Our new special exhibit, Camouflage: Designed to Deceive, is opening March 1!
Journey through four immersive galleries exploring deception from its origin in animal mimicry and disguise to its evolution from WWII battlefields to today's digital warfare, where the art of hiding in plain sight has never been more critical.
The exhibit will feature real stories, artifacts, and immersive media, and touches on the intersecting worlds of nature, science, art, design, military and political history – even fashion and pop culture.
Tickets are available now! Link in bio ⬆️
#SpyCamo #SpyMuseum #NewExhibit #WashingtonDC
Our new special exhibit, Camouflage: Designed to Deceive, is opening March 1!
Journey through four immersive galleries exploring deception from its origin in animal mimicry and disguise to its evolution from WWII battlefields to today's digital warfare, where the art of hiding in plain sight has never been more critical.
The exhibit will feature real stories, artifacts, and immersive media, and touches on the intersecting worlds of nature, science, art, design, military and political history – even fashion and pop culture.
Tickets are available now! Link in bio ⬆️
#SpyCamo #SpyMuseum #NewExhibit #WashingtonDC
Our new special exhibit, Camouflage: Designed to Deceive, is opening March 1!
Journey through four immersive galleries exploring deception from its origin in animal mimicry and disguise to its evolution from WWII battlefields to today's digital warfare, where the art of hiding in plain sight has never been more critical.
The exhibit will feature real stories, artifacts, and immersive media, and touches on the intersecting worlds of nature, science, art, design, military and political history – even fashion and pop culture.
Tickets are available now! Link in bio ⬆️
#SpyCamo #SpyMuseum #NewExhibit #WashingtonDC
SHH…we’ve got a secret to share. 👀
We've just launched the Secret History of History (SHH) Walking Tour, a free, app‑based, self‑guided adventure through 250 years of real spy stories hidden in plain sight across Washington, DC.
Start your mission outside the International Spy Museum and follow the one‑mile route to uncover espionage sites and see the city through a spy's eyes. Perfect for curious minds ages 9+, solo explorers, families, and anyone ready to get outside and spy.
📍 Starts at the Spy Museum
🚶♂️ About 1 mile, ~1 hour
🎧 Bring a device + headphones
🌐 Free on our app: Search "International Spy Museum" in your phone's app store.
Your mission awaits. 🕵️♀️✨
#WashingtonDC #FreeTour #ThingsToDoInDC
Tomorrow marks one year since we launched our first online exhibition, "Open Source: Ukraine and the Intelligence Revolution." Link in bio ⬆️
Since then, thousands have explored how publicly available data, from social media posts to flight logs, are transforming modern intelligence collection. As the conflict in Ukraine continues to shape global security, this digital exhibition remains a powerful window into the role open source information plays in uncovering truth and shaping battlefields in real time.
#OSINT #OnlineExhibit #SpyMuseum
This Saturday I’ll be at the International Spy Museum signing books. 2:00 to 4:00 PM, in the store. Free and open to the public – the registration link is in my bio.
Two titles on the table:
“The Spy Archive: Hidden Lives, Secret Missions, and the History of Espionage” – the story of intelligence told through the artifacts that shaped it.
“National Security Careers: The Ultimate Guide to Breaking In” – how to actually get hired into counterterrorism, cybersecurity, intelligence, and diplomacy. The book I wish someone had handed me 25 years ago.
Proceeds from both books go to @innetwork_nsa , the nonprofit I founded to mentor the next generation of national security professionals.
If you’ve thought about a career in this field, come by. Happy to talk, sign books, and meet folks in person. Come see me!
#booksigning #nationalsecurity #spy #spymuseum #dcevents
Not all pens are made for writing. This one was built for assassinations. Straight from our SPY Vault, this poison‑needled pen was confiscated from a would‑be North Korean assassin.
#SpyGadget #Artifact #SpyMuseum
This Mother’s Day, we turn our focus to mothers who served in the world of espionage.
Odette Sansom, a French-born mother of three, worked undercover for the British Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. Captured by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, she endured imprisonment and relentless interrogation without betraying her fellow agents. Her courage saved lives, and she later accepted the George Cross in honor of those who did not survive.
Elizebeth Smith Friedman, known as America’s first female cryptanalyst, balanced motherhood with groundbreaking intelligence work that shaped modern codebreaking. While raising her children, she cracked thousands of enemy codes during Prohibition and WWII using little more than pencil and paper. Her contributions helped dismantle spy networks and safeguard Allied operations.
Ursula Kuczynski, code-named “Sonya,” was a German-born Soviet intelligence officer and mother of three who ran espionage networks across Europe during WWII. While living in England, she served as a key conduit for classified atomic weapons information, transmitting intelligence from physicist Klaus Fuchs and others working on Allied nuclear research to Moscow. Often using domestic life as her cover, she carried out some of the war’s most consequential intelligence work before later becoming a writer under the pen name Ruth Werner.
#MothersDay #SpyMuseum #WomensHistory
Happy Global Big Day: a day when birders around the world come together to see how many species they can collectively spot in 24 hours. But, before you grab your binoculars, let’s ask the real question…are birds even real? Or are they government drones?
At the International Spy Museum, we know that animal espionage is very real. During WWI, pigeons were used as intelligence assets. Some were experimentally outfitted with early cameras and released over enemy territory to capture aerial photography.
Pigeons also served as trusted message carriers during both world wars when radio communication was often unreliable. Of the hundreds of thousands of carrier pigeons deployed, historians estimate that about 95% completed their missions, even under enemy fire.
Pigeons continued their service worldwide into the 1950s, earning more recognition and military decorations than any other animal.
And yes, the shirt is available in our Spy Museum Store. Link in bio ⬆️
#GlobalBigDay #Birding #BirdsArentReal
Victory in Europe Day commemorates Germany's May 8, 1945 surrender, marking the end of WWII in Europe, where fighting was won not only on the battlefield, but also through deception.
Looking back, one of the boldest examples of deception came in 1944 as Allied forces prepared for the Normandy landings. During Operation Copperhead, British intelligence enlisted Lt. Clifton James (right), an actor who closely resembled the well-known Gen. Bernard “Monty” Montgomery (left). James was sent on a highly visible tour of Allied positions in the Mediterranean to act as Monty's double. The goal was to convince German intelligence that, with the famous general present there, the invasion would come from the south rather than Normandy.
This effort was part of a coordinated deception campaign that helped make D-Day successful and eventually led to victory in Europe.
Explore this story and other ways deception impacted WWII in our new exhibition, Camouflage: Designed to Deceive - Link in bio ⬆️
#VEDay #WWII #SpyCamo
When couture meets covert.
This year’s lewks remind us of a few fabulous artifacts.
Fashion and spying both dazzle the eye.
#MetGala2026 #SpyMuseum #MetGala
Trying to learn how to disguise yourself from your marketing team? Visit the Spy Museum to learn about the art of deception.
#SpyMuseum #SocialMediaTeam #Disguise
