VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English programEXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about a museum that has just opened inWashington D-C. This unusual museum is becoming very popular, veryquickly. It is the International Spy Museum.
(SPY MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
The International Spy Museum opened on Friday, July nineteenth.The next day a crowd of people waited in the summer heat for as longas two hours to enter.
After they got in the museum, they learned about famous spies.They saw unusual communications equipment, special weapons and otheritems. They also saw many objects that used to be secret, includingdifferent cameras used by spies. Some of the cameras can see throughwalls.
The museum has a huge collection of pictures of spies. Itprovides information about what it is like to be a spy. And, it hasshows what happens to some spies when they are caught.
Some of its information about spies is history. Other informationis new, some only a few months old. Among the stories the museumtells is about two American men who were found guilty in recentyears of spying. Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen are spending therest of their lives in prison.
VOICE TWO:
Information is extremely useful to a government and its leaders.Almost all governments employ people who collect information.
National leaders use this information to make the best possibledecisions when their country is involved in a crisis or otherdifficult situation. The correct information can help a leaderprevent war. It can save lives, improve the economy and protect thecitizens of a nation.
Valuable information does not have to be secret. It can be foundin newspapers, magazines and books. However, some people collectinformation that a government considers secret. These people arespies.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
History experts say that spies have always existed. TheInternational Spy Museum says the first known document about spiesis almost four-thousand years old. It is a small piece of potterymade of clay that was found in Syria.
The information written in the clay tells about the capture ofseveral spies. It does not say what happened to them.
The museum has a copy of a military book writtentwo-thousand-five hundred years ago. Chinese military expert GeneralSun Tzu wrote the book, “The Art of War.” It is still read today inmilitary schools. In the book, Sun Tzu explains spies should be usedand can find good information almost anywhere.
The International Spy Museum says the first known successfulgroup of spies may have worked in Britain. The Museum says SirFrancis Walsingham was the Secretary of State for Britain’s QueenElizabeth the First. He became her Secretary of State infifteen-seventy-three.
Mister Walsingham controlled a large group of spies who gatheredinformation about people in Britain. Experts say there may have beenone-thousand-five-hundred spies in this group.
Mister Walsingham also collected information about foreigngovernments. However, he was more interested in anyone who might bea threat to Queen Elizabeth and her rule. History experts judgethese efforts to have been successful because he was able to protectthe queen from several enemies who tried to overthrow hergovernment.
VOICE TWO:
American military commanders used spies against the Britishduring the American Revolution. George Washington’s letter about theuse of spies is in the International Spy Museum. There also ismaterial from spies on both sides of the American Civil War and fromspies from countries that took part in World War One.
The museum has a large collection of material about World WarTwo. Spies did very useful work for both sides during the war. Theygathered information about enemy plans and caused problems for theenemy deep in occupied lands.
The Museum also explains how almost every government has usedspies to gather secret information during peacetime. It tells howthe secrets for making the atomic bomb were stolen.
The work of spying is not just history. It continues today. TheInternational Spy Museum says more spies are working now inWashington D-C, than in any other city in the world.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
If you were going to build a museum that cost more thanforty-million dollars to tell the story of spies, how would you doit? The company that owns the International Spy Museum asked theadvice of a long list of experts.
Several are retired members of the United States CentralIntelligence Agency. Two members of this group are AdmiralStansfield Turner and William Webster. Both are former heads of theC-I-A. The museum’s experts also include General Oleg Kalugin. Heonce was the head of the former Soviet Union’s intelligence service,the K-G-B. General Kalugin says he worked with the museum so allsides of the spy story could be represented.
The International Spy Museum attempts to represent the work thatspies do. It is not trying to present a political idea, or the storyof one country or government. The museum makes it clear that aperson considered a dangerous spy in one country can be considered ahero in another country.
VOICE TWO:
The International Spy Museum is in a group of older buildingsnear the center of Washington D-C. Inside, the museum is extremelymodern. It uses the newest electronic technology to tell the storyof spying.
Visitors are surrounded by steel and glass walls. On one wall isthe warning, “All is not as it seems.” Many of the walls holdtelevision equipment that shows information as the visitors walkthrough an area.
On many of these television sets, different pictures appeartelling the same story. The museum also includes several smalltheaters that show films about spies and spying. A visitor soonrealizes there is a lot to see and a lot to learn.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
Visitors to the new museum say the information provided is veryinteresting. They especially like the objects used by spies.
Many of these items are unusual. They look like common items, butthey are not. Some are extremely small. For example, a button on aman’s coat is really the lens on a camera. Another camera looks likea wristwatch.
A small, brown suitcase is really a radio used by allied spiesworking in German occupied France during World War Two. The suitcaseradio was used to send and receive messages from the spy’sheadquarters in Britain.
The museum also has many different weapons that are difficult torecognize. One looks like the round lipstick tube a woman uses toplace red color on her lips. It is really a small gun that can fireone bullet. Another gun looks like a large ring. It can fire fivevery small bullets.
VOICE TWO:
The International Spy Museum is too small to have an airplaneinside it. Yet airplanes are very important to the story of spying.
The museum has pictures of spy planes and the photographs theyhave taken. One interesting camera was used by a bird. This happenedbefore the invention of airplanes. A special small camera wasattached to the bird’s chest. The bird flew into the air and thecamera began taking photographs. The result was not always useful,but provided some information.
Many years later, the United States used the fastest aircraftever built to gather photographic intelligence. It was called theS-R-Seventy-One Blackbird. It could travel at three times the speedof sound. The Blackbird’s powerful cameras could take photographs ofobjects as small as a child’s ball from as high astwenty-six-thousand meters.
VOICE ONE:
The International Spy Museum is owned by a company that plans tobuild museums for profit. An adult has to pay eleven dollars toenter the International Spy Museum. A child must pay eight dollars.The museum also includes a large gift shop and two places to eat.
Some critics say eleven dollars is too much to charge. Yet, thepeople who must wait in long lines to enter the museum do not seemto mind paying that amount.
Oh… we almost forgot to tell you. If you visit the spy museum, becareful what you say while you are there. As you pass through themuseum’s twenty-four rooms, hidden devices are recording what yousay.
As you finish your visit, you can listen to these recordings ofvisitors’ comments. In the International Spy Museum, nothing is asit seems.
((THEME))
VOICE TWO:
This Special English program was written by Paul Thompson. It wasproduced by Cynthia Kirk. Our studio engineer was Holly Capehart.This is Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Mary Tillotson. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.