Hey, history lovers. I'm Mike Rosenwald with RetroPod, a show about the past, rediscovered.

This is the story of the single greatest deception, the greatest sham ever perpetrated by the CIA.

Well, at least that we know of.

So in 1968, the Cold War is in full swing.

That's Robert Byer, the director of the CIA's museum.

In our previous episode, he told us about the one-shot pistol the United States plan to

air drop into Europe during World War II.

Amazingly enough, though, he's gotten even better story.

This one about the Cold War, the United States versus the Soviet Union, the heyday of espionage.

Both powers are looking at each other, trying to gain advantages.

Sort of like chess, with Checkmate being a nuclear war. And it's at that time that a Soviet submarine called the K-129

sinks somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

There were nearly 100 sailors aboard, but there was also other precious cargo.

It's got three nuclear missiles aboard and it's got incredibly valuable cryptography equipment.

The Russians obviously go nuts looking for it.

No luck. At least not for the Russians.

They spent two months searching for the sub before giving up.

They apparently didn't have the super nifty hydrophones,

essentially underwater microphones,

the U.S. Navy was using to listen to sounds across the ocean

trying to pick up Soviet nuclear test explosions.

They actually hear this submarine going down.

...