Pentagon Withdraws Report

In a bizarre turn of events, the Pentagon report that warned that coins containing tracking devices had been slipped to defense contractors in Canada has been withdrawn. The Defense Security Service had insisted that the report was true only last week.

The Defense Security Service said it never could substantiate its own published claims about the mysterious coins. It has begun an internal review to determine how the false information was included in a 29-page report about espionage concerns.

The service had contended since late June that such coins were found planted on U.S. contractors with classified security clearances on at least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006 as the contractors traveled through Canada.

"The allegations, however, were found later to be unsubstantiated following an investigation into the matter," the agency said in a statement published on its Web site last week.

Intelligence and technology experts were flabbergasted over the initial report, which suggested such transmitters could be used to surreptitiously track the movements of people carrying the coins.

Experts said such tiny transmitters almost certainly would have limited range to communicate with sensors no more than a few feet away, such as ones hidden inside a doorway. The metal coins also would interfere with any signals emitted, they said.

We'd just like to point out that Canadian dollar coin is affectionately known as the "Loony". Just saying.

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  By Bleepless, Thursday, 18 January , 2007 @ 9:45 pm

  Furthermore, the Canadian two-dollar bill is known as the loonie twonie. No kidding.

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