When people think of secret agents, they think of fictional characters like James Bond or Ethan Hunt,

jumping off of cliffs on motorcycles and breaking into the lair of an evil villain who's trying to

dominate the world. In reality, agents from the CIA and MI5 are out there and they're trying

to stop bad people from carrying out evil acts, but their job is far less spectacular than people would believe.

They spend a good amount of time watching and waiting,

not something you would pay to see a blockbuster movie about.

Sometimes, though, the truth is stranger than fiction.

Music fiction. On December 3, 1992, two bombs exploded in the center of Manchester, England.

The first bomb detonated at 8.31 a.m. inside a car that was parked at Parsonage Gardens in the commercial district.

It injured six people. At 10.09 a.m., the second bomb exploded near Manchester Cathedral.

A further 58 people were injured in that bombing. Authorities received a call from someone

claiming there were more bombs in the city, causing the police

to evacuate, but no other bombs were found. The following day, the provisional IRA claimed

responsibility for the act. It was a time where the IRA was carrying out bombings throughout

England, and it left most people on edge. Understandably, people were worried that a bomb could go off at any moment

and they could be injured or killed. One man, however, didn't seem to fear the bombings. No, he had

actually found them useful. The Swan is a pub that sits near the center of Newport about an hour

and 40 minutes south of Manchester. Like most pubs, it was frequented by

young adults as they kicked back in their spare time and socialized. Being only four minutes

from Harper Adams University, a local agricultural college, the pub was a regular hangout for students

taking a break from studying farming and food marketing. Three of the students that spent a

good amount of time at the Swan were Sarah Smith, her boyfriend John Atkinson, and their roommate

...