Cold War-Era CIA Tapped James Bond for Gadget Ideas

It looks like the relationship between former CIA Director Allen Dulles and 007 mastermind Ian Fleming ran deeper than some might've expected. A study of declassified documents has revealed that the United States' highly secretive security organization copied gadgets from James Bond films and used some of the books to bolster its image.

According to a University of Warwick analysis of letters and interviews, the real-life CIA nabbed inspiration for its own gizmos from those that appeared in such films as Goldfinger and From Russia With Love. During Dulles' tenure, the agency also tapped the British author to paint the American organization in a more positive light at a time when stateside filmmakers and writers were keeping mum.