:37,704 through declassified documents and whistleblowers 14 00:00:37,871 --> 00:00:40,874 who have bravely come forward from the shadows. 15 00:00:42,501 --> 00:00:45,587 But how much do we really know? 16 00:00:45,754 --> 00:00:48,799 What secret operations are still hidden from us? 17 00:00:48,924 --> 00:00:52,678 And what can we learn from missions of the past 18 00:00:52,844 --> 00:00:56,306 that were once deemed too dangerous for the world to see? 19 00:00:56,473 --> 00:00:59,351 Well, that is what we'll try and find out. 20 00:00:59,518 --> 00:01:01,520 ♪ ♪ 21 00:01:12,322 --> 00:01:14,408 Since World War II, 22 00:01:14,575 --> 00:01:16,159 the United States has carried out 23 00:01:16,285 --> 00:01:18,245 countless classified programs, 24 00:01:18,412 --> 00:01:21,415 ranging from intelligence gathering 25 00:01:21,582 --> 00:01:24,293 to clandestine operations 26 00:01:24,459 --> 00:01:27,129 to advanced weapons development. 27 00:01:27,296 --> 00:01:29,047 Each designed 28 00:01:29,214 --> 00:01:32,551 to create some type of strategic edge over our foes-- 29 00:01:32,718 --> 00:01:35,721 and our friends-- on the world stage. 30 00:01:35,846 --> 00:01:39,266 What is required to deem a project 31 00:01:39,433 --> 00:01:41,226 top secret? 32 00:01:42,436 --> 00:01:44,021 [Russ Baker] The government classification process 33 00:01:44,229 --> 00:01:46,481 is very simple. There are three levels. 34 00:01:46,606 --> 00:01:48,233 There's confidential, 35 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:50,402 secret, and top secret. 36 00:01:50,527 --> 00:01:52,821 Basically, "confidential" are things 37 00:01:53,030 --> 00:01:56,158 that could cause problems if they were made public. 38 00:01:56,325 --> 00:01:59,536 "Secret" could cause big problems. 39 00:01:59,703 --> 00:02:03,790 And "top secret" usually refers to something 40 00:02:03,957 --> 00:02:06,460 that, if publicly exposed, 41 00:02:06,668 --> 00:02:08,294 could cause grave harm 42 00:02:08,461 --> 00:02:10,881 to the American national security. 43 00:02:12,007 --> 00:02:13,884 [Paul Springer] If something's top secret, typically, 44 00:02:14,051 --> 00:02:18,055 not only can you not share the information in those systems, 45 00:02:18,221 --> 00:02:21,767 you can't even confirm or deny that there is such a system 46 00:02:21,933 --> 00:02:24,144 or a project or information. 47 00:02:24,311 --> 00:02:26,688 Because by merely confirming that it exists, 48 00:02:26,855 --> 00:02:29,775 you're providing a useful clue to any adversary 49 00:02:29,941 --> 00:02:31,777 that might want to take advantage of that fact. 50 00:02:31,985 --> 00:02:34,196 So, for example, 51 00:02:34,363 --> 00:02:36,990 if you were to create a weapons system 52 00:02:37,157 --> 00:02:39,493 that would create an enormous advantage 53 00:02:39,660 --> 00:02:43,038 versus any peer competitor on Earth, 54 00:02:43,205 --> 00:02:45,791 you would want to keep that weapon system secret 55 00:02:45,957 --> 00:02:48,210 until the time came to actually utilize it. 56 00:02:48,377 --> 00:02:50,754 Partially, this is so you can achieve surprise 57 00:02:50,921 --> 00:02:52,756 with the weapon system. 58 00:02:52,923 --> 00:02:55,175 And, partially, it's so that your adversaries don't build 59 00:02:55,342 --> 00:02:59,054 their own versions of that same idea. 60 00:03:01,098 --> 00:03:03,600 [Richard Dolan] Ultimately, "top secret" means 61 00:03:03,725 --> 00:03:06,186 the public don't know what is the truth. 62 00:03:06,353 --> 00:03:08,355 That is how government wants it, 63 00:03:08,522 --> 00:03:09,773 and that's why it was designed that way. 64 00:03:09,940 --> 00:03:12,275 If you're operating in secrecy, 65 00:03:12,442 --> 00:03:15,654 in theory, that means you may not be held responsible 66 00:03:15,821 --> 00:03:17,280 for any of the actions, 67 00:03:17,406 --> 00:03:19,658 so you've got room to maneuver there. 68 00:03:19,866 --> 00:03:21,535 [Shatner] In the United States, 69 00:03:21,702 --> 00:03:24,162 it's estimated that more than one million individuals 70 00:03:24,287 --> 00:03:28,166 have the security clearance to view top secret information. 71 00:03:29,209 --> 00:03:32,671 Most of those people work for one of the 18 different agencies 72 00:03:32,838 --> 00:03:36,216 that comprise the U.S. intelligence community. 73 00:03:36,383 --> 00:03:37,759 And of those, 74 00:03:37,884 --> 00:03:39,803 perhaps the most infamous 75 00:03:39,928 --> 00:03:43,098 is the Central Intelligence Agency. 76 00:03:44,266 --> 00:03:47,853 The CIA is unique as an intelligence agency 77 00:03:48,019 --> 00:03:51,064 in that it is not part of any other department. 78 00:03:51,231 --> 00:03:53,525 The National Security Agency 79 00:03:53,692 --> 00:03:56,361 is actually part of the Defense Department. 80 00:03:56,528 --> 00:03:58,905 The Defense Intelligence Agency 81 00:03:59,072 --> 00:04:00,949 is part of the Defense Department. 82 00:04:01,116 --> 00:04:04,911 Department of Treasury has its own small intelligence agency. 83 00:04:05,078 --> 00:04:10,125 CIA is independent on its own 84 00:04:10,292 --> 00:04:15,297 and has the authority to conduct covert operations. 85 00:04:15,505 --> 00:04:17,798 And these are operations 86 00:04:17,923 --> 00:04:22,596 that offer the U.S. government plausible deniability. 87 00:04:22,763 --> 00:04:24,306 But there's a downside, 88 00:04:24,473 --> 00:04:26,683 which is that there's a relationship between 89 00:04:26,850 --> 00:04:28,727 too much secrecy 90 00:04:28,894 --> 00:04:31,938 and too little trust from the American people. 91 00:04:33,023 --> 00:04:34,274 [Dolan] When we think of government secrecy, 92 00:04:34,441 --> 00:04:35,984 sometimes we'll knee-jerk 93 00:04:36,151 --> 00:04:37,778 and say, "Well, it's sinister. It's evil. 94 00:04:37,944 --> 00:04:39,446 They're trying to keep important things from us." 95 00:04:39,613 --> 00:04:41,907 Yes, I think sometimes that is definitely true. 96 00:04:42,073 --> 00:04:45,410 But any government that has the responsibility 97 00:04:45,577 --> 00:04:47,287 of protecting its nation, 98 00:04:47,454 --> 00:04:50,040 it's not impossible to see that there would be secrecy on things 99 00:04:50,165 --> 00:04:51,958 that, at least in their mind, 100 00:04:52,083 --> 00:04:53,835 would be for the protection of the public. 101 00:04:54,002 --> 00:04:56,171 [Shatner] Since its inception, 102 00:04:56,338 --> 00:04:58,340 the CIA has been accused of everything 103 00:04:58,548 --> 00:05:01,676 from orchestrating coups in foreign countries 104 00:05:01,843 --> 00:05:04,846 to assassinating world leaders. 105 00:05:05,013 --> 00:05:07,307 No one truly knows the full extent 106 00:05:07,474 --> 00:05:09,601 of the agency's activities. 107 00:05:10,644 --> 00:05:14,231 But most experts believe the CIA's biggest secret 108 00:05:14,397 --> 00:05:17,359 is located somewhere inside the mysterious facility 109 00:05:17,484 --> 00:05:20,529 known as Area 51. 110 00:05:22,656 --> 00:05:25,408 [Dolan] Area 51 is in Southern Nevada. 111 00:05:25,575 --> 00:05:28,954 It's the most famous secret base in the world. 112 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:30,330 For many, many years, it was completely secret 113 00:05:30,497 --> 00:05:31,998 and no one knew about it. 114 00:05:32,123 --> 00:05:36,920 It was created in the very early 1950s under CIA control. 115 00:05:37,921 --> 00:05:39,923 And it was designed-- 116 00:05:40,048 --> 00:05:41,591 and still, I think, functions today-- 117 00:05:41,758 --> 00:05:44,135 as a secret base for the Air Force. 118 00:05:44,302 --> 00:05:46,596 What is known is that a lot of secret testing 119 00:05:46,763 --> 00:05:48,890 of advanced aircraft went on there. 120 00:05:49,057 --> 00:05:51,518 You've got this massive, dry, desert lake bed 121 00:05:51,685 --> 00:05:54,187 that's ideal, uh, for aircraft 122 00:05:54,354 --> 00:05:56,106 that need long runways, for example. 123 00:05:56,273 --> 00:05:58,024 And, more importantly, 124 00:05:58,191 --> 00:06:00,151 it's just very remote. 125 00:06:00,318 --> 00:06:03,697 It's not an easy place for any person to get to. 126 00:06:03,905 --> 00:06:05,323 So if you're gonna have a secret base, 127 00:06:05,448 --> 00:06:08,159 that is a good location to have it. 128 00:06:08,285 --> 00:06:11,371 Area 51 was established as a direct consequence 129 00:06:11,538 --> 00:06:13,748 of World War II and the Cold War, 130 00:06:13,915 --> 00:06:16,376 because we are continuing in the development of a technology 131 00:06:16,543 --> 00:06:18,670 that will become the U-2 spy plane. 132 00:06:18,837 --> 00:06:21,131 The introduction of this technology 133 00:06:21,298 --> 00:06:24,384 is a massive escalation of the tensions of the Cold War. 134 00:06:24,551 --> 00:06:26,261 And during the Cold War, 135 00:06:26,469 --> 00:06:29,055 there are Soviet spies throughout the United States. 136 00:06:29,222 --> 00:06:33,727 And we continue to test other aircraft at Area 51. 137 00:06:33,894 --> 00:06:36,521 Because of this, the secrecy must exist. 138 00:06:37,606 --> 00:06:40,984 [Nick Pope] There are signs at the border that say "Warning. 139 00:06:41,151 --> 00:06:45,071 Use of lethal force authorized." 140 00:06:45,238 --> 00:06:47,616 If you cross the line, you will be arrested. 141 00:06:47,824 --> 00:06:49,242 You might be shot. 142 00:06:50,285 --> 00:06:54,873 The CIA kept the existence of Area 51 secret for decades. 143 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:57,042 I mean, this was not publicly acknowledged 144 00:06:57,167 --> 00:06:59,753 until quite recently. 145 00:06:59,919 --> 00:07:02,339 And, certainly, it's true 146 00:07:02,547 --> 00:07:06,801 that some of America's most iconic aircraft 147 00:07:06,926 --> 00:07:09,804 were developed and test-flown there. 148 00:07:09,971 --> 00:07:12,891 So there are many, many people who believe 149 00:07:13,058 --> 00:07:16,895 that within this kind of top secret program 150 00:07:17,062 --> 00:07:19,564 of cutting-edge aerospace, 151 00:07:19,731 --> 00:07:23,276 that there's an even bigger secret at Area 51. 152 00:07:24,361 --> 00:07:25,779 [Dolan] The crazy thing about Area 51 153 00:07:25,987 --> 00:07:28,531 is that we learned about it in the world 154 00:07:28,698 --> 00:07:31,034 through the subject of UFOs. 155 00:07:31,201 --> 00:07:34,037 And that's through the testimony of Bob Lazar, 156 00:07:34,162 --> 00:07:37,165 who, back in 1989, claimed to work at S4, 157 00:07:37,332 --> 00:07:39,793 which is part of the Area 51 complex, 158 00:07:39,959 --> 00:07:42,045 on a series of flying saucers. 159 00:07:42,212 --> 00:07:44,464 That was the context in which we learned about it. 160 00:07:44,631 --> 00:07:49,177 Now, um, Area 51 would make a very, very excellent location 161 00:07:49,386 --> 00:07:52,639 to do some studies of flying saucer-type technologies, 162 00:07:52,764 --> 00:07:54,099 because it's remote. 163 00:07:54,307 --> 00:07:58,019 But I think it's a reasonable supposition 164 00:07:58,228 --> 00:08:01,272 that UFOs have been studied there 165 00:08:01,439 --> 00:08:04,984 or technology related to UFOs have been studied at Area 51, 166 00:08:05,151 --> 00:08:07,404 and probably a few other places as well. 167 00:08:07,570 --> 00:08:10,281 The U.S. government would want to reverse engineer 168 00:08:10,407 --> 00:08:13,159 any kind of alien technology that it got its hands on. 169 00:08:13,284 --> 00:08:15,286 Of course it would. And so... 170 00:08:15,453 --> 00:08:17,205 it's possible. 171 00:08:17,372 --> 00:08:20,083 But it's-it's absolutely not... 172 00:08:20,208 --> 00:08:22,127 known or confirmed by anyone. 173 00:08:23,253 --> 00:08:24,838 [Shatner] Could the United States military 174 00:08:25,004 --> 00:08:29,718 actually be studying alien technology at Area 51? 175 00:08:29,884 --> 00:08:31,928 While only a handful of individuals 176 00:08:32,095 --> 00:08:35,056 with the highest top secret clearance know the truth, 177 00:08:35,222 --> 00:08:40,352 some experts speculate the rumors about aliens and UFOs 178 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,607 are precisely what the government wants us to believe. 179 00:08:44,774 --> 00:08:46,067 [Morgan] We do know that there's 180 00:08:46,234 --> 00:08:47,986 a cover story wrapped in a cover story 181 00:08:48,153 --> 00:08:52,323 and that the U.S. government absolutely adores the fact 182 00:08:52,490 --> 00:08:55,535 that we are so distracted with the-the narrative 183 00:08:55,702 --> 00:08:57,954 of alien technology and reverse engineering 184 00:08:58,121 --> 00:09:00,957 at Area 51, because it means we're not paying attention 185 00:09:01,124 --> 00:09:02,917 to the things that are actually happening there. 186 00:09:03,084 --> 00:09:05,837 And so maybe the best way to handle super secrecy 187 00:09:06,004 --> 00:09:07,505 is to hide it in plain sight. 188 00:09:07,672 --> 00:09:11,092 [Rick Beyer] If you have a place like Area 51, 189 00:09:11,259 --> 00:09:13,553 you can say they're doing anything, 190 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,306 and the government's not gonna say, "We're not doing that." 191 00:09:16,473 --> 00:09:19,768 The government's gonna refuse to comment on it. 192 00:09:19,934 --> 00:09:22,353 So it becomes this kind of suckhole 193 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:23,855 for conspiracy theories, 194 00:09:24,064 --> 00:09:26,816 and maybe we'll never know. 195 00:09:30,403 --> 00:09:32,489 [Shatner reads on-screen text] 196 00:09:34,824 --> 00:09:37,786 [Shatner] Office of Naval Intelligence analysts 197 00:09:37,952 --> 00:09:39,496 monitoring the Pacific Ocean 198 00:09:39,662 --> 00:09:42,499 for signs of Soviet submarine activity 199 00:09:42,707 --> 00:09:45,502 notice something quite alarming. 200 00:09:46,503 --> 00:09:50,673 They identify a massive surge of Soviet ships and aircraft 201 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:55,053 about 1,500 miles northwest of Hawaii... 202 00:09:55,220 --> 00:09:59,891 a clear indicator of a search and rescue emergency. 203 00:10:00,058 --> 00:10:03,686 [Bennett] The U.S. observed dozens of ships 204 00:10:03,853 --> 00:10:06,606 and aircraft that were kind of looking for something, 205 00:10:06,773 --> 00:10:08,608 but couldn't find it. 206 00:10:09,651 --> 00:10:12,529 And so, at that point, U.S. officials went back 207 00:10:12,695 --> 00:10:15,448 and reviewed data that had been collected. 208 00:10:15,615 --> 00:10:18,243 The U.S. Navy and the Air Force maintained 209 00:10:18,368 --> 00:10:20,703 an array of underwater microphones 210 00:10:20,870 --> 00:10:24,332 and acoustic sensors around the rim of the Pacific Ocean, 211 00:10:24,499 --> 00:10:27,794 designed to track Soviet missile launches 212 00:10:27,961 --> 00:10:29,963 and also Soviet submarines, 213 00:10:30,130 --> 00:10:32,132 and went back and reviewed that data 214 00:10:32,298 --> 00:10:35,135 and discovered acoustic signatures that indicated 215 00:10:35,301 --> 00:10:37,846 a sub that imploded and crushed 216 00:10:38,012 --> 00:10:39,764 as it sank to the bottom of the ocean. 217 00:10:42,976 --> 00:10:45,019 [Springer] The Soviets were absolutely determined 218 00:10:45,228 --> 00:10:47,313 to either recover the sub or make sure 219 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:49,482 that no one else could get access to it. 220 00:10:49,607 --> 00:10:51,609 Eventually, the Soviets actually gave up 221 00:10:51,776 --> 00:10:53,444 on locating the submarine. 222 00:10:53,611 --> 00:10:57,740 It had sunk to a depth of three miles below the ocean's surface, 223 00:10:57,949 --> 00:11:00,243 and they thought it was technologically impossible 224 00:11:00,368 --> 00:11:02,745 for any of the contents to be recovered. 225 00:11:03,746 --> 00:11:05,456 I mean, obviously there's no hope by that point 226 00:11:05,623 --> 00:11:07,417 that anyone is still alive. 227 00:11:07,625 --> 00:11:10,879 But the chance to acquire 228 00:11:11,004 --> 00:11:14,007 a Soviet nuclear submarine-- 229 00:11:14,174 --> 00:11:17,010 and the weapons-- was priceless. 230 00:11:17,177 --> 00:11:21,681 And so the intelligence agencies went into absolute overdrive. 231 00:11:21,806 --> 00:11:23,725 The United States figured out 232 00:11:23,892 --> 00:11:26,477 exactly where the submarine had gone down 233 00:11:26,603 --> 00:11:28,271 and thought to themselves, 234 00:11:28,438 --> 00:11:30,857 "Well, wouldn't it be great if we could grab it? 235 00:11:31,065 --> 00:11:33,359 How-how can we possibly do this?" 236 00:11:34,527 --> 00:11:36,529 [Shatner] Sharing the data with the United States' 237 00:11:36,696 --> 00:11:38,740 Central Intelligence Agency, 238 00:11:38,907 --> 00:11:43,995 analysts determined the missing vessel was designated K-129, 239 00:11:44,162 --> 00:11:46,831 a state-of-the-art Soviet submarine carrying 240 00:11:46,998 --> 00:11:49,042 multiple nuclear warheads 241 00:11:49,167 --> 00:11:52,003 and some of the most advanced, valuable technology 242 00:11:52,170 --> 00:11:53,922 of the Cold War. 243 00:11:54,047 --> 00:11:55,715 However, 244 00:11:55,882 --> 00:11:58,301 any attempt to recover it from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean 245 00:11:58,509 --> 00:12:02,639 would not only require a massive feat of engineering 246 00:12:02,764 --> 00:12:05,934 but also the utmost secrecy. 247 00:12:07,602 --> 00:12:09,395 [Springer] Because the Soviets were 248 00:12:09,562 --> 00:12:12,482 heavily invested in submarine technology during the Cold War, 249 00:12:12,649 --> 00:12:14,484 the United States does not want to be seen 250 00:12:14,651 --> 00:12:19,614 as overtly seeking to capture a Soviet sunken submarine. 251 00:12:19,781 --> 00:12:23,201 So the United States turns towards the idea 252 00:12:23,326 --> 00:12:26,287 of sending out, essentially, a surface ship 253 00:12:26,454 --> 00:12:31,292 that supposedly is looking for ways to drill for oil 254 00:12:31,459 --> 00:12:34,128 or other resources below the seabed 255 00:12:34,295 --> 00:12:37,882 to carry out some form of salvage program 256 00:12:38,007 --> 00:12:42,428 to possibly gather all of the material of the submarine. 257 00:12:42,595 --> 00:12:45,139 And that would create an enormous advantage 258 00:12:45,348 --> 00:12:47,183 for the United States government. 259 00:12:47,392 --> 00:12:49,727 [Shatner] The CIA's top secret plan 260 00:12:49,894 --> 00:12:52,772 to recover the Soviet K-129 261 00:12:52,939 --> 00:12:56,359 was code-named Project Azorian. 262 00:12:56,484 --> 00:13:00,738 It involved the construction of a fake deep-sea mining vessel 263 00:13:00,947 --> 00:13:03,157 known as the Glomar Explorer 264 00:13:03,324 --> 00:13:07,829 at a staggering cost of around $2.8 billion in today's dollars. 265 00:13:07,996 --> 00:13:09,872 And to complete the project, 266 00:13:10,039 --> 00:13:14,085 the CIA recruited one of the most famous men in the world, 267 00:13:14,252 --> 00:13:17,588 billionaire Howard Hughes. 268 00:13:17,755 --> 00:13:19,924 [Bennett] Howard Hughes was reputed to be 269 00:13:20,091 --> 00:13:24,012 one of the richest Americans alive in the late 1960s. 270 00:13:24,178 --> 00:13:27,807 He had a reputation as someone who funded 271 00:13:27,974 --> 00:13:30,643 and supported projects that seemed improbable, 272 00:13:30,810 --> 00:13:33,563 that seemed beyond the realm of possibility. 273 00:13:33,730 --> 00:13:37,150 At the center of his empire was the Hughes Tool Corporation, 274 00:13:37,317 --> 00:13:40,236 an oil services firm that had some interest 275 00:13:40,403 --> 00:13:42,405 in offshore drilling. So it offered 276 00:13:42,572 --> 00:13:43,865 a perfect black box 277 00:13:44,032 --> 00:13:45,742 to hide the financial transactions 278 00:13:45,950 --> 00:13:48,870 that you had to have to make this operation go forth. 279 00:13:49,996 --> 00:13:52,206 [Shatner] According to files later declassified 280 00:13:52,373 --> 00:13:54,125 by the U.S. government, 281 00:13:54,250 --> 00:13:56,961 the Glomar Explorer left Long Beach, California, 282 00:13:57,086 --> 00:13:59,881 in June 1974. 283 00:14:00,006 --> 00:14:02,842 A few weeks later, it arrived at its destination 284 00:14:03,009 --> 00:14:05,595 1,500 miles northwest of Hawaii 285 00:14:05,762 --> 00:14:09,807 to begin the recovery operation. 286 00:14:09,974 --> 00:14:12,018 [Dolan] It was an incredible operation. 287 00:14:12,226 --> 00:14:13,561 This was one of the real technological coups 288 00:14:13,686 --> 00:14:15,313 of the 20th century. 289 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:17,857 They had a cable that went three miles down 290 00:14:18,066 --> 00:14:19,734 to the floor of the Pacific Ocean, 291 00:14:19,901 --> 00:14:24,322 and they were able to pull the submarine up, 292 00:14:24,447 --> 00:14:26,908 although they were not able to retrieve it all. 293 00:14:27,075 --> 00:14:28,576 But they got some of it, 294 00:14:28,743 --> 00:14:30,203 and they brought it up through the center 295 00:14:30,369 --> 00:14:32,080 of the bottom of the ship. 296 00:14:32,205 --> 00:14:34,332 And they were able to get it to a secure facility 297 00:14:34,499 --> 00:14:36,334 where they were able to study this. 298 00:14:36,501 --> 00:14:38,336 I mean, an incredible score. 299 00:14:39,378 --> 00:14:41,547 [Shatner] The skillful creation of Project Azorian 300 00:14:41,714 --> 00:14:43,132 was a success, 301 00:14:43,299 --> 00:14:45,426 and the mission appeared to be a well-kept secret 302 00:14:45,593 --> 00:14:47,512 until... 303 00:14:47,678 --> 00:14:53,226 a robbery at Howard Hughes' Los Angeles office in 1974, 304 00:14:53,392 --> 00:14:56,771 in which a classified memo about the project was stolen 305 00:14:56,938 --> 00:14:59,107 and leaked to the press. 306 00:15:00,733 --> 00:15:02,568 Despite the public scrutiny, 307 00:15:02,735 --> 00:15:04,737 the full extent of what the CIA recovered 308 00:15:04,904 --> 00:15:06,656 from the K-129 submarine 309 00:15:06,864 --> 00:15:10,326 remains unknown. 310 00:15:10,451 --> 00:15:12,495 [Bennett] What did Azorian actually recover? 311 00:15:12,662 --> 00:15:13,955 There's a lot 312 00:15:14,122 --> 00:15:16,624 that we don't officially know. 313 00:15:16,791 --> 00:15:18,042 But we do know some things. 314 00:15:18,209 --> 00:15:21,796 And one of those is that the U.S. did recover 315 00:15:21,963 --> 00:15:24,924 six sets of human remains, according to published reports. 316 00:15:25,049 --> 00:15:29,929 And we know that because those sailors were buried at sea, 317 00:15:30,096 --> 00:15:33,349 and a video of that ceremony was released 318 00:15:33,516 --> 00:15:36,269 in the early 1990s. 319 00:15:36,435 --> 00:15:37,937 Otherwise, what do we know? 320 00:15:38,146 --> 00:15:41,274 Well, this is where we get into, uh, some uncertainty. 321 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:43,442 We don't have a definitive answer on that. 322 00:15:43,568 --> 00:15:45,111 [Dolan] All these years later, 323 00:15:45,278 --> 00:15:47,488 there's a lot about Project Azorian 324 00:15:47,655 --> 00:15:50,199 that still remains classified to this day. 325 00:15:50,366 --> 00:15:53,578 There's a book in the late 1990s called Blind Man's Bluff 326 00:15:53,786 --> 00:15:56,747 that argued that encrypted communications, 327 00:15:56,914 --> 00:16:00,418 Soviet code books, missile guidance system information, 328 00:16:00,626 --> 00:16:02,587 and other sensitive encrypted communications 329 00:16:02,753 --> 00:16:04,839 were also recovered. Now, 330 00:16:04,964 --> 00:16:06,632 that's not impossible. 331 00:16:06,799 --> 00:16:10,595 If the U.S. did recover the-- that type of information, 332 00:16:10,761 --> 00:16:14,432 that would be one of the major scores of the entire Cold War. 333 00:16:14,599 --> 00:16:19,312 So you could see why they would not want to advertise that fact. 334 00:16:20,396 --> 00:16:24,108 You know, in the aftermath of the retrieval of this submarine, 335 00:16:24,275 --> 00:16:26,402 questions were asked of the U.S. government, 336 00:16:26,527 --> 00:16:28,321 like what were the results of this. 337 00:16:28,487 --> 00:16:29,947 And, uh, 338 00:16:30,114 --> 00:16:32,658 for the first time, the U.S. government 339 00:16:32,867 --> 00:16:36,704 issued the response of "We can neither confirm nor deny." 340 00:16:36,871 --> 00:16:39,582 And so anytime you hear that today, 341 00:16:39,790 --> 00:16:42,585 that is a legacy of the Glomar Explorer operation 342 00:16:42,752 --> 00:16:45,546 in which the U.S. acquired a Soviet submarine. 343 00:16:47,423 --> 00:16:51,344 The Project Azorian mission was certainly a clever way 344 00:16:51,510 --> 00:16:54,680 to collect top secret information in plain sight. 345 00:16:54,847 --> 00:16:57,350 But what happens 346 00:16:57,516 --> 00:16:59,769 when an agency crosses the line 347 00:16:59,936 --> 00:17:04,147 and turns a company party with U.S. military personnel... 348 00:17:05,233 --> 00:17:08,361 ...into a dangerous and radical experiment? 349 00:17:11,321 --> 00:17:13,366 [Shatner reads on-screen text] 350 00:17:16,535 --> 00:17:19,038 [Shatner] At approximately 2:00 a.m., 351 00:17:19,204 --> 00:17:21,457 the night manager of this hotel in Midtown Manhattan 352 00:17:21,665 --> 00:17:24,126 hears a dull thud out on the street. 353 00:17:25,127 --> 00:17:27,588 He heads outside to investigate, 354 00:17:27,755 --> 00:17:30,466 where he discovers a grisly scene. 355 00:17:30,633 --> 00:17:33,803 There on the sidewalk lay Frank Olson, 356 00:17:33,970 --> 00:17:36,806 a respected CIA biochemist, 357 00:17:36,973 --> 00:17:41,644 barely alive after falling from a hotel window. 358 00:17:41,769 --> 00:17:42,937 [Dolan] Frank Olson 359 00:17:43,145 --> 00:17:45,398 was a civilian employee 360 00:17:45,565 --> 00:17:46,774 working with the U.S. Army 361 00:17:46,941 --> 00:17:49,151 and really very closely with the CIA 362 00:17:49,318 --> 00:17:51,988 in the late '40s, early 1950s 363 00:17:52,154 --> 00:17:53,573 on biological weapons. 364 00:17:54,657 --> 00:17:57,118 He was apparently very, very good at his job. 365 00:17:57,285 --> 00:18:00,871 But he started talking about getting out of his career 366 00:18:01,038 --> 00:18:03,332 and-and leaving government service. 367 00:18:03,499 --> 00:18:05,918 And the next thing you hear about Frank Olson is that he... 368 00:18:06,085 --> 00:18:07,587 ran through the window 369 00:18:07,753 --> 00:18:09,922 of Room 1018A 370 00:18:10,089 --> 00:18:13,593 and, um, fell to his death to the sidewalk. 371 00:18:15,636 --> 00:18:17,013 -[siren wailing] -[Shatner] According to the police report, 372 00:18:17,179 --> 00:18:19,140 when the night manager rushed outside, 373 00:18:19,348 --> 00:18:20,933 Olson was still alive 374 00:18:21,100 --> 00:18:23,811 and trying to mumble something, 375 00:18:23,978 --> 00:18:26,355 but passed away before medical help arrived. 376 00:18:26,522 --> 00:18:29,984 His case was ruled a suicide. 377 00:18:30,943 --> 00:18:33,446 But many who knew Frank Olson questioned 378 00:18:33,613 --> 00:18:36,907 whether he had, in fact, taken his own life. 379 00:18:37,908 --> 00:18:42,455 The night of his "suicide" is very suspicious. 380 00:18:42,622 --> 00:18:45,750 He's staying in this hotel room with another man 381 00:18:45,916 --> 00:18:48,794 who, it turns out, is another CIA officer. 382 00:18:48,961 --> 00:18:50,421 He supposedly 383 00:18:50,630 --> 00:18:54,425 runs across this room, by two beds, 384 00:18:54,592 --> 00:18:56,844 throws himself into the glass... 385 00:18:57,011 --> 00:18:58,304 [glass shattering] 386 00:18:58,471 --> 00:19:00,765 ...and out onto the street. 387 00:19:00,931 --> 00:19:02,266 They do an autopsy. 388 00:19:02,433 --> 00:19:04,977 There's an unexplained wound on his head. 389 00:19:05,144 --> 00:19:07,813 -[grunting] -It looks like he was bashed in the head 390 00:19:07,980 --> 00:19:10,107 -and thrown out this window. -[yells] 391 00:19:11,108 --> 00:19:13,402 [Baker] The way that Frank Olson died 392 00:19:13,569 --> 00:19:17,281 was that his body hurtled out of a window. 393 00:19:17,406 --> 00:19:21,035 I believe the window in the hotel was closed. 394 00:19:21,202 --> 00:19:22,995 Now, how could that happen unless the body 395 00:19:23,162 --> 00:19:25,164 went out like a projectile? 396 00:19:25,331 --> 00:19:29,210 According to... I believe it was a manager of the hotel, 397 00:19:29,377 --> 00:19:33,631 the switchboard operator had heard Olson's roommate 398 00:19:33,798 --> 00:19:36,801 on the phone, saying something to the effect of, 399 00:19:36,926 --> 00:19:39,095 "It's done. He's gone." 400 00:19:39,261 --> 00:19:42,306 And so, if we are to believe this story 401 00:19:42,473 --> 00:19:46,477 that the hotel switchboard operator heard this conversation 402 00:19:46,644 --> 00:19:49,647 between his suitemate and somebody else, 403 00:19:49,814 --> 00:19:52,775 that was an assassination. 404 00:19:52,942 --> 00:19:54,652 [Shatner] What really happened 405 00:19:54,819 --> 00:19:56,987 inside that tenth-floor hotel room 406 00:19:57,154 --> 00:19:59,073 on that cold November night? 407 00:20:00,074 --> 00:20:01,617 While no one can say for sure, 408 00:20:01,826 --> 00:20:04,245 some believe Olson's work for the CIA 409 00:20:04,412 --> 00:20:07,832 likely played a role in his untimely death. 410 00:20:07,998 --> 00:20:09,125 [Beyer] Frank Olson, 411 00:20:09,291 --> 00:20:10,793 first for the U.S. Army, 412 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:12,169 then for the CIA, 413 00:20:12,336 --> 00:20:15,089 had been deeply involved in top secret stuff, 414 00:20:15,256 --> 00:20:18,050 much of it involving biological warfare. 415 00:20:19,135 --> 00:20:23,639 He had seen people who had been injured or sometimes killed 416 00:20:23,764 --> 00:20:26,600 in experiments with sarin gas and other stuff. 417 00:20:26,726 --> 00:20:28,853 And he was starting to really doubt 418 00:20:29,019 --> 00:20:31,355 his involvement, uh, at the CIA, 419 00:20:31,522 --> 00:20:33,065 thinking that he should leave. 420 00:20:33,232 --> 00:20:35,901 So I think there's probably a good chance 421 00:20:36,110 --> 00:20:39,655 that the CIA wanted him out of the way 422 00:20:39,822 --> 00:20:41,741 so that he wouldn't reveal anything. 423 00:20:42,950 --> 00:20:45,953 [Shatner] For decades, the idea that the CIA was involved 424 00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:50,791 in Frank Olson's death was dismissed as conspiracy theory. 425 00:20:50,958 --> 00:20:53,419 But then, in 1975, 426 00:20:53,627 --> 00:20:56,505 a presidential commission tasked with investigating 427 00:20:56,672 --> 00:21:00,259 illegal CIA activities inside the United States 428 00:21:00,468 --> 00:21:02,970 revealed something quite shocking. 429 00:21:03,137 --> 00:21:06,557 Led by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, 430 00:21:06,724 --> 00:21:08,392 the commission's final report 431 00:21:08,559 --> 00:21:10,269 contained a brief yet alarming account 432 00:21:10,436 --> 00:21:13,105 of a unidentified government scientist 433 00:21:13,272 --> 00:21:17,818 who had been secretly drugged with the hallucinogen LSD 434 00:21:18,027 --> 00:21:19,653 days before he died 435 00:21:19,820 --> 00:21:24,325 after falling from a New York hotel room window. 436 00:21:24,450 --> 00:21:26,952 [Jonathan Moreno] The official story that was told later 437 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:28,370 was that 438 00:21:28,537 --> 00:21:30,331 there was a... 439 00:21:30,498 --> 00:21:33,334 group, uh, at what was then called Camp Detrick, 440 00:21:33,501 --> 00:21:34,835 in Frederick, Maryland, 441 00:21:35,002 --> 00:21:37,004 who were part of a... 442 00:21:37,171 --> 00:21:40,257 highly compartmentalized set of activities 443 00:21:40,466 --> 00:21:43,135 around biological and chemical weapons. 444 00:21:43,344 --> 00:21:47,097 Somehow, nine of these men were taken on a retreat 445 00:21:47,306 --> 00:21:49,391 in Deep Creek, Maryland. 446 00:21:49,558 --> 00:21:53,103 And in the course of having their meetings, 447 00:21:53,270 --> 00:21:55,856 they decided to have a cocktail party. 448 00:21:56,982 --> 00:21:58,234 [Dolan] Without his knowledge-- 449 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:00,110 certainly without his consent-- 450 00:22:00,277 --> 00:22:04,573 someone spiked his drink with a massive hit of LSD. 451 00:22:04,740 --> 00:22:08,118 And Frank Olson had a very bad trip with this. 452 00:22:08,244 --> 00:22:11,121 Uh, bad enough that it really damaged him psychologically. 453 00:22:11,247 --> 00:22:12,456 He went home. 454 00:22:12,665 --> 00:22:13,958 His family noticed, like, 455 00:22:14,124 --> 00:22:15,334 there's something wrong with him. 456 00:22:15,501 --> 00:22:17,002 He was not responsive. 457 00:22:17,127 --> 00:22:19,088 He became very dark and moody. 458 00:22:21,006 --> 00:22:22,925 [Shatner] After the Rockefeller commission released 459 00:22:23,092 --> 00:22:25,636 its final report in 1975, 460 00:22:25,803 --> 00:22:28,973 the government conceded that the man dosed with LSD 461 00:22:29,139 --> 00:22:31,016 was indeed Frank Olson. 462 00:22:32,393 --> 00:22:35,646 The U.S. government paid a $750,000 settlement 463 00:22:35,813 --> 00:22:37,648 to the Olson family. 464 00:22:37,815 --> 00:22:40,442 They also received a personal apology 465 00:22:40,609 --> 00:22:42,653 from President Gerald Ford. 466 00:22:44,405 --> 00:22:46,240 But the question remained: 467 00:22:46,365 --> 00:22:51,829 did the CIA deliberately give Frank Olson LSD? 468 00:22:51,996 --> 00:22:54,206 Or was he dosed by accident? 469 00:22:55,207 --> 00:22:58,043 What was later revealed was the shocking news 470 00:22:58,168 --> 00:23:01,589 Olson had been an unwitting participant 471 00:23:01,755 --> 00:23:07,636 in a top secret CIA program known as MKUltra. 472 00:23:07,803 --> 00:23:11,181 [Pope] MKUltra was a program 473 00:23:11,390 --> 00:23:15,019 to try to influence human behavior. 474 00:23:15,227 --> 00:23:16,645 And they had a number of techniques 475 00:23:16,812 --> 00:23:18,814 that-that they used for this, 476 00:23:18,981 --> 00:23:22,818 and-and a lot of them revolved around chemistry, drugs, 477 00:23:23,027 --> 00:23:24,695 truth serums. 478 00:23:24,862 --> 00:23:27,907 They even used LSD to influence people, 479 00:23:28,073 --> 00:23:30,284 change their behaviors, 480 00:23:30,451 --> 00:23:32,411 change their decisions. 481 00:23:32,578 --> 00:23:34,079 And even to this day, 482 00:23:34,204 --> 00:23:37,249 the whole thing is shrouded in secrecy. 483 00:23:37,416 --> 00:23:39,919 [Morgan] The era of LSD 484 00:23:40,044 --> 00:23:43,255 and its merger with the politics of the Cold War 485 00:23:43,422 --> 00:23:46,717 and the politics, particularly, of Project MKUltra, 486 00:23:46,884 --> 00:23:48,761 will lead us to a large number of people 487 00:23:48,928 --> 00:23:51,722 receiving exposures to LSD. 488 00:23:51,889 --> 00:23:56,393 And in many cases, overexposure on a deliberate basis 489 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:58,646 as a means of an evaluation of the drug 490 00:23:58,812 --> 00:24:02,524 for the overall objectives in Project MKUltra 491 00:24:02,691 --> 00:24:05,903 of evaluating the drug's use as mind control. 492 00:24:06,111 --> 00:24:08,322 [Moreno] It's really hard to know if people 493 00:24:08,447 --> 00:24:10,991 died because of these experiments. 494 00:24:12,034 --> 00:24:16,455 And what's ironic about the Deep Creek LSD dosing 495 00:24:16,664 --> 00:24:19,416 in their cocktails is that 496 00:24:19,625 --> 00:24:21,293 these were people who themselves 497 00:24:21,460 --> 00:24:22,920 had pretty high security clearances, 498 00:24:23,045 --> 00:24:25,714 and yet they themselves were not told 499 00:24:25,881 --> 00:24:28,050 about what was about to happen to them. 500 00:24:28,217 --> 00:24:32,304 So when Frank Olson had this LSD experience 501 00:24:32,471 --> 00:24:35,015 without his knowledge or consent, 502 00:24:35,182 --> 00:24:37,267 we have an onion skin 503 00:24:37,434 --> 00:24:41,397 of layers within layers within layers of secrecy. 504 00:24:41,522 --> 00:24:45,442 It's disturbing to know that there have been 505 00:24:45,609 --> 00:24:48,070 classified scientific programs 506 00:24:48,237 --> 00:24:50,406 that have dangerously manipulated 507 00:24:50,572 --> 00:24:52,533 unsuspecting citizens. 508 00:24:54,201 --> 00:24:56,829 But in a much more elaborate top secret case, 509 00:24:56,996 --> 00:25:02,626 an entire army was created to help defeat the Nazis. 510 00:25:02,793 --> 00:25:06,672 The fact is, it was simply an illusion. 511 00:25:10,926 --> 00:25:12,386 [Shatner] When most of us think of war, 512 00:25:12,553 --> 00:25:13,804 we think of troops on the battlefield 513 00:25:13,971 --> 00:25:16,348 and dangerous, powerful weapons of destruction. 514 00:25:17,683 --> 00:25:19,518 But in the world of military might, 515 00:25:19,685 --> 00:25:21,854 often the most effective tools 516 00:25:22,021 --> 00:25:24,898 aren't guns, tanks or bombs... 517 00:25:26,191 --> 00:25:29,820 ...but instead, the top secret techniques and operations 518 00:25:30,029 --> 00:25:34,116 involving the element of deception. 519 00:25:34,283 --> 00:25:35,909 [Dolan] During warfare, 520 00:25:36,076 --> 00:25:39,830 one thing, whether this is a thousand years ago or today, 521 00:25:39,997 --> 00:25:43,417 you are going to want to deceive your enemy 522 00:25:43,625 --> 00:25:44,835 with all kinds of things. 523 00:25:45,002 --> 00:25:46,670 You're gonna want your enemy 524 00:25:46,837 --> 00:25:49,465 not to know where your most powerful forces are 525 00:25:49,631 --> 00:25:51,008 or when you're going to attack. 526 00:25:52,092 --> 00:25:54,803 If you throw people off even for, like, a week, 527 00:25:54,928 --> 00:25:56,764 even for a few days, maybe that's all you need 528 00:25:56,930 --> 00:25:58,348 to get your advantage. 529 00:25:59,641 --> 00:26:02,311 [Beyer] Deception creates surprise, 530 00:26:02,478 --> 00:26:05,147 and surprise is huge on the battlefield. 531 00:26:05,314 --> 00:26:07,357 General Wesley Clark said once to me 532 00:26:07,524 --> 00:26:11,361 that every commander knows he has to use deception, 533 00:26:11,487 --> 00:26:14,531 and if he doesn't use deception, he's going to lose. 534 00:26:14,698 --> 00:26:17,868 And I think that that's really a way of summing up 535 00:26:18,035 --> 00:26:21,288 how important deception is to the military art. 536 00:26:21,455 --> 00:26:23,248 [Shatner] The very nature of deception 537 00:26:23,415 --> 00:26:28,087 means we may never truly know what top secret operations 538 00:26:28,253 --> 00:26:30,297 have been conducted on the battlefield. 539 00:26:30,506 --> 00:26:34,760 But there is one that we do know about, and, incredibly, 540 00:26:34,885 --> 00:26:39,306 it involved the use of a "Ghost Army." 541 00:26:41,892 --> 00:26:43,936 [Shatner reads on-screen text] 542 00:26:46,355 --> 00:26:49,024 As World War II rages across Europe, 543 00:26:49,191 --> 00:26:52,611 Allied forces prepare to launch the surprise assault 544 00:26:52,778 --> 00:26:55,114 code-named Operation Neptune, 545 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:58,158 or more commonly known as D-Day, 546 00:26:58,325 --> 00:27:02,329 the largest seaborne invasion in military history. 547 00:27:02,496 --> 00:27:06,959 And the attack's success hinges on a secret plan 548 00:27:07,084 --> 00:27:09,962 known as Operation Fortitude. 549 00:27:10,963 --> 00:27:12,256 [Beyer] Operation Fortitude 550 00:27:12,422 --> 00:27:15,259 is a deception to fool the Germans 551 00:27:15,467 --> 00:27:17,886 about where the D-Day landings will take place. 552 00:27:18,053 --> 00:27:20,722 So, we're gonna be landing in Normandy, 553 00:27:20,889 --> 00:27:23,392 but we want to make it seem like the Allies 554 00:27:23,559 --> 00:27:25,769 are gonna be landing at the Pas-de-Calais, 555 00:27:25,936 --> 00:27:29,648 which is the narrowest part of the English Channel. 556 00:27:29,815 --> 00:27:33,151 We recognize that we could draw away some enemy strength 557 00:27:33,318 --> 00:27:35,362 simply by deceiving the enemy. 558 00:27:35,529 --> 00:27:39,491 And we would do this by forming an entire Ghost Army, 559 00:27:39,658 --> 00:27:42,494 by creating camps that are empty, 560 00:27:42,661 --> 00:27:44,413 but yet, you can see a vehicle park 561 00:27:44,580 --> 00:27:45,998 where there's a line of trucks 562 00:27:46,164 --> 00:27:48,417 or maybe even Sherman medium tanks, 563 00:27:48,584 --> 00:27:50,377 except that they're not real trucks or real tanks, 564 00:27:50,586 --> 00:27:52,546 they're inflatable facsimiles 565 00:27:52,713 --> 00:27:54,673 that are meant to function as decoys. 566 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:56,967 [Springer] German aircraft reported back 567 00:27:57,134 --> 00:27:59,803 that an army was mustering to cross the Channel 568 00:27:59,928 --> 00:28:01,638 at a different point. 569 00:28:01,763 --> 00:28:05,058 These individuals also engaged in phony radio transmissions 570 00:28:05,267 --> 00:28:07,060 so that the Germans would pick them up 571 00:28:07,269 --> 00:28:09,313 and believe that it was the communications 572 00:28:09,479 --> 00:28:11,690 of an entire army that was being designated 573 00:28:11,857 --> 00:28:13,191 for a different attack. 574 00:28:13,358 --> 00:28:15,027 Essentially, they keep trying to draw 575 00:28:15,193 --> 00:28:18,071 German attention in the wrong direction. 576 00:28:19,072 --> 00:28:22,242 And quite frankly, the Germans fall for it many, many times. 577 00:28:22,367 --> 00:28:25,621 After the D-Day landings, the Germans actually pull 578 00:28:25,829 --> 00:28:28,206 most of their forces back into reserve 579 00:28:28,373 --> 00:28:31,335 to counter the expected thrust at Pas-de-Calais, 580 00:28:31,501 --> 00:28:34,755 and that allows the Normandy invaders to establish a foothold 581 00:28:34,922 --> 00:28:36,924 and start moving forward on the Continent. 582 00:28:37,966 --> 00:28:40,719 It's remarkable to think that an inflatable ghost army 583 00:28:40,844 --> 00:28:42,930 was key to the success of D-Day 584 00:28:43,096 --> 00:28:47,059 and the Allies' eventual victory in World War II. 585 00:28:48,101 --> 00:28:52,564 But how is wartime deception being used today? 586 00:28:55,025 --> 00:28:57,069 [Shatner reads on-screen text] 587 00:28:58,612 --> 00:29:01,281 Roughly three weeks after the Russian invasion 588 00:29:01,406 --> 00:29:03,158 of this neighboring country, 589 00:29:03,325 --> 00:29:05,744 which escalates into the largest European conflict 590 00:29:05,911 --> 00:29:07,955 since World War II, 591 00:29:08,121 --> 00:29:11,500 a video is uploaded to the Internet 592 00:29:11,708 --> 00:29:14,628 of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 593 00:29:14,795 --> 00:29:18,298 delivering an unexpected message. 594 00:29:20,008 --> 00:29:23,470 What actually ended up on screens was 595 00:29:23,637 --> 00:29:26,473 what looked like President Zelenskyy 596 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:28,892 basically instructing his troops to surrender. 597 00:29:29,059 --> 00:29:31,019 [speaking Ukrainian] 598 00:29:35,273 --> 00:29:37,442 [Pope] This actually turned out to be 599 00:29:37,609 --> 00:29:40,278 what we would now call one of these "deepfakes." 600 00:29:40,404 --> 00:29:43,865 So, this was clearly Russian intelligence. 601 00:29:44,032 --> 00:29:48,745 They'd taken Zelenskyy's appearance, his voice, 602 00:29:48,912 --> 00:29:51,123 and they manipulated, perhaps, 603 00:29:51,289 --> 00:29:54,251 a mix of some genuine archival footage 604 00:29:54,418 --> 00:29:56,253 with something else, 605 00:29:56,420 --> 00:29:58,588 and they flipped the narrative. 606 00:29:58,755 --> 00:30:02,467 And so, this is going to be a whole new branch of warfare. 607 00:30:02,634 --> 00:30:06,054 I mean, deception has always been part of military doctrine, 608 00:30:06,221 --> 00:30:10,684 but it's going to be on a completely different level. 609 00:30:12,269 --> 00:30:13,812 [Dolan] This deepfake video 610 00:30:13,979 --> 00:30:15,731 of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 611 00:30:15,897 --> 00:30:18,066 I don't think it fooled too many people, 612 00:30:18,233 --> 00:30:21,319 and today, even a few years later, 613 00:30:21,445 --> 00:30:23,697 that would have been seen as extremely crude. 614 00:30:23,905 --> 00:30:26,616 So, the deepfake technology is just getting better 615 00:30:26,783 --> 00:30:29,119 and better and better all the time. 616 00:30:29,244 --> 00:30:33,957 And you really can see that this could be a useful form 617 00:30:34,124 --> 00:30:38,503 of deception and public manipulation at certain times. 618 00:30:38,712 --> 00:30:39,838 [Springer] One of the probable futures 619 00:30:39,963 --> 00:30:41,381 of disinformation warfare 620 00:30:41,590 --> 00:30:43,091 is the use of artificial intelligence 621 00:30:43,258 --> 00:30:46,511 to generate phony pieces of information. 622 00:30:46,678 --> 00:30:48,513 Not only might that information 623 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:50,932 directly confuse and cause chaos, 624 00:30:51,099 --> 00:30:52,726 it will also cause the recipients 625 00:30:52,893 --> 00:30:55,437 of that information to question everything that they see, 626 00:30:55,604 --> 00:30:58,815 making it far harder to maintain command and control. 627 00:30:59,858 --> 00:31:01,193 [Beyer] When you're talking about the Ghost Army, 628 00:31:01,359 --> 00:31:04,029 people say, "Well, you couldn't do that today 629 00:31:04,196 --> 00:31:06,239 because of technology." Well, you can, 630 00:31:06,364 --> 00:31:11,536 because every day, AI can do more and more. 631 00:31:12,996 --> 00:31:15,499 The Allied Forces' Ghost Army 632 00:31:15,707 --> 00:31:20,212 proved that clever deception can shift the tide of war. 633 00:31:20,378 --> 00:31:23,465 But another top secret project 634 00:31:23,632 --> 00:31:26,468 attempted to transform the battlefield 635 00:31:26,635 --> 00:31:30,597 by turning weather into a weapon. 636 00:31:34,184 --> 00:31:35,602 [Shatner] The Vietnam War. 637 00:31:35,769 --> 00:31:38,605 In the dense jungles of Southeast Asia, 638 00:31:38,772 --> 00:31:41,858 North Vietnamese forces move men and supplies 639 00:31:42,067 --> 00:31:45,278 along a vast network of hidden routes 640 00:31:45,403 --> 00:31:47,697 known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. 641 00:31:47,906 --> 00:31:50,283 For the United States military, 642 00:31:50,408 --> 00:31:53,703 stopping that flow becomes a critical objective. 643 00:31:53,870 --> 00:31:58,041 But in a war defined by dense jungle terrain, 644 00:31:58,166 --> 00:32:02,337 conventional tactics aren't enough. 645 00:32:03,797 --> 00:32:06,466 [Morgan] A factor that emerges during the war in Vietnam 646 00:32:06,633 --> 00:32:09,344 is that North Vietnamese communist forces 647 00:32:09,511 --> 00:32:13,306 are constantly infiltrating into South Vietnam to challenge 648 00:32:13,473 --> 00:32:15,392 not just the army of the Republic of Vietnam 649 00:32:15,559 --> 00:32:16,768 but then, also, the American forces 650 00:32:16,935 --> 00:32:18,937 that are fighting with them. 651 00:32:19,146 --> 00:32:21,231 They use infiltration routes 652 00:32:21,398 --> 00:32:23,108 that go through the Ho Chi Minh Trail. 653 00:32:23,275 --> 00:32:25,610 But during the wet season, 654 00:32:25,777 --> 00:32:27,863 all of the trails get washed out. 655 00:32:28,029 --> 00:32:30,699 They become almost completely impassable. 656 00:32:30,907 --> 00:32:34,244 And what the American military eventually recognizes is, 657 00:32:34,411 --> 00:32:37,539 "What if we make it-- the rainy season-- 658 00:32:37,747 --> 00:32:39,124 two months longer?" 659 00:32:39,291 --> 00:32:41,960 Then we're denying the enemy 660 00:32:42,085 --> 00:32:45,547 the easy and unfettered use of the Ho Chi Minh Trail 661 00:32:45,714 --> 00:32:49,301 for a greater period of time during the calendar year, 662 00:32:49,509 --> 00:32:51,261 and that will result in the enemy's strength 663 00:32:51,469 --> 00:32:53,430 being significantly weakened. 664 00:32:55,140 --> 00:32:57,267 [Shatner] What would make the U.S. military think 665 00:32:57,434 --> 00:32:59,352 they could mess with Mother Nature 666 00:32:59,519 --> 00:33:02,230 and extend the monsoon season? 667 00:33:03,607 --> 00:33:06,443 Well, in 1947, the United States government 668 00:33:06,610 --> 00:33:10,030 began experimenting with weather modification 669 00:33:10,197 --> 00:33:13,241 using a technique known as cloud seeding, 670 00:33:13,366 --> 00:33:17,078 or dispersing substances like silver iodide 671 00:33:17,204 --> 00:33:19,831 into clouds to trigger rainfall. 672 00:33:19,998 --> 00:33:21,917 During the Vietnam War, 673 00:33:22,083 --> 00:33:24,044 this controversial science was deployed 674 00:33:24,211 --> 00:33:27,631 in a highly classified program 675 00:33:27,797 --> 00:33:30,717 code-named Project Popeye. 676 00:33:32,093 --> 00:33:33,428 [James Fleming] Project Popeye 677 00:33:33,595 --> 00:33:35,096 was really top secret. 678 00:33:35,263 --> 00:33:37,724 It was, uh, restricted to the president-- 679 00:33:37,891 --> 00:33:39,392 at the time, Johnson-- 680 00:33:39,559 --> 00:33:42,520 Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, 681 00:33:42,646 --> 00:33:46,149 and General Westmoreland, who was head of the military. 682 00:33:46,316 --> 00:33:49,486 There was nobody in the Vietnam theater that knew about it. 683 00:33:49,653 --> 00:33:52,572 They'd say, "Oh, it was just a big monsoon this year." 684 00:33:52,739 --> 00:33:54,658 And so, uh, they thought the stakes were so high 685 00:33:54,866 --> 00:33:56,701 that they might tr-- want to try to make it work 686 00:33:56,910 --> 00:33:58,370 and not tell anybody. 687 00:33:59,955 --> 00:34:02,290 [Morgan] They are able to mark success in this program, 688 00:34:02,457 --> 00:34:03,750 Operation Popeye, 689 00:34:03,917 --> 00:34:05,627 uh, through the use of aircraft 690 00:34:05,794 --> 00:34:08,630 like the C-123 Provider or the C-130 Hercules. 691 00:34:08,797 --> 00:34:11,800 They are able to seed the clouds and get them to rain 692 00:34:11,925 --> 00:34:13,551 even when they're not raining. 693 00:34:13,717 --> 00:34:18,473 And in this way, we manipulate the weather as a weapon of war. 694 00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:22,476 Much of this is still under a top secret classification 695 00:34:22,601 --> 00:34:24,145 that will eventually expire. 696 00:34:24,312 --> 00:34:26,856 We'll learn more about whether or not 697 00:34:27,023 --> 00:34:28,817 we attempted to modify it in other ways 698 00:34:29,025 --> 00:34:31,194 to gain an advantage on the battlefield. 699 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:33,697 [Shatner] While the true scope of Project Popeye 700 00:34:33,905 --> 00:34:35,572 remains unknown, 701 00:34:35,739 --> 00:34:37,993 cloud seeding is no longer a secret. 702 00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:40,829 China used the technology 703 00:34:40,996 --> 00:34:43,748 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics 704 00:34:43,915 --> 00:34:47,627 to prevent rain from interrupting outdoor events. 705 00:34:47,793 --> 00:34:52,424 So, if countries are now openly utilizing weather modification, 706 00:34:52,590 --> 00:34:57,554 what new, top secret programs are being developed 707 00:34:57,721 --> 00:35:01,349 to change the atmosphere on our planet? 708 00:35:01,516 --> 00:35:05,061 Weather has always been a critical factor 709 00:35:05,270 --> 00:35:07,439 in warfare and-and battles. 710 00:35:07,564 --> 00:35:09,566 Imagine, for example, 711 00:35:09,733 --> 00:35:13,612 being able to create a Category 5 hurricane 712 00:35:13,778 --> 00:35:15,864 and have it hit a major city. 713 00:35:16,031 --> 00:35:18,366 And then, you just put it down to an act of God. 714 00:35:18,533 --> 00:35:20,243 Tornadoes, 715 00:35:20,410 --> 00:35:21,911 earthquakes. 716 00:35:22,912 --> 00:35:26,541 I mean, the potential here is frightening. 717 00:35:26,750 --> 00:35:31,338 [Springer] In the modern era, recently, the Russian Federation 718 00:35:31,546 --> 00:35:34,215 has threatened to develop and deploy 719 00:35:34,424 --> 00:35:36,384 an atomic torpedo-- 720 00:35:36,551 --> 00:35:39,387 essentially, a torpedo with a nuclear warhead. 721 00:35:39,554 --> 00:35:41,973 And if it's detonated a couple of miles 722 00:35:42,140 --> 00:35:44,768 off of the coastline near a city, 723 00:35:44,934 --> 00:35:48,438 it might create a wave 40 to 60 feet high 724 00:35:48,605 --> 00:35:51,816 that would slam into and devastate that coastal city. 725 00:35:52,901 --> 00:35:54,486 [Shatner] It's easy to understand 726 00:35:54,653 --> 00:35:56,655 how harnessing the power of Mother Nature 727 00:35:56,821 --> 00:36:00,784 could unleash unspeakable destruction on your enemies. 728 00:36:00,950 --> 00:36:03,620 It's disturbing to think that world governments 729 00:36:03,828 --> 00:36:07,248 are developing top secret weather warfare technology 730 00:36:07,415 --> 00:36:10,460 that could create mass destruction. 731 00:36:12,587 --> 00:36:13,922 Could signs of these experiments 732 00:36:14,089 --> 00:36:17,717 already be written in the sky? 733 00:36:19,344 --> 00:36:20,512 [Fleming] If you've ever looked up in the sky 734 00:36:20,679 --> 00:36:22,931 and saw giant streaks of white, 735 00:36:23,098 --> 00:36:25,642 really artificial clouds that c-come from one side 736 00:36:25,809 --> 00:36:29,020 of the horizon to the other, these are contrails. 737 00:36:29,229 --> 00:36:31,564 They're condensation of water vapor 738 00:36:31,731 --> 00:36:33,441 that comes out of the jet engines. 739 00:36:33,566 --> 00:36:35,568 There are some people that believe 740 00:36:35,735 --> 00:36:38,405 that those clouds contain some chemicals 741 00:36:38,571 --> 00:36:40,532 that are trying to control our minds 742 00:36:40,699 --> 00:36:43,535 or our health or control the climate. 743 00:36:43,702 --> 00:36:47,163 So, are there top secret projects going on right now? 744 00:36:47,288 --> 00:36:49,082 I'm not a conspiracy theorist. 745 00:36:49,207 --> 00:36:51,042 It's possible that there are 746 00:36:51,209 --> 00:36:53,086 speculative weather-control ideas 747 00:36:53,253 --> 00:36:55,797 trying to be put into operation 748 00:36:55,964 --> 00:37:00,093 at very high levels today, and we'd never know about them. 749 00:37:04,556 --> 00:37:06,099 [Shatner reads on-screen text] 750 00:37:06,307 --> 00:37:07,726 [indistinct radio chatter] 751 00:37:07,851 --> 00:37:09,352 [Shatner] After a 76-hour journey, 752 00:37:09,519 --> 00:37:12,188 Apollo 11's landing module, the Eagle, 753 00:37:12,355 --> 00:37:14,357 touches down on the Moon. 754 00:37:14,524 --> 00:37:17,986 Shortly thereafter, astronaut Neil Armstrong 755 00:37:18,153 --> 00:37:21,156 exits the spacecraft, becoming the first human 756 00:37:21,322 --> 00:37:25,076 to set foot on another celestial body. 757 00:37:25,243 --> 00:37:26,578 [Springer] The early Space Race 758 00:37:26,786 --> 00:37:28,455 is a contest between the United States 759 00:37:28,621 --> 00:37:31,875 and the Soviet Union as for not only who can get into space 760 00:37:32,041 --> 00:37:34,294 but who can demonstrate technological prowess. 761 00:37:35,795 --> 00:37:38,173 In the early stages, the Soviets are ahead. 762 00:37:38,339 --> 00:37:41,593 They're the first ones to launch an artificial satellite. 763 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:43,803 They're the first ones to put an animal 764 00:37:43,970 --> 00:37:46,514 and a human into orbit. 765 00:37:47,557 --> 00:37:50,727 But the United States is the only country 766 00:37:50,894 --> 00:37:53,563 to ever put astronauts onto the surface of the Moon. 767 00:37:53,730 --> 00:37:55,398 This was a technological feat 768 00:37:55,565 --> 00:37:58,276 that the Soviets knew they could not accomplish. 769 00:37:59,319 --> 00:38:01,112 [Shatner] Yet, despite this monumental achievement 770 00:38:01,279 --> 00:38:03,364 witnessed by millions around the world, 771 00:38:03,490 --> 00:38:06,284 a different narrative began to take hold 772 00:38:06,451 --> 00:38:09,120 that claimed the Moon mission 773 00:38:09,245 --> 00:38:12,290 was all an elaborate hoax. 774 00:38:12,457 --> 00:38:14,876 [Baker] In the annals of secrecy, there's probably 775 00:38:15,043 --> 00:38:17,253 little like the Moon landing, 776 00:38:17,420 --> 00:38:21,090 and, of course, the, um, widespread theories 777 00:38:21,257 --> 00:38:24,052 that the U.S. never landed on the Moon. 778 00:38:26,179 --> 00:38:28,890 In fact, there were a number of anomalies 779 00:38:29,057 --> 00:38:30,975 that gave the impression that, in fact, 780 00:38:31,184 --> 00:38:33,770 this had been conjured up. 781 00:38:34,813 --> 00:38:36,648 [Pope] Researchers point to the flag 782 00:38:36,815 --> 00:38:39,609 appearing to flutter in very low gravity, 783 00:38:41,486 --> 00:38:45,448 or the way in which the astronauts move. 784 00:38:47,033 --> 00:38:51,162 Some people take that a step further and say, "Well, 785 00:38:51,329 --> 00:38:54,457 maybe the U.S. pulled it off by faking it in a film studio." 786 00:38:54,666 --> 00:38:56,000 And then, there is the fact 787 00:38:56,125 --> 00:38:58,086 that some of the original footage, 788 00:38:58,253 --> 00:39:00,046 which you think would be in the National Archives 789 00:39:00,213 --> 00:39:03,383 as some of the most treasured footage anywhere, 790 00:39:03,550 --> 00:39:05,093 has apparently gone missing. 791 00:39:05,260 --> 00:39:08,054 And, of course, secrecy breeds conspiracy. 792 00:39:08,221 --> 00:39:09,722 Because when people don't 793 00:39:09,848 --> 00:39:11,099 have information, 794 00:39:11,307 --> 00:39:13,226 they struggle to fill in the gaps. 795 00:39:14,727 --> 00:39:16,938 [Shatner] The idea that the Apollo 11 Moon landing 796 00:39:17,146 --> 00:39:20,400 may have been staged is hard to believe. 797 00:39:20,525 --> 00:39:24,237 But in an era defined by secrecy and propaganda, 798 00:39:24,404 --> 00:39:28,157 if one superpower had reason to claim victory, 799 00:39:28,324 --> 00:39:31,035 the other had reason to cast doubt. 800 00:39:32,078 --> 00:39:33,830 [Springer] There are individuals that argue 801 00:39:33,997 --> 00:39:35,331 that the United States 802 00:39:35,498 --> 00:39:37,709 wanted to intimidate the Soviet Union 803 00:39:37,876 --> 00:39:40,295 by pretending to have the technological capacity 804 00:39:40,461 --> 00:39:42,005 to reach the Moon, 805 00:39:42,171 --> 00:39:44,841 even though it did not actually possess that ability. 806 00:39:45,884 --> 00:39:48,386 There is a die-hard segment of the American public 807 00:39:48,553 --> 00:39:51,097 that still believes the Moon landings were faked. 808 00:39:52,974 --> 00:39:56,895 [Baker] The Space Race was fundamentally a propaganda war. 809 00:39:57,061 --> 00:39:59,606 The U.S. Moon landing might be seen 810 00:39:59,772 --> 00:40:03,776 as the apex of the Cold War propaganda battle. 811 00:40:03,985 --> 00:40:05,486 And, of course, 812 00:40:05,653 --> 00:40:07,030 it was a tremendous victory for the U.S., 813 00:40:07,196 --> 00:40:09,115 tremendous defeat for the Soviets. 814 00:40:09,282 --> 00:40:10,575 One could understand 815 00:40:10,742 --> 00:40:13,369 how the Soviets weren't exactly unhappy 816 00:40:13,536 --> 00:40:15,955 when all these rumors began circulating 817 00:40:16,122 --> 00:40:18,207 that the Moon landing had been faked. 818 00:40:20,543 --> 00:40:22,879 [Shatner] When it comes to top secret warfare, 819 00:40:23,004 --> 00:40:25,673 the battle is often fought not with weapons 820 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:27,800 but with information. 821 00:40:27,967 --> 00:40:29,427 And in that battle, 822 00:40:29,594 --> 00:40:32,472 truth itself can become the casualty. 823 00:40:33,556 --> 00:40:34,933 [Beyer] When it's deception, 824 00:40:35,099 --> 00:40:38,102 you never know exactly where the truth lies. 825 00:40:38,311 --> 00:40:40,521 The whole philosophy of deception, it's like 826 00:40:40,647 --> 00:40:43,191 a game of chess between two sides, 827 00:40:43,358 --> 00:40:45,068 and the winner is the person who can 828 00:40:45,234 --> 00:40:47,987 be the most convincing when you get to the bottom of it. 829 00:40:49,072 --> 00:40:51,950 [Pope] Secrecy sends the message to people 830 00:40:52,116 --> 00:40:55,244 that they're hiding something, and, of course, they are. 831 00:40:56,329 --> 00:40:58,706 With all of that, you wonder what 832 00:40:58,873 --> 00:41:00,583 we haven't got to hear about. 833 00:41:01,542 --> 00:41:02,919 And they could be anything. 834 00:41:03,044 --> 00:41:05,672 I mean, the sky's the limit. 835 00:41:05,838 --> 00:41:11,469 Was the Moon landing all just a masterful deception? 836 00:41:12,512 --> 00:41:15,098 Whether one accepts the conspiracy theory or not, 837 00:41:15,306 --> 00:41:19,978 it shows how secrecy can distort and cloud 838 00:41:20,186 --> 00:41:21,646 even our greatest achievements. 839 00:41:21,813 --> 00:41:25,858 But perhaps that was the goal all along. 840 00:41:26,901 --> 00:41:29,904 From covert missions and mysterious technologies 841 00:41:30,071 --> 00:41:34,617 to dangerous experiments and even phantom forces, 842 00:41:34,826 --> 00:41:36,869 there's no question that top secret projects 843 00:41:37,036 --> 00:41:39,122 have shaped world history 844 00:41:39,247 --> 00:41:41,958 in ways that continue to surprise us. 845 00:41:42,083 --> 00:41:45,586 And for every operation that's been revealed, 846 00:41:45,753 --> 00:41:49,132 there are countless clandestine plans 847 00:41:49,298 --> 00:41:54,053 and mysterious missions that may forever remain... 848 00:41:54,220 --> 00:41:55,513 unexplained. 849 00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:57,015 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS