A story in yesterday’s New York Times told of the CIA spy plane flights from Johnston Airport (or BugMeNot). According to the article, the Smithfield-based contractor, Aero Contractors, Ltd., is a long-time CIA front company. The article referred to Aero Contractors as a “major domestic hub of the CIA’s air service.”
Much of the article is old news to me, but the extent of Aero Contractor’s CIA connections surprised me. Also new to me is the use of the Kinston airport for the CIA’s 737. Hey, at least someone’s using those 10,000ft runways. And I was surprised to know that these flights are still going on.
Scott Shane, by the way, is the reporter who interviewed me during my Italy vacation. We traded voicemails a couple times before finally connecting, at which point he asked me what I knew about the plane. Though he never said so, I assume he had seen my MT.Net blog entry on the CIA plane. I was sad to say I didn’t have much to add that wasn’t already out there. With that, the call ended, and with it my first chance to get interviewed by the New York Times. Still, I think its cool that my humble blogging caught the attention of a “Gray Lady” reporter.
(I recommend you read the Times article rather than the other sites, as the Times one goes into detail you won’t find in the other versions.)