When I was a kid, I told my parents that there was a secret government organization based in Fort Meade, Maryland. They laughed at me.

It all added up. First, if you looked at any map before, say 1960, you would see the town of Ft. Meade. But afterwards, any map-Exxon, Rand McNally-it wasn't there. It didn't exist, there were no roads in or out of the town.

In addition to this, if you added up the amount of money in the Defense budget, it was approximately $700 million. They listed the total as $1 billion and the amount of money for Signals Intelligence wasn't specified or itemized.

Plus, during hearings held by Senator Church, a spy for Israel named Fort Meade as his residence.

You put all this together: the secret location, the disappearing town, and the unspecified budget and it became clear, even to an idiot kid like me: something was rotten in the state of Maryland.

Closer to home, in and around the New York City area, there are five strategically-placed airports designed to shoot down any enemy aircraft headed towards the city. One is located in the town I used to live, Mahwah, New Jersey. It contains a missile defense silo. Two others are located in Fairfield, Connecticut and by MacArthur Airport on Long Island. They're defunct now, and the one in Mahwah is just an open space.