[GreenKeys] A Little More TWX History

[tony.podrasky]

I worked for a company that made super computers.

We installed one at a facility that was doing work
for a certain branch of the government and I'm  *Not Saying Anything*
else...

When the installation was complete they wanted to
run a security clearance on me. I said "go-ahead - I've
had several done already".

They set up an appointment for the next week.
When I get there, there is a man with a lie-detector.
He instructs me on how to answer the questions. He had
me stare at the wall - sitting almost with my nose touching
the wall. And to clear my mind. I said that that isn't going
to work - because my mind is constantly running in overdrive.
He said we will do three dry runs before we do the official
test. We got started. After the second run, he said: "you passed".
I said you said that we were going to do three practice ones and
then the real one. He said I said that so you wouldn't
be under pressure.

A week later I get a call from the company informing me that I
was to fly to Washington, go to the Pentagon and talk with a Colonel.
I talked with the Colonel.

One of the questions she asked was "Do you
know what the computer is being used for?"

I answered:

Do I KNOW what it's being used for? - No.
Do I HAVE A GOOD IDEA what it's being used for? - Yes.

She asks for what?

I said: "you know, if I wasn't here in the Pentagon by appointment,
talking with you I'd play dumb - but I'll give you the answer:"

In the company is a room that is filled with mathematical books.
In the break room are little tables with chess sets on them. When
a game is getting heavy, a crowd surrounds the table and watches
intently, not making a sound. The men and women there have their
brains running at warp speeds - and sometimes it takes a while for
them to respond to a question.

The computer is being used for cryptology.

One of the other interesting questions was:

OK - what would it take for you to sell-out to a foreign government?
I responded that I hadn't thought about that. Give me a minute.

She says: $10,000? $100,000? $1,000,000?

$10,000: that's a pretty cheap price to sell yourself for. Because
I would expect the be recorded and photographed when you have someone
to give me the check - and if I turn-down any work you want me to do
you'd send the picture to the government.

$100,000: that sounds pretty good up-front - EXCEPT I couldn't spend
it without attracting attention. My last clearance was with the CIA
and they had stuff on me that I didn't know anyone knew!

$1,000,000: yeah, - and when I go to pick up the check, instead of
a check, there is a bullet to the brain.

So: there is no way I'd get involved in something like that.

If there are more posts to this thread, I'll tell you about the
interview with the CIA.

UE,
K2EAA - TONY
NNNN
ZCZC


On 11/27/2019 12:14 PM, Ralph Irish wrote:
>
> I got a Secret Crypto clearance and all of my duty after that was
> 'behind the curtain'.  Interesting times for a 20/21 year old!  I had
> access to
> a lot of Classified 'paper', although no 'Need To Know', but I still
> managed to read a lot of it.
>

-- 
I wanted to find out just how much the Earth weighs
so I went into the bathroom and turned the scale
up-side-down. BAD PLAN: the scale was crushed beyond
recognition.  I'm not strong enough to lift the
Earth off of it, so now I'm stuck with a paper-thin
scale on my bathroom floor.      - Tony J. Podrasky