TRUE SPIES: The operation to try and save a downed US fighter pilot behind enemy lines

SPYSCAPE presents Behind Enemy Lines, the latest in its acclaimed True Spies podcast series.

From the Australian outback, a top-secret NSA signals station intercepts intelligence concerning America and her allies. It’s 1995, and a US fighter pilot is shot down behind enemy lines. The team at Pine Gap must locate his distress signal before it’s too late. Vanessa Kirby joins signals analyst David Rosenberg on an international race against time.

On June 2nd, 1995 Pine Gap was tested to the full. The top-secret satellite surveillance base in Australia was tasked with an urgent rescue operation. Lieutenant Scott O’Grady, a US fighter pilot patrolling the skies above a war zone in Bosnia, was shot down in an F-16 Fighting Falcon. There was no way of knowing whether this would end in life or death…

David Rosenberg was part of the team. A signals analyst at the NSA, he knows O’Grady only has one option – eject from the aircraft with a parachute, land deep in enemy territory and try to carefully release a distress signal. Easier said than done!

Unfortunately, the distress signal risks alerting hostile forces to the pilot’s whereabouts. O’Grady has to lie low. He’ll need to find food and drink to survive as long as possible in the hope that someone will find a way to rescue him. It could be days – even weeks – before he’s safe… if he’s ever safe again…

Pine Gap waits tensely for the distress signal – O’Grady’s signature alarm. Hours ticked by into days and the team at Pine Gap wonder if Grady is still alive… Finally, on Day Four, they get the signal. Did the enemy get it too? Now begins an operation with immense risks for all involved. Can they save O’Grady from behind enemy lines? Find out in Episode 54 of True Spies.

True Spies is hosted by Vanessa Kirby. Described by Variety as “the outstanding stage actress of her generation, capable of the most unexpected choices“, the Emmy nominated Kirby recently won Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for her role in Pieces of a Woman (2020). She is perhaps best known for her BAFTA winning portrayal of Princess Margaret in The Crown, and for her roles in Mission: Impossible and Hobbs & Shaw.

True Spies provides insights into secret worlds, asking audiences what they would do in real life situations. The show also invites listeners to test their own secret intelligence skills, with exercises designed by a former Head of Training at British Intelligence.

Find out more at spyscape.com/true-spies.

“SPYSCAPE provides a wonderfully creative, interactive, and stimulating experience that imparts tremendous insights into the conduct of spy craft and intelligence operations.”
– General David Petraeus (US Army, Ret.),  former Director of the CIA. Former commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and coalition forces in Afghanista