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Spies ❤ EGGs-Aldich Ames-11N Traditional Geocache

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Hidden : 4/27/2020
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:


Placed for 2021 MWGB.

***Be sure to look in the cache container for codes that will give you the final coordinates for GC9CJ92 "Spies heart EGGs - Bonus Final".

Typical hide. BYOP. Room for tiny swag only.

Remember to have fun, be safe, play fair, CITO when you can and enjoy the adventure. 

Cache activity may cause a cache to “migrate”. Be sure to use geosense and look around.

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Former CIA agent Aldrich Ames turned Soviet Union spy in 1985 after being stationed in Ankara, Turkey. He had originally been sent to target Soviet intelligence officers for recruitment, but he instead offered up U.S. secrets to the Soviets due to his own financial and emotional woes.

His problems were many: In the wake of several affairs and what was rapidly becoming a serious drinking problem, he and his wife divorced. The settlement and financial obligations that resulted badly strained Ames’s resources.

His work record was also troubling. His CIA personnel file was a patchwork of brilliant commendations and reprimands for mediocre work and potentially embarrassing situations (notably, he once left a briefcase of classified material on the subway).

 

Fearing bankruptcy and under pressure at work, he began building a network of contacts at the Soviet Embassy. In 1985, he passed what he felt was worthless information to them for $50,000 — a payment he expected to solve his problems and render further espionage unnecessary.

But once he’d started, Ames found it wasn’t easy to stop. Assigned to the CIA’s European office, he had access to the identities of CIA operatives in the KGB and Soviet military, and he provided the Soviets with this intel. His actions led to the compromise of about 100 CIA agents and the execution of at least 10.

It was Ames’s newly acquired material wealth that did him in. Ames passed two lie detector tests while spying for the Soviet Union, but he couldn’t hide his Soviet-funded half-million-dollar home, luxury sports car, or thousand-dollar phone bills.

He was eventually caught by the FBI and sentenced to life in prison in 1994.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Thneqenvy-ZXU

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)