30 Years Ago — Remembering the crash of TWA 800 (July 17, 1996) [The Striking Similarities of Pan Am 103 and TWA 800]

Posted on July 17, 2026 by L

“The FBI didn’t want to hear about anything but a missile or a bomb, because otherwise there was no FBI case. Their conduct was disturbing from the very beginning.”

Senator Chuck Grassley
Chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee
on administrative oversight

Washington Post
May 9 1999

July 17, 2026 — Trans World Airlines Flight 800 exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996. On November 17 1997, the FBI formally ended its 16-month investigation. The Bureau concluded there was no evidence it was a criminal act. Despite clear scientific evidence, many people still believe to this day that the plane was brought down by a terrorist bombing or a missile strike. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_Today

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On This Day — US Detonates First Nuclear Weapon (Trinity Test, July 16, 1945) | The Magical World of Dimensional Analysis

Posted on July 16, 2026 by L

“We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”

J. Robert Oppenheimer

The Trinity Test, July 16, 1945. Captured 25 milliseconds after detonation, this image shows the expanding fireball, which had reached a diameter of approximately 140 metres. (Photograph published by Life magazine.)

July 15, 2026 — On July 16, 1945, the US detonated the world’s first nuclear weapon, a plutonium-based device, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Trinity, as the test was known, was successful. Three weeks later, the United States used an atomic bomb against the Japanese city of Hiroshima, marking the first wartime use of a nuclear weapon. The world would never be the same. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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Intel Today at 10 Years: Introducing Intel Today Press and The CIA Memorial Wall Compendium Book Series

Posted on July 15, 2026 by L

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

Carl Sagan

July 15, 2026 — Blogging has been a wonderful adventure, and I am deeply grateful to the WordPress family for providing the environment and tools that allowed Intel Today to begin its journey ten years ago. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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The Holy Grail — The CIA Memorial Wall, the KRYPTOS Sculpture, & the Lockerbie Tragedy — Part III: Hitting the Jackpot — NSA MEMO to Crypto Amateurs

Posted on July 14, 2026 by L

“The fifth paragraph seems to be a yet-undefined system that may require an unusual plain-text key. This part may be unbreakable.”

CIA KRYPTOS
Sculpture Study Group
NSA Memorandum
18 November 1991

July 14, 2026 — A Very Special Post for Our 10th Anniversary — Over the last three decades, I have devoted much time to several distinct stories: the CIA Memorial Wall (and the associated Book of Honor), the KRYPTOS sculpture, and the Lockerbie tragedy. In my wildest dreams, I never imagined that these stories would one day converge. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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CIA Memorial Wall — Three Stars, No Answers: Revisiting the CIA Plane Crash in Candor, North Carolina (13 July 1978)

Posted on July 13, 2026 by L

“I have become so jaded about our government since all this happened. I have become very skeptical. They tell you what they want you to know whether there’s a grain of truth or not. A lot of times, they don’t tell you anything.”

Velma Waymire
(Sister of Berl King)

July 13, 2026 — On July 13, 1978, at approximately 9:30 PM, a de Havilland Canada DHC‑6 Twin Otter (tail number N‑76214) crashed near Candor, a remote area of North Carolina. The aircraft, officially registered to Coastal Air Services, was reportedly conducting a CIA mission of undisclosed nature. Nearly five decades later, the circumstances surrounding the flight remain classified. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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On This Day — French Spooks Sink the Rainbow Warrior (July 10 1985)

Posted on July 10, 2026 by L

“The truth is cruel. Agents of the French secret service sank this boat. They were acting on orders.”

Laurent Fabius
Prime Minister
September 22 1985

Fernando Pereira died aboard the Rainbow Warrior.

July 10, 2026 — The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior — codenamed Opération Satanique — was a bombing operation by the Action branch of the French foreign intelligence services — La Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE) — carried out on July 10 1985. In 2005, two decades after the bombing and nine years after Mitterrand’s death, French newspaper Le Monde published a leaked document revealing that the late president had personally approved the sinking of the ship. The newspaper obtained a handwritten account of the operation, written in 1986 by Pierre Lacoste, who was sacked as head of the secret services. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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The CIA Memorial Wall — Book of Honor Star 81 : Gregg Wenzel [Numbers Don’t Lie: The Evolution of Eligibility for the CIA Memorial Wall]

Posted on July 9, 2026 by L

“Gregg was born on the 18th, this event in his honor is on the 18th and the number of his star on the Memorial Wall at the CIA in Langley is 81, which, in reverse, is also Chai. Gregg lived life to the fullest.”

Mitchell Wenzel
(Father of Gregg)
May 18 2015

Gregg Wenzel (November 18, 1969 – July 9, 2003)

July 9, 2026 — After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Gregg Wenzel decided to serve his country and became a member of the CIA in the first post-9/11 recruitment class. At the age of 33, Gregg Wenzel was killed in a car accident on a dark, two-lane road in Addis Ababa [Ethiopia] on July 9, 2003. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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10 Years Ago Today — PT35B, Lockerbie, and a Kafkaesque Metamorphosis

Posted on July 8, 2026 by L

“Ludwig is probably the most experienced person I ever dealt with on the Lockerbie case. He is a nuclear scientist, and for years he has run a successful blog, IntelToday. I think that you should meet him.”

Email to Masud’s Defense Lawyers
George Thomson
Lockerbie Investigator
March 9, 2026

July 8, 2026 — Ten years ago, Intel Today did not yet exist. The blog was born on July 14, 2016. At the time, I was experimenting with WordPress and learning the tools. The precursor to Intel Today was an early project called PT35B — a reference to the infamous tiny fragment that played a key role in allowing the FBI to connect the Lockerbie case to Gaddafi. To mark this anniversary, I have decided to reproduce that post, together with the remarkable comment written by Lockerbie investigator George Thomson. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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The Holy Grail — The CIA Wall, The KRYPTOS Sculpture, & The Lockerbie Tragedy — Part II : President Bill Clinton visits the CIA (January 4, 1994)

Posted on July 6, 2026 by L

“The 56 stars carved into the wall here in this lobby remind each who passes by this place of the ultimate risks of intelligence work.”

President Bill Clinton
CIA Headquarters
(January 4, 1994)

July 6, 2026 — Over the last three decades, I have devoted much time to several distinct stories: the CIA Memorial Wall (and the associated Book of Honor), the KRYPTOS sculpture, and the Lockerbie tragedy. In my wildest dreams, I never expected that these stories would one day come together. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — Remembering Iran Flight 655 (July 3 1988) [UPDATE : FBI Feared Iranian Retaliation After Flight 655 — But Found No Evidence]

Posted on July 3, 2026 by L

“I will never apologize for the United States — I don’t care what the facts are…
I’m not an apologize-for-America kind of guy.”

George H. W. Bush
August 7 1988

July 3, 2026 — On July 3 1988, Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down by a missile cruiser fired from the USS Vincennes under the command of William C. Rogers III. The shoot-down of Iran Air flight 655 may have been an “accident”, but Tehran saw it otherwise. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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