Hidden Gold

NEW YORK’S GOLDEN SECRET
More than a quarter of the world’s gold is stashed away in just a single bank vault 80 ft (24 m) below the streets of New York City, USA, inside the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY). Countries buy and sell billions of dollars worth of gold in secret, simply by shifting it around the vault.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York contains more than 8,000 tons (7,250 metric tons) of gold. The exact amount is not known because some countries do not release details of how much gold they have.


Most of the gold in the FRBNY is in the form of bricklike bars. Each is worth at least $160,000, weighing
400 troy ounces (27 lb/12.4 kg). A troy ounce is a unit of weight used for measuring precious metals.


In addition to the bricks, there are tiny bars of gold made from the leftovers from each casting. These are
nicknamed “Hershey bars” because they look like the bars of chocolate produced by US confectioner Hershey


The gold in the FRBNY is owned by 122 countries. Each country has its own gold store in the vault, in
which bars of gold are piled up in overlapping layers like brick walls.


Countries put their gold in the FRBNY because it allows them to trade gold very easily—without the
risk of transporting it across the world.


When one country wants to sell its gold to another country, it simply asks the FRBNY to shift the right
number of gold bricks from its store to the store of the other country. That way no one has to worry
about moving gold around the world. It’s simply shuffled around the FRBNY vault.


Every time a gold bar is brought into the vault, it is weighed and checked by bank officials to ensure it is pure gold.

The largest single compartment in the bank contains 107,000 gold bars. You can’t tell which country it belongs to, since every country’s vault is identified only by a secret code number.


Bank officials enter the vault through a door in a narrow passage in a giant 100-ton (90-metric ton) steel cylinder, which rotates to block off the passage and seal the vault.

No one person knows all the combinations for the eight bolts that secure the cylinder. Eight people have to be present to add the code they know in order to open it.

NOTEWORTHY CHANGE
In the past, gold was widely used as money. Over time, people began to put their gold in banks for safekeeping. In return, the bank gave them paper receipts that said the bank “promise to pay” back their gold should they ever want it. Soon people began to buy things with these receipts, instead of actual gold, and they became the first bank notes. Even today, since bank notes are actually worthless paper, they are
simply a “promise to pay.”


MONEYMAKING
Since bank notes were just receipts for gold in the bank, the value of notes in circulation matched the amount
of gold in the banks. For economies to grow, more money needs to be in circulation. So banks simply print
more bank notes—regardless how much gold they actually have in reserve. This is called “fractional reserve
banking,” because the gold reserve is just a fraction of the value of the notes in circulation. It’s a neat way for
banks to literally make money. Minted!


BREAKING THE BANK
Fractional reserve banking works fine as long as all the people with bank notes don’t actually ask for their gold. But in troubled times, such as war, they sometimes did. Then the bank would go bust because it didn’t have enough gold to pay everyone. To stop people from losing out when banks collapsed, governments set up central banks. The central bank holds most of the country’s reserves of gold, and issues bank notes. The US Federal Reserve Bank and the Bank of England are central banks like these.

THE GOLD STANDARD
When banks print money regardless of how much money they have in reserve, you can’t be sure how much gold the bills actually buy. This is a problem when you want to pay for things in another country where they have different currency. So, in the 1800s, governments in countries such as Britain and the US set up a “gold standard.” This ensured a pound or a dollar would always be worth a particular amount of gold.


SPEND, SPEND, SPEND
In the last century, economic depression and world wars encouraged governments to print more money to spend their way out of trouble. It seemed to work, regardless of how much gold they actually had in reserve. So in 1971 the world’s governments decided to get rid of the gold standard. Now governments can print as much money as they want. They still keep some gold in reserve, but it’s only a small proportion of the amount of money in circulation.

A MATTER OF INTEREST
The amount of money in circulation today depends not on gold reserves, but entirely on the heads of each country’s central bank, who meet regularly in secret. They decide how much money is worth in their country by setting the percentage of interest to be paid on bank loans. In this way, they have a profound effect on how well-off we all are.

Watchers in Space

Satellites in space are too small and high for you to see them, but they can see you—and it is amazing what they can reveal. From the invisible movement of disease across a field of crops to your boots being moved to a different place on your doorstep, satellites can spot it.

Spy satellites
The most secret satellites are military surveillance satellites, such as the American Keyhole satellites and Lacrosse/Onyx satellites. These satellites keep track of army movements and terrorist activity. They can receive signals from secret agents’ transmitters and even send coded messages.

Earth watch
It’s not just spy satellites that reveal extraordinary things. Satellites can identify whether a field is planted with wheat, oats, cotton, or corn by reading each crop’s “spectral signature”—the wavelength of light each type of plant reflects back into the atmosphere. Satellites can also warn of the spread of disease or pests attacking the fields.

FUNCTIONS OF SATELLITES :

Satellites can track large fires, wildlife tagged with radio transmitters, glaciers breaking into icebergs, and changes in the size of the hole in the ozone layer.



NASA’s Aqua satellite can detect moisture in soil and, as a result, inform farmers when crops need watering or when the soil is ready for planting


The TOPEX/Poseidon satellite can measure miniscule variations in the depth of the oceans. This amazing level of accuracy was used to reveal hidden mountains on the seabed. Using this technology, scientists could create a complete map of the ocean floor.


Early warning satellites use infrared sensors to detect a nuclear missile’s hot exhaust just
seconds after it is launched.


Satellite images can be used to search for petroleum deposits, to plot ancient stream beds in the desert, to identify earthquake-prone areas, and to search for shipwrecks on the ocean floor.


Listening devices allow satellites to pick up any signal traveling through the air on the ground, such as a radio message or a cell phone call.


The pull of gravity varies slightly over Earth. The GRACE satellite can detect these variations with astonishing accuracy, revealing a lot about Earth’s oceans and hidden interior. For instance, it could track the movement of molten rock far below the water’s surface.


The three US PARCAE satellites can track the position, speed, and direction of any ship anywhere in the world. They do this by picking up on the signals each ship gives off, including radio and navigation signals. Missiles fired from the other side of the world can also be guided to their targets by these satellites.


Satellite pictures help us gauge how human activities are affecting the planet by documenting
the destruction of rain forests, monitoring water temperatures in the ocean, and measuring
the warming of Earth’s atmosphere.


Satellites use a special kind of radar called Synthetic Aperture Radar to enable them to take detailed pictures through clouds and at night.


Thermal imaging cameras on board satellites can detect heat sources—whether it is the warm body of a person hiding inside a hut, or the small amount of heat emanating from a camouflaged target or underground bunker.


Satellites reveal geology and land forms, as well as where oil or minerals may be. Copper, nickel, zinc, and uranium deposits have been found in the United States in this way. Satellites
have also revealed tin in Brazil and copper in Mexico.


American spy satellites are controlled by the ELectronic INTelligence (ELINT) system, which is monitored by a little-known government agency called the NGA (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency).

Global Eavesdropping

You might think that the phone calls you make or the emails you send to your friends are private. In fact, someone is listening in all the time. Organizations, such as the American National Security Agency (NSA), continually eavesdrop on phone calls and emails. The NSA is sometimes jokingly called “No Such Agency” because its existence was long denied. Using a program called Echelon, this eavesdropping agency monitors electronic communications. The goal is probably to listen for terrorists and terrorist networks, but no one really knows. Here’s how they do it.

Email exchanges
When you send an email, the electronic signal carrying the email goes to your Internet Service Provider
(ISP). From there it is sent via an Internet Exchange Point (IXP) to your friend’s ISP, and then on to your
friend. To intercept your email without you knowing, the eavesdropper simply taps into the IXP. The NSA’s
computers also continually search through every website on the internet in order to locate anything suspicious.


Telephone cables
The cables that carried phone calls under the sea used to be made of copper wires. Eavesdroppers could listen in by sending divers down to wrap electric coils around the wire. This enabled listeners to hear the phone signals which “leaked” out from the copper. Today the cables are fiber optics, which are completely un-tappable... or are they?


Mobile signals
When you call someone on your cell phone, microwave signals travel through the air to an antenna, from where they are relayed through other antennae until they reach the cell of the person you are calling. All an eavesdropper has to do is intercept the microwave signal as it travels between antennae.


Tapping telephones
It is illegal to tap telephone calls in many countries, but eavesdroppers tap them anyway by connecting to major telephone exchanges. With the Echelon system, the security services are not listening in on particular
people; they are listening to all calls, then homing in on people when they hear something suspicious.


Satellites
Communications satellites allow telephone calls and television broadcasts to be bounced around the world almost instantly. But these communications can be intercepted from ground stations, which are often set up right next to the dishes that are sending the signals. Sometimes, the ground stations have intriguing codenames, such as the American NSA’s “Moonpenny,” which is located at Menwith Hill in Yorkshire, England, and intercepts all telecommunications between the UK and Europe.

TECHNIQUES USED:


Voice recognition
There are too many telephone calls for spies to listen to every call, so computers are used to scan millions every second. Some work by “voice recognition,” in which the computer analyzes voices on the phone to detect a particular “wanted” voice.


Data mining
Computers can be programmed to scan emails and look for suspicious words. In the 1990s, the Echelon program searched for the words “Greenpeace” and “Amnesty International.” It caused a scandal.


Tracing
Computers are used to trace the phone calls and emails of anybody considered to be suspicious. The computers also look for any “links” with other people who have been in touch with the suspect.

AIR FORCE ONE

You would expect the president of the US to travel in style. For longer journeys, he takes to the skies in one of two specially adapted aircraft. When the head honcho is on board, the aircraft is called Air Force One. Both planes look like standard Boeing 747s on the outside. Inside is a staggering array of secret
technologies and a variety of luxury rooms to ensure the president is kept safe and comfortable at all times. Welcome aboard!

HISTORY

Guess Where II and Sacred Cow

The first aircraft configured for presidential use was a C-87A (Liberator Express) called Guess Where II, but concerns about the C-87 safety record relegated it to use by senior members of the White House staff, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt on her goodwill tour of Latin America.

In its place, a Douglas C-54 Skymaster (VC-54C) was configured for the president and nicknamed Sacred Cow. It had a sleeping area, radio telephone, and an elevator to raise President Franklin Roosevelt into it in his wheelchair (but FDR used the plane only once). This airplane is now housed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

Independence

In 1947, President Truman replaced the Sacred Cow with a Douglas DC-6 Liftmaster (VC-118) named Independence after his hometown. Its nose was painted to look like a bald eagle. Its aft fuselage was converted into a stateroom. And the main cabin could seat 24 passengers or could be made up into 12 sleeper berths. This airplane is now housed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

Columbine II and III and Aero Commanders

In addition to the Independence, Eisenhower used two Lockheed C-121 Super Constellations (VC-121E) called Columbine IIand Columbine III and two small Aero Commanders.

Special Air Mission 970, 971, and 972

In 1958, Eisenhower added three additional aircraft into the executive branch service. These were Boeing 707 (VC-137) aircraft designated SAM 970, 971, and 972. These were the first presidential jet aircraft.

Special Air Mission 26000 and 27000

During the Kennedy administration, SAM 26000, a Boeing 707 (VC-137) went into presidential service. Influential industrial designer Raymond Loewy designed the new livery (the exterior color scheme) and the interiors. President Johnson took the oath of office on board SAM 26000, and the airplane continued to serve presidents up to Bill Clinton until 1998. It was replaced as the primary executive aircraft in 1972 by SAM 27000, another VC-137, which served until 2001. This airplane is now housed at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.

Special Air Mission 28000 and 29000

In 1990, the two Boeing 747 (VC-25A) aircraft used today were delivered (having been ordered by Ronald Reagan). The same livery was used, but the interiors were selected by Mrs. Reagan.

A new Air Force One is scheduled to go into service in 2017. The likely candidates are a Boeing 747-8 and a Boeing 787.

Personnel and passengers

A standard jumbo jet can squeeze in more than 400 passengers, as well as a large crew. Air Force One carries 70 passengers at the most, and has a crew of 26. Besides reporters, the passengers include the president’s personal staff and any VIPs invited aboard.

Defense systems

Air Force One is equipped with devices to provide maximum protection. These are the aircraft’s most highly

guarded secrets, but we know they include “electronic countermeasures” (ECMs), designed to jam enemy radar so that the plane effectively becomes invisible.

Getting connected

On board, the sophisticated electronic communications and defense systems mean the aircraft has twice the

amount of wiring of a standard jumbo—more than 175 miles (380 km) of it. The wiring is specially encased to protect it from a damaging electromagnetic pulse that would be sent out by a nuclear explosion.

Can we quote you on that?

Aside from the president’s staff and the flight crew, reporters are allowed to travel on board so that the world gets the news directly from the source. Reporters travel in the rear of the aircraft and have their own phones and computer terminals so that they can send their news reports to editors on the ground.

Hails to the chefs

Kitchen staff can prepare up to 100 meals at once in two large galleys. The aircraft’s freezers contain enough food to keep passengers fed for up to a week. If food runs out, the plane lands and stewards sneak out to  local grocery stores, selecting them at random to avoid any chance of the president’s food being poisoned.

Presidential suite

The president’s rooms are all on the mid-level of the plane, in the aircraft’s nose.

Fuel tanks and engines

The four engines and the fuel tanks in the wings are Air Force One’s most vulnerable spots. The fuel tanks can hold more than 50,000 gallons (200,000 liters) of flammable fuel, so they are protected with infrared units that can detect the heat of incoming bullets or missiles and fire flares to intercept them.

We've got you covered…

Keeping the president safe is top priority. Dangers could come from inside Air Force One as well as outside. Secret service agents are hidden throughout the aircraft to seize terrorists or would-be assassins should they manage to sneak on board. Most agents hide near the president’s suite.

Ups and downs

Air Force One has its own retractable stairs at the front and rear, so it does not have to rely on local airport

facilities, which could be a security risk.

President’s “me” time

The president has his own personal suite of rooms, including a bedroom, gym, shower room, and office. US

presidents say they have more privacy on Air Force One than when they are on the ground.

Hand-picked pilots

Air Force One crew members are very carefully selected. Each pilot has a long and distinguished flying career, and is thoroughly checked to be sure he poses no security risk.

The upper level is the focus of Air Force One’s highly sophisticated electronics. The communications

center is here, with connections for 87 telephones, dozens of radios and computers, and 19 TVs.

The middle level is the passenger area, with galleys, the medical room, and the president’s personal suite.

The lowest level is the cargo space. It also contains large freezers, where food is stored for up to 2,000 meals.

AIRCRAFT TYPE

There are two identical Air Force One planes, SAM-28,000 and SAM-29,000.

-> Each one is 64 ft (19.4 m)—higher than a five-story building.

-> They have more than 4,000 sq ft (370 sq m) of cabin space.

-> Each one weighs a massive 400 tons (360 metric tons).

-> They can fly at more than 600 mph (1,000 kph).