Then, consulting with his wide network of experts in the industry, the aviation press, and the military, Douglass tweaked the details to create a speculative image of the airplane the government says does not exist. Thanks to new technology, military monitors and stealth stalkers can listen in on the President talking from Air Force One and hear pilots from mysterious planes called Manta and Aurora. Around 1970, solid state electronics replaced old crystals as the heart of scanners. Radio Shack has sold more than 4 million 2006 scanners worldwide, but Douglass estimates there are probably only about 500 hardcore military monitors in this country - which is by far the most relaxed nation when it comes to civilian ownership of such equipment. Several other companies, including Bearcat and Uniden, also make scanners.
Encryption is used at high-level bases, but it's expensive and vulnerable to atmospheric shifts.
Until recently, even Air Force One broadcast communications without first encrypting them. It's all completely legal - except for the practice of listening in on cellular phones, something Douglass finds of little use. When he was suspected of tapping the cellular phone of a Texas congressman - the FBI paid Douglass a visit. Suits suddenly appeared in the windows of the long-vacant house behind him, and a bug showed up on his phone. The real culprit was later found, but Douglass now sweeps the place monthly for bugs.