I Spy

I Spy

By: Nathan Izzo



Way back in the 1970’s, in the infancy of spy satellites, there was a case out of China that caught the USA with its pants down. The US had focused its snooping on an installation a few hundred miles…or kilometers…of Beijing. The speculation was that it was some kind of weapon research and development facility, mayhaps dealing with nuclear subs. The bulk of the complex was believed to be underground with the land above it covered in dense forest. But the activity coming and going was observed carefully.

Eventually spring came and all those trees grew leaves, camofluaging the land. With no visibility, America had to pull back its imaging and watch only the traffic in and out of the surrounding roads. The roads got busier. More and more vehicles, construction equipment and supplies were being brought in. Something was being constructed. The months passed, the Pentagon was briefed, and tension and speculation mounted as Fall came to the region. Leaves reddened, yellowed, browned and then fell. And what do you suppose the super spy satellite saw? A big red sign made of scaffolding, sheet metal and concrete, emblazoned and glossed with paint, aimed right at the sky, in perfect English a message reading “Piss off Americans”.