Glomar Explorer

In 1972, the CIA hatched a plan to recover a nuclear submarine that had sunk somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. They knew the Soviets would be watching, so they created a massive cover story to hide the truth. They reached out to one of the most influential, wealthy, and powerful figures at the time, a man named Howard Hughes. Working together they built a special purpose deep sea mining ship called the Glomar Explorer. Hughes told the media that the ships purpose was to extract minerals from the sea floor. For years, the story held. Then in 1976, the Los Angeles Times pulled back the curtain and the illusion was shattered. When reporters demanded answers, the CIA, retreated into their now legendary phrase “_We can neither confirm nor deny_” the existence of this operation. Thirty-seven years later, the NYPD used the same type of line on me when I filed a freedom of information request asking for more information regarding the surveillance of Muslims in the tri-state area. It was the first time a police institution issued this type of response to a freedom of information request.