Re: [ARSCLIST] Triggering memories of the so-called "computer" tape of days gone by

[Jack Raymond <jraymond@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rob Bamberger wrote:

> As one who used to buy a couple hundred reels at a time of used, unboxed open-reel tape that reportedly had been used by the Federal Government, I thought some members of the list might be interested in a GAO submission to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The topic is: "Sale of Magnetic Data Tapes Previously Used by the Government Presents a Low Security Risk"

Back in the 1960s while living in Washington DC I bought a dozen boxes 
of used tape from a classified ad in the Washington Post and found, to 
my surprise, that one of them still had audio content.  What's more, it 
recorded the debriefing in Vienna of a man who had just come back from a 
mission behind the Iron Curtain.  Needless to say I contacted the 
government and FBI agents were quick to respond.  They took all 12 boxes 
of tape and gave me new tape as replacement.  A short time later someone 
surreptiously entered my apartment but apparently took nothing, and I've 
often wondered if the two events were somehow linked.

-- Jack Raymond