In June 1953, Brooklyn newsboy Jimmy Bozart was collecting in a Foster Avenue apartment building when someone paid him with a nickel that felt light. When he dropped it it popped open, revealing a piece of microfilm that bore a series of numbers (below).
The New York police gave it to the FBI, which spent four years trying to determine the origin of the nickel and the meaning of the numbers.
Finally, in May 1957 defecting KGB agent Reino Häyhänen helped them crack the cipher. The message was a greeting from Moscow welcoming him to the United States:- WE CONGRATULATE YOU ON A SAFE ARRIVAL. WE CONFIRM THE RECEIPT OF YOUR LETTER TO THE ADDRESS ‘V REPEAT V’ AND THE READING OF LETTER NUMBER 1.
- FOR ORGANIZATION OF COVER, WE GAVE INSTRUCTIONS TO TRANSMIT…
The post The Hollow Nickel Case appeared first on FeedBox.