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Original poster

Has anyone met a secret agent or mi5

230 replies

Overwhelmed245 · 17/04/2021 14:18

Has anyone met one like do you suspect your partner to be one etc. obviously I know you hear of woman being told the guy there dating works for mi5 but then find out the guy has two lives and another family

OP posts:
ShanghaiDiva · 18/04/2021 21:10

My brother worked in military intelligence at the NSA. We knew he worked there, but not what he did.
I suspected he counted paper clips..

EscapeDragon · 18/04/2021 21:11

@Cactus1982

Everyone thinks that my mums uncle was a spy. He’s long dead now, but wasn’t allowed to talk about what he did during the war. Afterwards he got a job in London ‘working for the government’ but once again no one really knows what he did.
He might have been at Bletchley Park during the war. It is only recently that people have been allowed to talk about their time there.
Candycane57 · 18/04/2021 21:17

We had a neighbour who went away for work, eventually said he was a civil servant with no other details but drove a van with a very vague sign for a company that didn't exist. He definitely wasn't dodgy- we thought it could be drugs/money laundering or something but there were a few things we saw/found out that suggested otherwise. No kids and his wife didn't work. They didn't have visitors and didn't seem to ever have deliveries. They suddenly left over night and left the cars, then a new couple moved in and the bloke used the same van. They had no idea who the previous owners were. Second couple were quite chatty but said they didn't do anything worth talking about for work.

Coachee · 18/04/2021 21:19

DH’s cousin was apparently a ‘handler’ for MI6. No idea what that entails - not actually met him in 16 years of being with DH as they have no relationship at all.

littlebillie · 18/04/2021 21:21

@Tehmina23

I suspect a woman I know of being M16... She works in a mundane low paid job.. she & her friend are widows in their 60s who are very ordinary yet travel regularly to fairly hostile countries taking lots of photos of 'scenery'.

She's been to Syria, Myanmar, most recently Iran, China, Russia, her next trip will be Iraq! I asked her why and she said to take photos of scenery of course!!

Hmmm.

They sound like Elizabeth from the Thursday Murder Club
Hawkins001 · 18/04/2021 21:23

To be quite honest in a world of half truths, deceptions, misdirection, I'm not sure, no one has confirmed that they are in the civil service , however these days anyone can be a case officer, an asset in the field, a none official cover agent ecg, bottom.line only device I can truly trust is the kettle and a cuppa tea. Other than that , you just never know who is really who they say they are, and people can have the whole marriage, two kids, ect and it all be a.cover story. You just never know for sure.

lissie123 · 18/04/2021 21:23

I have friends who work for MI5 and a DH who is in the “industry”

Hawkins001 · 18/04/2021 21:25

@Coachee

DH’s cousin was apparently a ‘handler’ for MI6. No idea what that entails - not actually met him in 16 years of being with DH as they have no relationship at all.
Basically you run agents in the field, e.g. Jane at Tescos is one of my sources of information, then there is Steve in iceland ect,
Hawkins001 · 18/04/2021 21:29

@lissie123

I have friends who work for MI5 and a DH who is in the “industry”
I bet half the major newspaper stories are a completely different story than most of the officially reported ones that are printed.
ShoesOnFirstThenCar · 18/04/2021 21:56

Hawkins001 like in Kingsman Smile

frumpety · 18/04/2021 22:05

I had a boyfriend who worked in a non intelligence/security role in a big secure intelligence/security setting, I used to ring him up on his break, had to go through the switchboard and there was a very audible 'click' as they started to record the conversation when I was put through. There was an unfortunate incident one evening when I went to collect him and ended up surrounded by armed men pointing their very big guns at me. Laugh about it now, but was very close to crying at the time.

shallIswim · 18/04/2021 22:07

DH met lots of CIA while working in the Middle East. They never said they were, just gave rather too general answers to my specialist husband's questions about their jobs.

Hawkins001 · 18/04/2021 22:08

Just a bit, these days it is a guessing game, as for me, I'm a pickle at the best of times, but if I ever cross paths with anyone, that's in the intelligence business, or theatre, I'd be very puzzled as to why id be of interest, unless of course there's a whole different perspective, that I've not considered, or there on another mission and it's more of an association.

mermaidsariel · 18/04/2021 22:19

My father was approached to work for them at one time. I also have suspicions that he might have been doing intelligence work at some points later in life. It’s frustrating that we will never know.

Twintub · 18/04/2021 22:24

No but I know 2 woman who believed they were dating undercover agents. One hadn’t contacted her after getting the bends jumping out a mission helicopter from Belize and the other believed he was saving the Uk for terrorist atrocities.

Both more MFI than MI5

FictionalCharacter · 18/04/2021 22:34

@ExJasper Me too! I’m completely unnoticeable and forgettable. But also very observant.

ReginaaPhalange · 18/04/2021 22:38

No but I should do! It's amazing what I can find out on social media about someone haha! Want to find out who your ex is dating? Give me 5 minutes and I'll send you the full family tree and what she had for dinner on January 14th 2017 🤣🤣

ExJasper · 18/04/2021 22:48

@FictionalCharacter you have an advantage over me then! I'm rubbish - very often I blank people I know, sometimes quite well, because I don't recognise them! Maybe we should team up?

MinesaBottle · 18/04/2021 23:03

I’ve met a couple through work, obviously they were allowed to say (roughly) what they do as it relates to why they were working with us but they never gave their full names, only first name and initial of surname. They seemed like completely normal people (which of course they were, apart from their employer!)

Scrumbleton · 18/04/2021 23:08

Yes I know quite a few MI6 officers from working in an associated field. Most are frighteningly clever and,pretty smooth.

greyinganddecaying · 18/04/2021 23:40

When I was in my late teens I befriended a man (early-mid 20s) who said he was an "agent". Carried a gun, knew a lot (news stories in advance etc), said he was recruited at college.

I'm pretty sure it was bullshit (I didn't really believe him at the time, but went along with it), but I'd love to know now - and know where he got his information!

ProCuthbert · 18/04/2021 23:47

Yes, though I only found out a a few years later that’s who they were - it wasn’t unusual to be concerned about commercial secrecy in my line of business. Was asked to a meeting, with a very blandly named organisation at a very discrete and anonymous office with a lot of cctv. Asked to lock away my phone, paper etc for the duration. It was all about something pretty mundane though. Not remotely “James Bond”. It was a good meeting, nice biscuits and they were perfectly friendly and professional but definitely very determined to be as bland and anonymous as possible.

BadLad · 18/04/2021 23:57

There's a simple test. Do they introduce themselves as "Surname. First name, surname"?

ChinookPilotsGoVertical · 19/04/2021 00:04

I have my great uncle's medals. Among the WW2 ones (he was Royal Signals in the far East) is an Imperial Service Medal, from which I deduced that he had gone into the Civil Service after he left the army.
After a bit I looked up the London Gazette which records awards of medals etc & he did indeed join the Civil Service - he was a radio technician at GCHQ.

travellinglighter · 19/04/2021 00:10

I did a course in the Army and one of the other candidates who described himself as a civil servant let something slip in conversation. I would normally assume he was just big timing but he got really upset when the other course members started referring to him as the secret squirrel. Properly annoyed which made me assume he realised he’d said too much.