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Tools</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-62"><a href="https://steveblank.com/secret-history/">Secret History</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-68"><a href="https://steveblank.com/books-for-startups/">Books for Startups</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-11025"><a href="https://steveblank.com/slides/">Slides/Videos</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-25609"><a href="https://steveblank.com/raising-money/">Raising Money</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div>  <div class="wrapper"> <div class="narrowcolumnwrapper"><div class="narrowcolumn"> <div class="content"> <div class="post-2686 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-secret-history-of-silicon-valley" id="post-2686"> <h2><a href="https://steveblank.com/2009/07/01/a-wilderness-of-mirrors/" rel="bookmark" title="A Wilderness of Mirrors">A Wilderness of Mirrors</a></h2> <div class="postinfo"> Posted on <span class="postdate">July 1, 2009</span> by steve blank </div> <div class="entry"> <p>Excuse the non-Customer Development, non-entrepreneurial post. I can’t get this one out of my head.</p> <p>————</p> <p><strong>The VENONA Project<br /> <span style="font-weight:normal;">One of the most interesting (declassified) stories of cryptography is the deciphering of Soviet communications to their diplomatic missions in the U.S during World War II. What was amazing about these decrypts was the Soviets used <a href="http://www.cryptosmith.com/archives/80">one-time pads</a> which were theoretically unbreakable. The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Puzzle-Palace-National-Intelligence-Organization/dp/0140067485" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Security Agency</a> has a <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/news-features/declassified-documents/venona/">great website on the subject</a>.</span></strong></p> <p>I had dinner last week with someone involved in the VENONA project (now retired.) We talked about one of the spies unearthed in the decoded messages; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Hall">Ted Hall</a>, a 19-year scientist at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratory">Los Alamos</a> working on the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-Richard-Rhodes/dp/0684813785">Manhattan Project</a>. For lots of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bombshell-Secret-Americas-Atomic-Conspiracy/dp/081292861X">complicated reasons</a> Hall was never arrested nor charged with a crime. Hall’s interest in Communism came from literature his older brother Ed brought home from college.</p> <p>When Ted Hall went to work on the Atomic Bomb during World War II his older brother Ed joined the Air Force.</p> <p><strong>My Brothers Keeper<br /> <span style="font-weight:normal;">During the Cold War, when Ted Hall was under suspicion of being a Soviet spy, his brother <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E6DE153FF93BA25752C0A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all">Ed Hall</a>, stayed in the Air Force and worked on every U.S. military missile program in the 1950’s (Atlas, Thor, etc.)</span></strong></p> <p>Ed Hall eventually became the father of the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/archive/mimi/history/srs/hrs1-3a.htm">Minuteman missile project</a>, our land-based <a href="http://www.nps.gov/archive/mimi/history/srs/history.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ICBM</a> carrying nuclear weapons to destroy the Soviet Union.</p> <p>Surely the KGB, who ran Ted Hall as a spy, knew about his brother? Perhaps even first…?</p> <p><strong>A Wilderness of Mirrors<br /> <span style="font-weight:normal;">My dinner companion, (who had a hand in his agencies counterintelligence group,) “acted” surprised about the connection between the two…</span></strong></p> <p>Oh, what a <a href="http://everything2.com/title/wilderness%20of%20mirrors">wilderness of mirrors</a> we live in.</p> <p style="text-align:left;"> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2009/07/01/a-wilderness-of-mirrors/#print" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20A%20Wilderness%20of%20Mirrors&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2009%2F07%2F01%2Fa-wilderness-of-mirrors%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. 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It’s interesting that the NY Times obituary makes no mention of Ted Hall.</p> <div class='jetpack-comment-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-comment-wrapper-6599589-778-67b8184d1129f' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/#blog_id=6599589&comment_id=778&origin=steveblank.com&obj_id=6599589-778-67b8184d1129f' data-name='like-comment-frame-6599589-778-67b8184d1129f'> <div class='likes-widget-placeholder comment-likes-widget-placeholder comment-likes'><span class='loading'>Loading...</span></div> <div class='comment-likes-widget jetpack-likes-widget comment-likes'><span class='comment-like-feedback'></span><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> </div> <div class="reply"> <a rel="nofollow" class="comment-reply-link" href="https://steveblank.com/2009/07/01/a-wilderness-of-mirrors/?replytocom=778#respond" data-commentid="778" data-postid="2686" data-belowelement="div-comment-778" data-respondelement="respond" data-replyto="Reply to Ben" aria-label="Reply to Ben">Reply</a> </div> </div> </li> <li class="comment odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1" id="comment-4434"> <div id="div-comment-4434"> <div class="comment-meta commentmetadata"> <div class="avatar"><img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1a59c19d8bb5eee13e01fa4aa23898ae?s=32&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1a59c19d8bb5eee13e01fa4aa23898ae?s=64&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-32 photo' height='32' width='32' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/></div> <span class="comment-author vcard"><strong class="fn"><a href="http://TonyGuitar.wordpress.com" class="url" rel="ugc external nofollow">TonyGuitar</a></strong>, on <a href="#comment-4434" title="">June 14, 2010 at 8:14 am</a> said: </span> </div> <p>I and others copied Russian CW, [Morse] traffic for North American forces. No need to say which one.</p> <p>We were able to track exactly where the big Rusky bombers were as they moved over the pole towards us. [They had no idea we were on to them then]. I Read that they still fly that way but I can’t really trust the MSM to be accurate.</p> <p>They always turn around though. Putin holds a grudge, but I don’t think Russians hate us nearly as much as they used to.</p> <p>I met some Russian sailors down at the docks in Vancouver. A very cheery and good natured bunch. I personally like them. Generous too. They gave me some of those half full cigaretts of theirs.</p> <p>No, our problem is with those KGB guys like Putin who take life too seriously.</p> <p>Imagine the sillyness of putting a poison needle in the neck of an honest journalist while she rides the elevator up to her apartment..</p> <p>That is so Siberia like it just kills all hope of a little humour. </p> <p>Putin is so old fashioned. The younger leaders will be a breath of fresh air. Humour is a big part of Russians personality. I hope it starts shining through at the top soon. 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