9. The Central Intelligence Agency runs a museum in Virginia
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operates its own museum, located at the CIA facilities in Langley, Virginia, near Washington DC. Its extensive collections include artifacts from its predecessor, the Office for Strategic Services (OSS) which operated during World War II. They include specialized clothing, weapons, documents, specialized tools, and assorted gear associated with espionage. Within the collections are a miniaturized Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, with the size and appearance of a dragonfly, an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle designed to resemble a catfish and an Al Qaeda training manual. An AK-47 assault rifle taken from the Pakistani compound where Osama Bin Laden was killed is within the collections. So are World War II escape maps printed on silk, created to aid airmen in evading the enemy during an escape. The silk ensured they would not rustle when consulted, as paper would.
Both the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation maintain similar museums of their own within their headquarters. All three work with other museums, including Presidential libraries, to support exhibits which depict intelligence and law enforcement during their respective administrations. They share one thing in common, which makes them strange. None of the three museums, despite containing galleries and displays (the CIA Museum has three galleries) are open to the public. Though all of the materials are declassified, they are displayed within classified facilities. However, the ultra-secretive National Security Agency (NSA) operates a museum n Annapolis Junction, Maryland, which is open to the public. The National Cryptologic Museum is focused on codes, ciphers, and information collecting with exhibits of artifacts going back to the American Revolutionary War.