In the past we have spoken of the enormous virtues of SR-71 Blackbird, the American reconnaissance aircraft that could sustainably fly above Mach 3. Able to outrun missiles thanks to its beastly speed, much of its technology remains confidential to this day. However, despite the secrecy behind its development and history of operations, it has not been immune to espionage attempts, both its own and others.
In 1985, for example, an administrative sergeant at Beale Air Force Base in California tried to sell secrets of the SR-71 Blackbird to the Soviet Union. However, he ended up being betrayed by the Soviets themselves, who notified the US intelligence services.
Yes, you read correctly. In the midst of the Cold War, a member of the United States Air Force tried to sell classified information on one of the most important aeronautical developments of the 20th century to the USSR, and was refused. But not only that, but also helped deliver the traitor to the authorities.
An SR-71 Blackbird Espionage Attempt Gone Horribly Wrong
This peculiar situation was reflected in the book SR-71, The Blackbird, Q&Awhich the former pilot Terry Pappas published in 2012. There he explained that the attempt to sell the secrets of the supersonic plane was the work of an employee overwhelmed by financial problems. In a chokehold, he tried to get money by giving secret data to the Soviet Union. But he did it in the clumsiest way possible.
“One of the administrative sergeants assigned to the unit was in financial straits. He thought that the highly secret information he had on the SR-71 Blackbird could be sold. He called the Soviet embassy in San Francisco and proposed that they give him $100,000 for various documents key related to the aircraft. The Soviets thought this guy was deranged, so they notified US intelligence. He got busted and got a one-way ticket to Leavenworth.
How secure was top secret information? At Beale Air Force Base in California, there was an encryption padlock to enter the building. There was another lock to get into the room where our squad was. We then had a separate room, where there were safes lining the wall. Every pilot and RSO [Oficial de sistemas de reconocimiento] it had its own safe, and to gain access to it an even larger safe had to be opened first. What were they keeping there? Your checklist, among other things. Safety was paramount throughout the SR-71 program.”
Terry Pappas, in SR-71, The Blackbird, Q&A.
Logically, there are not many more details about this story. As Pappas mentions, sergeant sentenced to 25 years hard labor in Leavenworth, Kansas. This city is well known for having multiple prisons and detention centers; among them, the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth.
The other striking point is why the Soviet Union passed up the chance to buy secrets from the SR-71 Blackbird. Although there is no specific answer, it is likely that it was done to prevent a diplomatic incident with the potential to escalate quickly. All USSR embassies in the United States were under strict surveillance. For this reason, the intelligence services would easily intercept a telephone call offering confidential information. Thus, it is likely that the most “sane” thing for the Soviets was to denounce the espionage attempt and leave it to the local authorities to solve it.
Or, perhaps, they thought that the stage it was too good to be trueand that it could be a trap set by the Americans themselves.
It was not an isolated case
Just a year before a subject tried to sell the secrets of the SR-71 Blackbird to the Soviet Union, the United States had had to face a similar case. Although in this case with the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.
In 1984, an aeronautical engineer named Thomas Patrick Cavanagh he sold the secrets of said aircraft to the Russians in exchange for $65,000. However, the buyers were actually American infiltrators who were investigating him. Sentenced to life in prison for espionage, it was later learned that it was a desperate attempt by the aforementioned to get money to pay for your divorce.