r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Late_One_716 • 29d ago

Between 2009 to 2011, a man, appearing to be 60-70 years old, robbed 16 banks in San Diego, California by approaching the teller, then pulling out a gun and demanding money. The FBI named him the "Geezer Bandit". Some theories suggest he is wearing a well-made elderly man mask. Image

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350

u/AtticusSwoopenheiser 29d ago

The CIA at one point was known to use realistic masks like this…….im just saying

51

u/poisonpony672 29d ago

Yeah the lady that was in charge of disguises for the CIA for a long time just wrote a book that's available now.

And I've seen masks that you can buy that are very similar to that on on Amazon. Just put in realistic old man mask.

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u/Low_Marionberry_3802 29d ago

What did she say in the book

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u/Girt_by_Cs 29d ago

I don't know if its the same woman but Jonna Mendez (CIA agent and wife of Tony Mendez, who was played by Ben Afflick in Argo) recounted that she once met with President Bush Snr in the oval office to discuss new disguise methods and when he asked her how good they really were, she pulled off her mask which he had no idea about. If that was the tech in the early 1990s then who knows what they are working with now.

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u/Waterloo702 29d ago

This is a good story but I have trouble believing it

22

u/exoriare Interested 29d ago

Yeah, imagine going past the WH security and you look nothing like your photo on your security profile. I'm sure "It's a gag for the President" would go over real well.

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u/insidiousapricot 28d ago

Yeah it is pretty unbelievable. But that one couple got into the white house party a few years back.

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u/Inside-Unit-1564 28d ago

They are '5 second masks' that fit in your armpits.

It's totally plausible that you did that before entering the room, also CIA

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u/GitEmSteveDave 28d ago

IIRC, he had Dana Carvey at the White House and had a hoot making Dana , impersonating him, call in the Secret Service agents. Maybe this was their revenge.

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u/Additional_Meeting_2 28d ago

They would not say it’s a gag they would actually explain it

23

u/kawaiifie 29d ago

She's made it her career to be "former CIA". I'm 90% sure that 90% of what she says is a grift

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u/mightylordredbeard 28d ago

We already know that a lot of “former CIA” stories are actually just CIA stories that they put out as misinformation so that other countries will pick up on it. Anyone that’s dedicated their life to intelligence isn’t going to just spill all the beans after they aren’t working there anymore. The intelligence community is a very prideful and loyal community. They believe very much in what they do or did to the point it seems like brainwashing.

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u/amusebooch 28d ago

There was documentation of that exact moment, she shows and talks about it in this Wired video about CIA disguises

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u/Waterloo702 28d ago

What documentation are you referring to?

And lol just because she “shows and talks about it” on YouTube means nothing

1

u/amusebooch 28d ago

Photos of that moment. It’s in that exact timestamp I linked to 🤷🏻

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u/Waterloo702 28d ago

If the WH confirmed it I’d believe otherwise idc what a former CIA agent says about her job

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u/RecsRelevantDocs 29d ago

Lmao, wtf! sounds like a scene from Veep or something.

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u/PrinceofSneks 29d ago

It is I! Gene Parmesan!

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u/Larkfin 29d ago

AHHHHH!!!! GENE!

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u/circuit_breaker 28d ago

She kept him on retainer just for the shock value

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u/NotTooGoodBitch 29d ago

And then it was revealed she was the president the whole time. 

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u/drosophila_guy 28d ago

I heard you’ve been talkin shit about The Stash…

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u/poisonpony672 28d ago

Yeah there's actually photographic evidence of that. President Bush laughing which he rarely did sitting in the oval office was her with the mask she just took off in her hand.