Page 8 | Has anyone met a secret agent or mi5

Overwhelmed245 · 2021-04-17T13:18:29+00:00

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

Hawkins001 · 19/04/2021 00:21

@ProCuthbert

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.

biscuits, any particular brand or a mix ?

Resetting · 19/04/2021 00:32

I think I have, a very normal looking, nondescript older guy, who when you get to him, is clearly highly intelligent.

There'd been jokes among his aquaintences for yonks, but I didn't take any of it seriously, until I got to him better, and found out the fbi organised a ride in a military jet for him, as a thank you gift (still not sure for what exactly).

Resetting · 19/04/2021 00:33

I wonder why the word "know" disappeared on me twice there, odd.

ProCuthbert · 19/04/2021 00:49

Hawkins001 “ biscuits, any particular brand or a mix ?”

One of those mixed selections, with some nice chocolate covered ones. Couldn’t tell you what brand, they came on a plate!

Hawkins001 · 19/04/2021 01:22

@ProCuthbert

Hawkins001 “ biscuits, any particular brand or a mix ?”

One of those mixed selections, with some nice chocolate covered ones. Couldn’t tell you what brand, they came on a plate!

Most excellent,

blueshoes · 19/04/2021 01:32

What does a spy do. Why do they have to be so intelligent and mathsy? Languages I get.

osbertthesyrianhamster · 19/04/2021 02:12

@blueshoes

What does a spy do. Why do they have to be so intelligent and mathsy? Languages I get.

From what I know it can vastly depend. The one I knew had been in the military. It was easy cover.

zippydoodade · 19/04/2021 08:23

I should think it's very easy to work out who's a spy nowadays. They have always told you they had a boring civil service job counting paperclips but couldn't work from hone during Covid (or had to travel overseas when no-one else was allowed)!!!

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 19/04/2021 09:12

I think there maybe a lot of them on MN, judging by the detailed observations that are made of neighbour's activities...

GelfBride · 19/04/2021 13:11

I have. The DF of my BFF was a moderately famous spy. He has had books written about him. Very warm and friendly man. Long dead now.

ThinkAboutItTomorrow · 19/04/2021 18:38

Friends brother works at GCHQ as a code breaker. He's a maths genius who speaks many languages and can do the times cryptic crossword in something like 7-8 minutes.

The GCHQ folk seem to take a 'hiding in plain sight' approach. One of them apparently has 'spooks 2' as a number plate!

Noidea2114 · 19/04/2021 19:59

My uncle was a leader of the French resistance and received a medal from Charles de Gaul.
His first wife was captured and killed during the war.

crumbscrumbseverywhere · 19/04/2021 20:00

I used to work as an occasional honey trap. Does that count?

PrawnofthePatriarchy · 19/04/2021 20:01

My mother, who's 90+, was at nursery with a man who stayed friends with her and my DF for the rest of his life.

He was a civil servant who eventually became a very senior civil servant... He gave the impression that his job was very dull.

It wasn't until he reached his 70s that he finally revealed he'd worked for MI5. His little circle of childhood friends were very entertained.

Handsoffstrikesagain · 19/04/2021 20:08

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

PrawnofthePatriarchy · 19/04/2021 20:16

When I lived in West London back in the 80s I became friends with two CIA agents. They were totally open about it. Apparently it was one of the plum assignments - a London desk job with a handsome expense account.

One of them was always taking me out to dinner on expenses. We used to look up restaurants in various guides and he'd put them down as making useful contacts.

They taught me lots - enough that when I was introduced to an American at a party and told that he was an expert in Yemeni culture I just looked at him with a raised eyebrow and said "So CIA then?" He spluttered and asked how I knew... Clearly thought someone had spilled the beans. I just smiled. My friends had taught me well.

LarryUnderwood · 19/04/2021 20:19

I have in the past through work. All been very clever, very non-descript people. You wouldn't look twice.

Hawkins001 · 19/04/2021 20:37

@ThinkAboutItTomorrow

Friends brother works at GCHQ as a code breaker. He's a maths genius who speaks many languages and can do the times cryptic crossword in something like 7-8 minutes.

The GCHQ folk seem to take a 'hiding in plain sight' approach. One of them apparently has 'spooks 2' as a number plate!

One of the best ways to blend in, act as if your a spy to discourage suspicion

Hawkins001 · 19/04/2021 20:38

@LarryUnderwood

I have in the past through work. All been very clever, very non-descript people. You wouldn't look twice.

Bit like in John wick, people all over, yet to the general public, just everyday people.

PainterInPeril · 19/04/2021 20:40

(Shhh! I'm eavesdropping...)

CuriousaboutSamphire · 19/04/2021 20:51

Yes.

Worked in a pub near a certain listening post. Just occasionally there'd be an unusually depressing newbie who would disappear after a few weeks.

Worked at an establishment that hosted some Olympic teams prior to them travelling to site. Security meeting was interesting, but interminable.

Was interviewed about an ex student who was being vetted.

A colleagues son was an 'admin bod in the civil service'

All as dull as dish water.

Cowbells · 20/04/2021 08:10

@PrawnofthePatriarchy

When I lived in West London back in the 80s I became friends with two CIA agents. They were totally open about it. Apparently it was one of the plum assignments - a London desk job with a handsome expense account.

One of them was always taking me out to dinner on expenses. We used to look up restaurants in various guides and he'd put them down as making useful contacts.

They taught me lots - enough that when I was introduced to an American at a party and told that he was an expert in Yemeni culture I just looked at him with a raised eyebrow and said "So CIA then?" He spluttered and asked how I knew... Clearly thought someone had spilled the beans. I just smiled. My friends had taught me well.

Ooh I love this story. What are the tells? I'd love to be able to spot one.

nickymanchester · 20/04/2021 08:38

My DH is Russian and we got married just over 20 years ago.

What I didn't know at the time, and only learnt many years later, was that his best man at the wedding was an FSB agent (the FSB is the new name for the KGB).

He always told me that he worked for a helicopter servicing company and that's why he often disappeared for periods of time - to go and service helicopters abroad.

I felt such a fool when I eventually found out the truth.

(I'm pretty sure DH was never FSB, but who knows?)

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 20/04/2021 09:01

I did know someone, but even his own family didn’t know until after he’d died, too young. He was supposedly working for a more mundane govt. department.

I don’t think I’d believe anyone who told me they were MI5 or MI6. AFAIK they just don’t tell. I’d put them down as a fantasist and best avoided.

TurquoiseDragon · 20/04/2021 11:54

And this is why I get funny looks when I tell people I'm ex civil service and was just an admin bod. 😁

And this is the truth. I was in MOD for almost 20 years, doing budgets out in the sticks, nothing glamorous at all. 😁