The Cold War took espionage between the United States and the Soviet Union to another level, forcing the development of ever more elaborate methods of obtaining sensitive information. One of the most striking cases involved the use of carrier pigeons equipped with cameraswho served the CIA during spy missions in Moscow.
Of course, we are not just talking about a curious case. This is one of the many examples of how intelligence agencies should have express ingenuity to the fullest to obtain the necessary resources—photographs, in this case—to further their investigations.
The striking thing about this peculiar form of espionage is that he resorted to an old acquaintance: pigeon racing. Carrier pigeons had already fulfilled a transcendental role during the First and Second World Wars, where they served the allies as a means of communication behind enemy lines. However, the first attempts to implement them in aerial reconnaissance tasks were even older.
The German Julius Neubronner He is considered the inventor of photography with pigeons, having patented a system in the early 1900s. Despite this, its actual use on the battlefield was far from achieving the impact that birds used for messaging work did have.
It would only be a matter of time until, at the height of the Cold War, the CIA decided to revive the concept of homing pigeons flying with miniature cameras for photographing high-value targets.
Carrier pigeons, turned into CIA spies
Using carrier pigeons as a method of gathering information about the Soviet Union made sense. After all, the birds they could “infiltrate” any city and go completely unnoticed among their peers. The real challenge was to create a camera that was small and light enough, capable of being triggered automatically, that would allow the capture of good quality images and not hinder its flight. Without forgetting that they should not attract attention, since a bird with a photographic device strapped to its chest would arouse the suspicion of any passerby, at least.
That’s how the CIA developed a device that was not only tiny—compared to the size of a pigeon, at least—but also produced more than decent images. As he explained Jonna Mendezwho served as the US agency’s photographic operations officer and head of costumes, the photos obtained during the tests were very good. At least as good as those obtained with the spy satellites of the time.
As for the camera itself, it measured 4.7 centimeters long, 2.4 wide and 2.2 thick. Its mechanism was powered by a battery-powered motor and took the photos at predetermined intervals. To tie the device to the body of carrier pigeons, a harness weighing about 5 grams was used. Combined, the camera and harness are estimated to they weighed about 1.5 ounces (about 42 grams).
Secret operations
BBC World published in 2019 that efforts to spy on the Soviet Union with carrier pigeons were part of the Operation Tacana. However, he mentions that the CIA investigations were not limited to these animals. It is that there were also attempts to train crows, dolphins and even domestic pets such as dogs and cats.
Unfortunately, today it is still unknown to what extent US intelligence was able to harness the potential of carrier pigeons for aerial reconnaissance tasks in Moscow. Although there are declassified records that mention how this method of espionage was attempted to be perfected in the 1960s and 1970s, mission details remain confidential to this day.
Apparently, the CIA secretly flew the carrier pigeons to the Soviet Union and studied various alternatives for deploying them. One of his main targets to spy would have been the shipyards of what is now known as Saint Petersburg (Leningrad, until 1991). Although even today it is unknown if they could fulfill their mission.
Pros and cons of spy birds
Indeed, the CIA worked tirelessly during the Cold War to create espionage methods far more complex, sophisticated, and costly than carrier pigeons. However, there was real interest in the results that the birds could deliver, since they could fly a few meters above the ground and get into places that would otherwise be inaccessible. Something that was impossible with its most advanced reconnaissance machinery, such as the Lockheed U-2 and A-12 planes, or the CORONA satellites.
As we already mentioned, it has not yet been revealed how many spy bird missions were used, nor until what year. What the CIA does indicate through his online museum is that, finally, photography with pigeons ended up being ineffective. But not because the images obtained lacked quality, but because the birds they were not always able to fly over the exact location for which images were required.
Despite this, homing pigeons earned their place as one of the many ways Americans attempted to gather intelligence during one of the hottest times in 20th-century history. Seen after many years, it may seem ridiculous, of course. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that it was a time when espionage fueled the power struggle between the United States and the USSR. And the mission was always to have the advantage; It didn’t matter if it was achieved with guns, space rockets, or friendly-looking birds.