[mysterious music]

Hi, I'm Keith Masback.

[Narrator] Keith is a former Director of Intelligence,

Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Integration

for the U.S. Army.

Today we'll be breaking down clips

about satellites from TV and film.

Working in Tandem: Enemy of the State.

[electric beeping sounds]

Okay, satellite imagery coming through.

Roger that. Patch visual, my locations.

Give me real time imagery coverage

at lat 38 55, long 77 0 0!

First of all, I do mapping

and geospatial stuff for a living.

The fact that this guy knows the latitude

and longitude of where he is, apparently,

at any place on the earth is pretty impressive.

Roger that, only a minute on satellite visual, over.

Jack Black apparently has access to satellites

300 miles up going 17,500 miles an hour.

They're not waiting around

for Jack Black to tell them what to do.

Everybody move. He just jumped to the adjacent building.

A satellite's good for a lot of things.

It's just not responsive

in a way that you'd use for a foot chase

Air 1 be advised: Suspect heading towards front exit.

Detail: front of building on Columbia.

Copy that.

Another thing that's remarkable here

is the magnitude of this operation.

They appear to have pulled in NSA, NGA, NRO, FBI,

and the local police.

And I'll tell you short of going after someone at the level

of Osama bin Laden, you're just not going to

see an operation of this magnitude.

We were there for technical support.

Satellite Communications: Battleship

Every 24 hours our station in Hawaii will

transmit a signal to Landsat 7: our deep orbiting satellite.

So I'm amused in this scene by the mention of Landsat.

I actually personally sit on the Landsat Advisory Group.

So Landsat, while a fantastic series of satellites over time

has nothing to do with anything in this scene

because it's an earth imaging spacecraft.

It has nothing to do with communications

with other galaxies.

Our station in Hawaii will transmit a signal -

They're talking about referencing a facility

in Hawaii that does deep space tracking.

Those are radio telescopes that are there receiving

signals from outer space, generally,

much less than transmitting them.

Please prepare to bear witness to the making of history.

I think when you put it all together

there's just like a mishmash of stuff going on this scene.

And they're sort of all just jumbling it all together

in a way that really doesn't make sense.

Its a joke, right?

LIDAR: Bad Boys 2

This is Tapia's compound.

CIA hooked us up, huh?

Yeah, this LIDAR laser technology

even shows his escape tunnel.

So LIDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging,

which is the use of an active sensor

shooting out light photons.

And what it creates is a 3D depiction

that we call a point cloud.

For instance, if you're able to get a LIDAR into a window,

those photons bounce around and kind of paint the room

so you can understand the size of the room

and what things are in a room.

All super helpful as you plan an operation.

We are severely screwed if we don't blow up

this security room before we make a move.

So in this particular clip,

you can see that they've used LIDAR

perhaps from the top of the building across the street.

And they've got a great depiction of the house.

This is Tapia's compound.

Intelligence is at its best

when it's combining multiple sources.

So here you've got the infrared,

the contour mapping, and the LIDAR.

When you bring it all together

it really tells a cohesive picture.

We've got everything that we need to take this dude.

Getting it Wrong: Arrested Development

We got something, and you're going to do time for it.

Those are the pictures?

They're all over the news.

Those are balls.

I mean, this scene is certainly an example

of absolutely getting it wrong.

And at the end of the day, analysts are human,

and analysts do make mistakes.

Tobias had inadvertently photographed

himself while learning to use his camera phones.

See, this close, they always look like landscape.

Context of course is critically important.

Generally, you'd start from a very wide shot,

and then you'd zoom in to a specific area

that you're looking for something.

So you have that context to begin with.

Are you serious?

Almost always.

The Weight of a Decision: Homeland.

No other habitations within 75 meters of the target.

Well, obviously anybody inside the farmhouse

would be collateral damage.

In this scene, we see Carrie, a CIA officer,

working to assess collateral damage.

I'd feel a lot better if we weren't so blind

on such a short clock.

One of the things that I think is interesting is

her fervent desire for just a little more time

or a little more information.

In the intelligence business,

we sometimes refer to this as analysis paralysis.

We always want a little more information,

we always want one more picture, but at the end of the day

the perfect intelligence delivered one minute too

late is absolutely worthless.

We got lucky, jacked into a NATO satellite.

And that's the locations right there?

So there's a couple of problems here.

I think he refers to NATO satellites.

...jacked into a NATO satellite.

While NATO member nations have imaging satellites,

NATO itself doesn't actually control any satellites.

Another problem here: I can immediately tell

that that's not a satellite image,

that's a drone image.

And you can tell because the system

is loitering, and satellites don't loiter.

Where're the F15's?

Uh, they're buzzing the border.

They can be on the target in 60 seconds.

One thing we see across many of these movies and TV shows

is a lot of similar looking operation centers

or ground stations.

So actually I've had a longstanding personal theory

that we build our operations centers,

we build our ground stations to look like the movies.

We look at those and we think,

wow, that's what it should look like.

And then we replicate it ourselves.

Denial and deception: Billions

All the big funds are using satellite images.

How many cars are in the parking lot of Walmart

indicates how big a quarter they're going to have.

That's just really interesting because that's happening.

I don't think that people necessarily realize

that there are commercial remote sensing firms

with satellites and that companies on Wall Street

and hedge funds are taking advantage

of those types of images to make decisions about trades.

In January, 2016, Krakow's tone on China changed..

more bullish... omniscient.

The analyst says something's changed in the tone

of this person's public statements.

Let me see if what they're saying matches

what I can see from satellite images.

They knew they were being watched,

so the truck started moving.

A shell for the satellites. The factories are fake,

it's a shell to milk investors.

Denial and deception is both an art and a science.

From the time that we could see from above,

people on the ground knew that they had kind of two choices.

They could either hide: deny,

or they could attempt to deceive:

make something look different than it really is.

And that continues to this day.

This is going to be fun.

High Stakes Mission: Zero Dark Thirty

We've just crossed the border. Now entering Pakistan.

The long-term hunt for Osama bin Laden was one

of the most significant things I've ever been involved in.

[Radio chatter] [electric beeping]

So what you're seeing here is an underlying base map

foundation data that's probably being fed

by signals intelligence data beacons

from the aircraft themselves so you're able to track them.

Prince 51 is down. Prince 51 is down.

This hunt over time for Osama bin Laden was always

a very high priority for the intelligence community

and the defense department.

Thousands of satellite images were taken over time

when tips indicated that we might have a bead

on where he was located.

As the community watched this facility,

some things started to stand out.

It was a very, very secure compound.

It had 12 foot walls on one side.

There was someone who was affectionately known

as the pacer. There was someone who came

out into the walled garden and reenter the facility.

There was a suspicion among the analysts

who were working this day in and day out

that in fact, that was Osama bin Laden.

It might surprise people to know

that there was not indeed certainty

that we had in fact killed Osama bin Laden

until there were pictures

and ultimately they confirmed it with DNA testing.

Satellite Disruption: Independence Day.

Let's say that you wanted to coordinate

with spaceships on different sides of the earth

but you couldn't send a direct signal, right?

You're talking about Line of Sight.

So Line of Sight in radio communications

absolutely is a thing.

You'd need satellites to relay that signal

in order to reach each ship.

Most often, what satellite operators do

is have their satellites talk

to multiple ground stations around the earth.

I found a signal hidden inside our own satellite system.

There are certainly reasons that information

from satellites gets disrupted, it could be hardware,

or software, or firmware on the satellite itself.

And, even solar weather, space weather.

They're using our own satellites against us.

Infrared Imagery: Behind Enemy Lines.

We think the pilot transmission came from here.

[Radio chatter]

So we should stop this. Like that satellite

looked like something like you'd make out of a Lego set.

Now this is imagery

from a Northrop Grumman Relay Satellite

downlinked with a processing center in Stuttgart.

We've hot-wired it for heat-image...

The next thing that happens is that they somehow have

hot-wired a satellite that doesn't even belong to them

to use it for something it wasn't even built to do.

This isn't strictly legal, sir.

They would have lots of assets available

for a search and rescue operation.

That's very high priority.

[dramatic music]

That's Burnett?

Yes, sir.

Infrared imagery is quite valuable at night.

You can see things that are emitting heat.

You can see a vehicle which has recently been used

because you're going to be able to see

that the engine is still hot.

You wouldn't necessarily use a satellite to look

for somebody, a satellite being 300 miles away.

It's kind of tough to get the heat signature

of a single human being.

[suspenseful music] [grunting]

What's going on? He's down.

Has he been shot?

So there's some confusion in the command center here -

Why isn't he moving?

..when we see behavior that doesn't add up,

that doesn't make sense.

You know, those are indicators to us that we've got to

use a different approach to get more information

to explain what's going on.

They're right on him!

[suspenseful music]

This is a great example of where you'd want to

use everything at your disposal.

You'd be using electro-optical. You'd be using infrared.

You'd be using synthetic aperture radar.

Anything you could to pull things together to

give yourself a better picture.

I want intel on this situation.

Recognizing a Nuclear Site: The West Wing.

This picture was taken by an Sr 71

during a routine flyover in the Gulf.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs refers to the Sr 71

as taking part in a routine flyover of the Gulf.

And yes, we are interested in many areas

of the world and we are looking at many areas routinely.

This is Bushehr, and this is what it looks to me like

the early days of construction on a light water reactor.

The locations, Bushehr, actually is a site in Iran.

So that's interesting.

Light water is what's used for nuclear reactors

and the Iranians have contracted the Russians to

build them a light water reactor for that purpose.

Something that looks like the development

of a nuclear facility is certainly

going to get our attention.

I'd compare it to what you do with your physician.

The earlier you catch something, the more options

your doctors have to take care of it.

It's the same in intelligence.

The sooner I can show a decision maker

that something's happening,

the more certainty I can give them about it.

Taking a look at the image specifically,

they refer to the latitude and longitude as two numbers.

They'd probably be better off with that guy

in the alley in the Will Smith movie.

Re-tasking the Satellites, Patriot Games.

Unless authorize us to re-task those satellites

so we can get a look before they're overhead from the side,

we are never going to know which camp they're at.

There's always more requests for satellite imagery

from our spy satellites than we're able to meet.

So we make a plan to be the most efficient collection

that we can put together.

Do you have any idea how big a deal it is to

re-task those satellites?

Yeah.

Occasionally, high priority things disrupt that plan.

And so, we re-task those satellites to get that thing we

need that is a higher priority than what we were

planning to do.

So it's not trivial, but it's normal.

Keep at it then.

Mismatched Expectations : Archer.

You want me to look for what?

A station wagon!

Clean the impending massive heart attack out of your ears!

In this scene, we see a really interesting tension

between someone who is responsible for satellite imagery

and some people who desperately want some information.

A station wagon, in all of Texas?

It's incumbent upon those of us

who are in the satellite imaging business

to be able to explain to commanders and decision makers

and people who aren't used to using them

exactly what they can and can't do -

Hey, is that it? Where?

[gasping] No, that's not it

... because they often come in

with unrealistic expectations based on movies and TV.

Point taken! Ow!

Delivering Bad News : A Bridge Too Far.

There.

Splendid view of the Dutch countryside.

Can't see any tanks.

Wait a moment sir. It's a lot clearer in the next picture.

The intelligence officer is showing his commander that

there were tanks where they didn't think there would be any.

Yes, I shouldn't worry about them.

But sir, you see that they are tanks!

What I think so important about this clip is the fact

that the intelligence officer has to deliver things

that he knows the commanders aren't going to want to hear.

And you seriously considering asking us to

cancel the biggest operation mounted

since D-Day because of three photographs?

It's tough to tell commanders things that don't comport

with their plan. As an intelligence officer

you're delivering things in an unbiased way

with your best judgment, and sometimes

it just isn't what the commander wants to hear.

This time the party's on.

Calculating Collateral Damage: Eye in the Sky.

If my targeteer can calculate us coming in under 50%

for collateral damage on the girl,

do you think you can get approval on your end?

Yes I do.

Decisions around calculating collateral damage

are dynamic, and they're ongoing.

If we put the payload here or here, or maybe here,

well then we could guarantee the target fatality

but we could reduce the collateral.

Certainly as an intelligence professional

you want to understand that pattern of life :

What normally happens around this house?

What happens in the neighborhood around this house?

There is a 45 to 65 percent possibility of fatality.

65 percent? Yes.

I need that calculation to be below 50 percent.

They're talking in super strict percentages here.

There is an absolute art and science to weaponeering:

to understanding the damage that a weapon

is going to cause, the angle that it's going to come in,

the amount of explosive in the weapon,

and then using tools based on imagery,

based on maps, and based on 3D models

of the facility to understand precisely

what the collateral damage is going to be.

Sergeant we need to make this work.

There's clearly a subtext here, an undertone

that the analyst is being pressured to change his call

to meet a criteria that was pre-decided.

There are many lives at risk.

These types of things can happen

and it comes down to moral courage.

It comes down to being able to stand your ground, rather

than allow people to sort of nudge or change your judgment

to fit a specific situation.

Satellite Hack : Diamonds Are Forever.

[rocket engine roaring] [electric beeping sounds]

Wait, something's happened!

In this scene, what happens is an nefarious actor,

a bad guy takes over a satellite.

Something's taken over the guidance system!

[electronic beeping noises] [suspenseful music]

It's as if it had a will of its own.

We are completely incentivized to ensure

that no one can get into the data stream,

take over the satellite, or hack it in any way.

That's critically important to us, and we work very hard

to make sure that that simply can't happen.

[dramatic music] [mechanical sounds]

[Keith chuckles]

Looked like their budget was a hundred bucks

is what it look like.

There's not a damned thing

we can do about it at the moment!

I mean, as hokey as some of the things in this scene

might be, the depiction of the satellite deployment itself

isn't really completely out of bounds.

[dramatic music continues] [wooshing sounds]

Perhaps the solar panels might not deploy until

after separation from the second stage,

if that's what it was.

But otherwise, I mean, it's sort of close.

Well, that's a neat trick.

Private Satellites : Die Another Day.

Imagine being able to grow crops the year round

bringing an end to hunger.

Imagine a second sun shining like a diamond in the sky.

In this scene, we see the bad guy here trying to replicate

the Sun, which seems like a pretty bad idea.

Let there be light. [dramatic music]

So the first thing that strikes me in this scene is

that is one massive space structure.

It took years to launch and assemble

the International Space Station. This is something

that kind of looks like it's on that scale.

You have no idea how much Icharus

is about to change your world.

Not everyone is a responsible actor in space.

Some governments are irresponsible and some corporations

are irresponsible.

So on one hand, space is big right?

Big space, little satellite.

But if there is no traffic cop, if there is no space

traffic management, if there isn't a shared idea

of what we call space domain awareness,

or space situational awareness,

there's really an opportunity...

a potential for a lot of bad stuff to happen on orbit.

Knocked out of Orbit : Austin Powers, Goldmember.

[dramatic music] [sci-fi laser sounds]

Sir, Dr. Evil's not bluffing.

One of our satellites is falling out of orbit.

When it comes to this scene,

just sticking to the satellite stuff,

what's interesting here is space is a war fighting domain,

and thus the recent creation

of the United States Space Force.

Several countries on earth have demonstrated an ability

to do ASAT anti-satellite operations.

In fact, the United States did it first by firing a missile

from a U.S. Air Force aircraft in 1985.

[sci-fi laser sounds]

You know, one thing we see a lot of

is satellite zooming through space.

They all look different.

They've all got different things bolted on

and different configurations.

But in fact, in low earth orbit, they are kind of zooming.

They're going about 18,000 miles an hour, 300 miles up.

So, they're kind of moving.

Satellite Sabotage: Space Force.

Epsilon should be passing right about now.

Oh! yeah, there's a spark.

Beautiful. Wow.

So what struck me immediately in this clip,

as General Naird is talking to his science advisor,

is that he apparently has the world's best telescope

right outside his house.

I got it.

He's able to see in incredible detail

what's happening on orbit.

Wait, is that a second spark?

[ominous music]

While looks like some silly depiction

of something happening on orbit, it's actually

not completely out of the realm of the possible.

[ominous music continues]

Space Command Commander General Dickinson

recently acknowledged that the Chinese have the capability,

potentially, to grapple another satellite with an arm.

Motherf***er!

Close-up Surveillance : Homeland.

Who's he, do we recognize him?

I think he's just a kid from the village.

Well, he's definitely spotted us.

So the type of UAV drone or remotely piloted aircraft

that's depicted here is a Predator B.

A Predator B can operate as high as 50,000 feet.

It's not particularly loud.

And in fact, you'd normally want to operate it

in a way that your adversary wouldn't know

that they were under surveillance.

As I watch this, and the idea of is this realistic,

I suppose, if there was some reason operationally

that they brought the aircraft down a little lower,

or brought it in a little closer than they might normally

do, it's possible that the young man could have heard it

or seen it and looked up in the sky.

This reminds me of a scene from Men in Black

when Agent K is sort of having a moment, keeping an eye

on his wife with some sort of surveillance activity.

The scene from Men and Black looks more

like it's something from a CCTV camera that might be on some

sort of really tall pole versus the much more

realistic depiction we saw in Homeland.

We're bulletproof on this.

Outsmarting Surveillance: Body of Lies.

[radio chatter]

[speaking Arabic]

In this scene the bad guys are understanding

that they might be under surveillance.

[radio chatter continues]

Which one do you want us to follow?

I think what's important here to understand

is something we talk about in the intelligence community is

protecting sources and methods.

We don't want people to understand what we can do,

when we can do it, and how we can do it

because that gives them an edge.

That gives them the ability to think about how

they might be able to defeat that advantage.

Real intelligence operations, they remain secret forever.

[Narrator] [bell sound] Conclusion.

I think the most important thing I'd want

to leave the audience with is to

take a look with a skeptical eye.

Think about what's actually possible.

Think about what looks like it makes sense,

because there's such a mix here

of things that are absolutely plausible

and things that are absolutely never going to happen,

and they're completely unrealistic.

Thank you, Wired.

[applause]