No introduction

On the Hexagon program whenever we met someone new who was cleared for the program, we had to be introduced by a third party that knew each of us and that we each had the proper top secret clearance. Mike Krim told me this story many years ago.  

“I remember a long time ago was invited to some British friends and they arranged a dinner with some people and they had also invited someone with whom they thought I would be very interested in speaking with. Apparently, he was from a British organization that parallels our   customer, the CIA in one way or another. So, after dinner they brought out cigars and that is typically British, and pipes and MacCarrans 18 -year old whiskey and this fellow says, “what have you been working on?” I said I don’t think I can talk about it because we really haven’t been properly introduced. What have you been working on? He said “I’m sort of in the same situation.”  So we sat and drank whiskey and didn’t say a damn word The whole evening.