+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU NOW | | | | - OR - | | | | How to Hide Your Broccoli from George Bush | | | | Originally Written by Harold Hough | | for Loompanics Book Catalog (1991) | | | | Brought to you (without anyone's permission) by | | another member of the Invisible Network of Anarchists | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ An angry George Bush confronted the press August 5, 1990 and accussed Iraqi President Suddam Hussein of lying when he promised to start withdrawing from Kuwait. During his meeting with reporters, Bush implied America's spy satellites had provided him with the information to make this serious charge. In the world of diplomacy, strong words like Bush's accusation are only used when incontrovertible evidence is available. However, in the three days since the invasion, there were at most three overhead flights of America's surveillance satellites (and clearly divining Iraqi intentions with a couple of overhead flights is like trying to discover the plot of "Gone With The Wind" with three still photos). Bush, a normally diplomatic person, wouldn't have issued such a strong statement unless he had more than a few photographs, especially since the withdrawl was only supposed to start on August 5. What provided the extra evidence? A year earlier, the answer would have been the SR-71: America's top secret, high-altitude, high speed reconnaissance aircraft. Today, however, this aircraft is in mothballs because the government says spy satellites can provide all the needed reconaissance (this despite the fact that the Air Force never willingly retires a manned craft unless another one is ready to replace it). So, what's the answer to America's surveillance capability? The answer probably is the top secret Aurora Project. The Aurora is the hypersonic replacement for the SR-71. It's a stealth aircraft capable of reaching 3,800 MPH and operating at altitudes of 150,000 feet. According to reports, it was built at Lockheed's Skunkworks (where the stealth fighter was built) and is flying from airfields in California and Nevada. Although the public has never heard of Aurora, it's scarcely a secret. Congressional documents, Aviation Week, Understanding Defense, and books on stealth technology have talked about the Aurora. We can also assume the Soviets and the Iraqis, who have subscriptions to what is commonly known as "Aviation Leak" in the intelligence community, know about this new aircraft. So why is the Aurora so secret when the enemy knows? It can't be the technology because President Carter revealed the exisitance of stealth technology 10 years ago and you can see the stealth fighter at many airshows along with the Blue Angels. Why is the information about the Aurora, along with the SR-71, U2, and generations of spy satellites still withheld from the public even though any potential enemy knows about them? The answer is obvious and frightening: the government doesn't want it's citizens to understand the range of America's surveillance capabilities. In fact, the same technology that's used to verify Soviet arms agreements and monitor Iraqi troop movements is now employed to collect taxes, find drugs, and even detect people who are watering their lawn too much. Americans are placed in the position of the horse in the old story who joins with the man in order to beat the wolf. Once the wolf is destroyed, however, the horse is kept in captivity. Have we sacrificed our freedom to destroy the Soviets? For thirty years, government officials have lied to us about spy satellite capabilities and we believed it was necessary for nation security. While we thought they were keeping information from the enemy, the Soviets and anyone else who knew about the science of optics could easily pierce the veil and learn the truth. Only the American people were in the dark. When the SR-71 was retired earlier this year, the defense department said it could identify a "hubcap at 40,000 feet." That may sound good to the average taxpayer, but anyone who has studied optics knows that a commercial 35mm camera, with a commercial lens, with commercial Kodak film, flying at 40,000 feet in a commercial airplane, could take better photos. The DOD knew, the Soviets knew, and scientists knew. Who were they trying to fool? The America public. Not all satellite photos are of a military nature. The US, the USSR, and France sell satellite images for geologists, map makers, and earth resource managers. While the Soviets and French provide clear pictures to their costumers, the United States intentionally provides low quality images. As a result, the images available from the US are worse than what would be available from a commercial 35mm camera mounted on the satellite. In fact, the normally paranoid Soviets provide photos 36 times better than the US images! These poor satellite images don't fool the enemy. Any Soviet scientist who took a first semester course in optics (or bought photography books from Kodak) can make a resonable guess at the resolution of the newest US spy satellites like the KH-12. Resolution can be determined by learning the focal length (limited somewhat by the length of the space shuttle cargo bay), the satellite's altitude (available from radar or orbital characteristics), and the size of charge coupled devices (information avaiable in electronics magazines). With this information, the Soviets would learn the latest US spy satellites have a resolution of a few inches; enough to see a credit card on the ground (if you want to know more about resolution, see my book A Practical Guide to Photographic Intelligence). Gathering information from spy satellites is easy for the government and the police. Since the newest satellites use TV cameras instead of film, they can operate while passing over the US and provide additional information with little extra cost. The government is already using remote sensing satellites for domestic purposes. Even low resolution units can provide valuable valuable information for tax purposes. Bureaucrats use them in cities where maps are too slow to record changes. But the most frightening application is in law enforcement. Recently, the State of California announced it was using the US LANDSAT satellite to search for people watering their lawn during the drought. As usual, public officals lied about the satellite's capabilities. They insisted the satellite couldn't see anything smaller than a football field and they were only interested in finding the rich people who wasted water on large lawns. In fact, the satellite can see roads and it wouldn't be hard to find suburban homeowners who weren't obeying the law. They just didn't want to alarm the citizens their capabilities. But the most frightening application of satellite surveillance is when the US lets civilian departments use the super-sophisticated spy satellites for domestic surveillance. This is happening today in the "War on Drugs." While the public thinks military involment is limited to interdicting drug shipments from South America, there is considerable evidence that the spy satellites are photographing the US for the Drug Enforcement Agency. The ability to see a credit card on the ground from space is now in the hands of Drug Czar William Bennett. For several years US forces have been eradicating drug crops in South America and the US. Until now, no one has asked how the crops were found. We assumed helicopter pilots, flying through narrow valleys and dodging bullets, are skilled botanists who can identify a coca plant at 500 feet while travelling 200 mph. In fact, since satellites can identify different kinds of plants, a botanist sitting in front of a computer in Washington, DC can identify South American drug crops. The helicopter pilots are just used to verify the targets. The most recent evidence of this tactic is Humbolt County, California where units of the 7th Cavalry are using aerial information to launch air assaults (like Vietnam) on marijuana crops. Big Brother is no longer looking at the Soviet Union, he is looking at you. So what's next? The Supreme Court has ruled aerial photography is legal for law enforcement. Consequently, by extension, satellite imagery is legal. However, the story gets worse as we continue. Although a spy satellite can currently see something as small a a credit card on the ground, technology is improving. Satellite resolution will improve and much of this equipment can be installed on aircraft so local police can spy where they want. With computer enhancement the police will be able to read a letter over your shoulder in a few years and the courts will rule it's legal. American taxpayers have willingly built a new policeman. Although we wanted a strong defense we failed to realize that such a weapon for defense is also a weapon for suppression and tyranny. The satellites went after the Soviets and we didn't say anything because we weren't Soviets. They went after Iraqis and we didn't say anything because we weren't Iraqis. They went after drug dealers but we weren't drug dealers. Will anyone be left when they come after us? HIDING FROM THE EYE IN THE SKY Although the day when an overhead camera can see everything we do is rapidly approaching, there are ways to limit unwarranted intrusion and protect your privacy. Suppose George Bush decided to outlaw broccoli (it's already forbidden at the White House and on Air Force One). Like cigarette smoking, which was once socially acceptable, broccoli eating would be considered a sign of bad manners and unsocial attitudes. Socially responsible people would insist the small green buds that get stuck between your teeth are offensive looking and violate the viewer's Constitutional rights. Besides, the government would discover eating one ton of broccili a day for 20 years would increase the chances of getting intestinal cancer. With broccili outlawed, broccili addicts won't be able to buy their food at the grocery store and will have to grow it in hidden gardens in America's wilderness. Soon the broccili bludg will use satellite to find the fugitive food and destroy it before the rate of intestinal cancer skyrockets. Will America's vegetable lovers have to forgo broccili? Not necessarilly. Although surveillance satellites can help find the outlaw vegetable, they have weaknesses that allow guerrilla growers to avoid detection. To understand the satellite's weaknesses, you must understand how it works. Sensors record the different types of light reflected from the earth. Although most plants reflect green, the amount of green reflected (as well as other bands of light like blue and infrared) varies with each plant type. Therefore, a patch of broccili can stand out in an enhanced satellite image. Although satellites can detect broccili from hundreds of miles in space, there are some ways the small grower can complicate the interpreter's job and make the plants harder to find. Here are a few hints. 1. BE WHERE THEY AREN'T LOOKING. The earth's surface is too large for every inch to be analyzed, so analysts usually only look at areas where they expect to find something. If you start a garden in the middle of a Soviet surface-to-air missle site, don't be surprised if you're noticed. Next thing you know, the US will give the Soviets financial aid for a broccili eradication program. Furthermore, you won't want to plant your Broccili next to a Colombian coca crop because the US will probably spray it with some unhealthy herbicide. 2. AVOID UNNATURAL SHAPES. A square plot of broccili will stand out like a sore thumb to a satellite. Your garden should have a smoother, natural shape which will blend in (the splotches on camoflague clothing are a good example). Try to follow the geography. For instance, a garden that's narrow, but follows the course of a stream may appear to be a type of wild vegetation that requires more water. 3. USE DIFFERENT VARIETIES. Each variety of plant has a slightly different light signature, so a garden unevenly split between 3 or 4 different types of broccili will make the overhead picture a little more confusing (especially if they mature at different rates). 4. WATER UNEVENLY. A well watered plant has a different signature than a drier plant (as the bureaucrats in California are proving). If you water your broccili evenly, the garden will be easier to notice. 5. GROUND MOISTURE SHOULD BE THE SAME AS THE SURROUNDING AREA. Satellites can tell the difference between dry and moist ground. If the surrounding ground is dry and you're water your broccili so much that the ground is muddy, analysts will be able to see it. Since a well watered piece of ground is unusual in the midst of a dry area, the broccili patrol will be sure to visit you. 6. PLANT ALONG BORDERS. The borders between two different varieties of plants can be confusing, especially for a low resolution satellite. If you plant long, narrow gardens between two different types of plants or along a fence, your broccili will be harder to find. 7. WORK UNDER CLOUDS AND AT NIGHT. Although some satellites can see at night and through clouds, the resolution is poorer. Since many satellites are scheduled to fly overhead during the day, you can limit detection by working at night. Or if you have to work the garden during the day, work under clouds because satellites can't detect activity as easily. Furthermore, if you plant your broccili where there is more cloud cover the chances for detection are diminished. 8. DON'T STAND OUT. A broccili patch in the middle of Death Valley will attract the attention of the slowest photo interpreter. Grow your garden where there is regular ground cover. 9. DON'T COUNT ON CAMOFLAGUE NETTING. Although it looks like vegetation, camoflague netting has a radically different light signature from plants. A piece if netting used to cover something near your garden will stand out and advertise human activity. If you follow these suggestions when you grow your broccili, you will lessen the chance that the broccili patrol will find you and burn your crop of delicious vegetables. As is always the case, the key to avoiding government attention is to be inconspicuous. The technology available to the government is frightening, but the ammount of information is more than they can handle. If you don't attract attention, your chances of evading this new tool of Big Brother will be better. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------