The year is 1964. The Cold War is raging. John F. Kennedy was killed last year, there is still no peace agreement in Korea, the U.S. invasion of Cuba ended in disaster and the Cuban missile crisis almost caused a nuclear war. The newly built Berlin Wall splits Germany in half and political unrest grows in Czechoslovakia. South Vietnamese prime minister Diem was assassinated last November and President Lyndon B. Johnson is preparing to enter the Vietnam conflict.

March 17, 1964. KGB Colonel Alexander Rogozin contacts the U.S. Embassy to Turkey. CIA officer Robert Novak from the Soviet and Eastern Europe Division is sent to Ankara to meet Rogozin. Novak’s assessment: Rogozin is disillusioned in the Soviet political system, his military career and his marriage. He wants to defect to the United States and his knowledge of communications technology and cryptology could be valuable to U.S. intelligence.

Both CIA’s new Science & Technology Directorate and the National Security Agency (NSA) are most interested. Novak is assigned to Colonel Rogozin as his case officer and CIA headquarters in Langley designates codename GYMNAST to the defector.

Novak persuades Rogozin to return to Moscow, assume his normal duties and collect additional intelligence before defecting in the near future. Rogozin’s contact person in Moscow is Roman Danilov, a CIA operative under the cover of UP journalist, attached to the U.S. embassy to Moscow. A first secret meeting between Danilov and Colonel Rogozin is scheduled on April 5.

On the day of the meeting, Danilov leaves his apartment at Povarskaya street 29 at 11:35 hours Moscow time. The next morning at 08:15 local time (00:15 in Langley) CIA station Moscow reports to its headquarters in Langley over secure channels that Danilov failed to report after his meeting with Rogozin.

The subsequent investigation confirms that Roman Danilov disappeared. There’s no word of KGB Colonel Rogozin. The defector turns out to be dangle, a bait to identify CIA agents, or a KGB staged recruitment that went horrible wrong. That same morning, Danilov is officially reported missing.

Bill Hensley, the head of CIA’s Soviet Division, is furious about the loss of his operative and Robert Novak is ordered to track down Rogozin by any means available. Operation Tinker Bell, the search for the false KGB defector, has begun.

Your Task

You are assigned to Operation Tinker Bell as COMSEC Officer. It is your task to decrypt all message traffic, sent between Langley, it's stations abroad and agents in the field. This sounds harder than it actually is. All required crypto tools, keys and clear instructions are provided. If you can type on a keyboard, you can decrypt the messages.

To get a good view of the operation, we advise you to keep a record of all decrypts and investigate all information like places, services and units that you find in the messages. Also check the small red info buttons underneath photos for additional information. Some buttons provide translation for non-English webpages.

Start by visiting the COMCEN to update your knowledge of how Langley and its stations abroad communicate with each other and with agents in the field, both by cable and by clandestine radio transmissions. You will also learn to use 1960s state-of-the-art crypto equipment and manual one-time pads to decrypt clandestine message traffic, related to your assigned case.

Next, examine all Case Files to familiarize yourself with all the people involved. It is important to know all code names and agent ID's, which are used in all communications. All relevant intel is available in the Comms Registry Section. To decrypt the messages, you must retrieve the appropriate keys or one-time pads in the Crypto Room.

You will experience spy tradecraft first-hand. CIA transmitter sites in West Germany, illegal border crossings, fake passports, safe houses, the dreaded East-German Stasi and Czech StB secret police. British intelligence helps to arrange clandestine meetings, the U.S. Army Security Agency provides SIGINT support and some USMLM operations don't take the rules of engagement too seriously. The Cold War at its best, with authentic details, many historical photos, and as real as it gets.

Submit Your Decrypted Messages

Once you have decrypted all messages, send an e-mail with your name, country, and all the solutions as .txt file. If you successfully solved the operation, your name will only be engraved in the Wall of Honor, as we obviously cannot disclose your identity or the operation to the public. If you have questions or comments regarding your mission, then contact us.

Copyright Notice

The content of Operation Tinker Bell is protected by international copyright laws. The publishing, copying, or redistribution of the encrypted messages or their plaintext versions, in digital, printed, or any other form is not allowed.

Disclaimer

Operation Tinker Bell is a cryptologic spy adventure, based on historical information about intelligence agencies and their modus operandi. The operation, all messages and most of the characters involved are fictional. Any resemblance to real persons or operations is purely coincidental. Some well-known historical figures and all images are used only to support the fictional story. The game and its content are not intended to endorse or condemn the views or actions of any person, organization or country that might appear in the messages.

© Dirk Rijmenants 2013 - 2024

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