Within the context of Espionage who or what is a Grey Man?
The plural version, as in Grey Men, was the title of a recent book by ex FBI agent Ralph Hope. In it he covers at quite some length the break up of the Soviet Union with specific emphasis on the effects that the event had on STASI agents. These people collectively were known as Grey Men. We should of course include Women because there was quite a number amongst the STASI ranks.
One would think that in the days, weeks, and months that followed that December 1989 day, various intelligence agencies may have been knocking on doors seeking to recruit the best of those that became available, perhaps even settle a few old scores?
But the Grey Man we are discussing relates to the term applied not too long ago by an Ex CIA agent when he spoke of 'Going Grey'.
But the Grey Man we are discussing relates to the term applied not too long ago by an Ex CIA agent when he spoke of 'Going Grey'.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND...
In Tradecraft, there are generally speaking two types of agents, Residents, and Illegals. Residents are those from foreign countries that enter another country, perfectly legally, as diplomats and employees. They would have been given the necessary papers and passports to allow them to enter and stay in their host country. Whether those papers and passports reflected the true identities of those concerned is quite another matter. There are instances of 'diplomats' arriving with passport details derived from the headstones of those long past and even those that changed their papers and details when moving from one location within a country to another. All of this was done in an effort to add another level of confusion to the work of the host country's intelligence agencies.
AN ILLEGAL EXAMPLE...
Not long ago on this blog, we covered the case of one such person who was an 'Illegal', his name was Stanislaw Kilanski. He was involved in an ASIO 'sting' operation that went wrong. Here's our man:
He was a real Grey Man, photographed here the moment that he spotted the 'concealed' ASIO camera in the window of a shop I believe. If I recall correctly we had some valuable and helpful input from Pete Davidson, and we were able to track down that Stanislaw was not his real name.
Here's a link to the post we did on this case which took place in the late 1950s.
A little while after the failed meeting, Stanislaw was found dead, hanging from a tree in an Adelaide Park.
AND?..
Where does this post fit with the Somerton Man? Here's a quick definition as supplied by our ex CIA Agent. When someone in Espionage goes 'Grey', they are sent into the field with specific instructions to blend in with their new surroundings in such a way that they would hardly be noticed, they would be your average Joe and Jane in effect. No one would remember them if they saw them, they didn't stand out in any way, they were just part of the social scenery.
The 'Grey Man' status extended even to the point that if their home were to be raided or they were personally searched, there would be nothing found that could possibly incriminate them.
Was this possibly what happened to the Somerton Man? Recalling earlier posts, we had no Modus Operandi and that in itself was a giveaway, can we now add the Grey Man theory to explain why our man was never identified? Food for thought...
It’s also quite likely that there was another way that foreign intelligence agencies infiltrated Australia after WW2. By getting on board the wave of immigration that the govt promoted as “populate or perish”. In 20yrs after WW2, two million migrants came to Australia. It would probably have been relatively easy to bring in “grey” folk with a ready made cover as “new migrants” who could watch diaspora from within an expat community, or do any other task they might be given by their “handlers”. Maybe immigration records might contain fingerprints but more likely, they would have photographs. Maybe a NAA search of immigration files using facial recognition would be worth considering - at least from say 1945-48?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. The research into this area of immigrants and internees is well documented and somewhere within this blog you will find further examples on that subject. Those being brought into the country using dubious ID are correctly referred to as 'illegals'. As far as the suggestion of gathering data from NAA files and matching them, I would be interested top hear how you progress with that. You might also care to consider those that were never known, the people who cam on board a ship only to disappear. There many of them to.
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