Have You Seen This? How to disguise yourself like a CIA spy

(WIRED, YouTube)


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The way you stand, the way you sit, the way you use a fork and knife. All of these are probably things you don't think much about, but to the very observant, they are clues to your identity.

So what do you do if you want to go under the radar, or even disappear for a bit? You need a disguise. Preferably a CIA-level disguise. And thanks to this video, you can have that.

The video is the first episode of Wired's "Masterminds" series, and it features former Chief of Disguise for the CIA, Jonna Mendez, explaining how the best disguises work.

"We always talk about disguise as though it's an onion," Mendez says in the video. "It's almost transparent layers, and when you get enough of them going, you disappear and this other person is in the room."

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Throughout the video, she demonstrates some of the tricks CIA spies use to go unnoticed, from disappearing into a crowd to wearing wigs and masks or even undergoing total physical transformations. And the good news for us non-spies is that some of these tips are useful for our average, low-stakes, everyday lives.

Mendez explains how when Americans travel, several small, unconscious behaviors they have set them apart and this can make them a magnet for pickpockets and scammers. If you're traveling to Paris, you might want to make an effort to stand more like a European, for example, or if you're having dinner, maybe hold your fork and knife in a less American way while you eat.

The video is really fascinating, and as I watched, I couldn't help but wonder how many people I've passed on the street who appeared to be one person but were really in disguise. With how seamlessly one man in the video was able to change his entire appearance while walking down a crowded sidewalk, I guess we can never really be sure what we're seeing.

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