I Cannot Tell a Lie!

This post is from a source wishing to remain anonymous. We are soliciting more posts with this level of detail. Two more anecdotal accounts have been offered as comments on this post and appear here as well. Keep them coming, I can already see how they might be useful to those who are facing the same.

- Doc

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Original Posting
Here's a fairly detailed account of the CI polygraph I took for HRP a little over a year ago. I am assuming this will come to you anonymously.
The polygraph center is located in an office park near the ABQ airport. You enter a hallway from the parking lot and there are two badge reader controlled doors. The one on your left is a waiting area, where you sign in, deposit your belongings in a locker, and wait. There's no restroom in the waiting area, you have to go out the badge reader door and down the hall and then have them badge you back in. There's a video camera, a water dispenser, and a bookshelf filled with Tom Clancy novels (how long DO they plan for me to wait?) and past issues of Guns & Ammo. After browsing through the sign in sheets to see if I knew anyone, I waited. Probably a half-hour, it's hard to say under the circumstances. I was the only person waiting.
When my turn came, they took me across the hall through a second badge reader, into an office area. The polygraph rooms are cubicles with ceilings, built from modular walls like you'd see in many LANL office buildings. The room contained a blocky upholstered chair (function of which is obvious) in the corner opposite the door; a desk with a computer on it, set to the right of the chair, mostly out of the view of the person sitting in the chair; and a folding chair directly in front. The examiner was friendly and helfpul in a rehearsed and measured sort of way. Not as cheerful as a flight attendant, but more solicitous than the average LANL buyer. (Cheap shot, I know). His overall demeanor suggested that he wanted to help me get through the process as smoothly as possible. I did not experience anything that I would describe as threatening or unprofessional during the test, but I would not describe it as a pleasant experience, either.
I don't exactly remember how I was hooked up, I think there was a velcroed strap that went around my chest and a thingy on my right hand. You are supposed to sit extremely still while they are recording, which is not easy for a fidgety person. The recorded sessions take just a few minutes each, and there are four of them at a minimum, or more if you have trouble producing the right kind of signals. The rest of the time is spent going over the questions. You can't see what is being recorded, because it's on a computer screen facing away from you, and because the examiner is out of your field of view when you are sitting perfectly still.
The examiner went over the three types of questions. The first is intended to be a completely neutral question, such as "Are the lights on in this room?" Your are supposed to answer this honestly. The second type of control question is intended to produce an emotional reaction and you are asked to lie, for example, "Have you ever deceived a loved one?" or "Have you ever violated a traffic law?" These are supposed to be questions that everyone should be able to truthfully say "yes" to, but the examiner asks you to answer "no." For this to produce useful results, you have to think of a specific situation that you feel strongly about. For example, thinking about speeding on I-25 on my drive to Albuquerque, then answering "no", did not produce the desired reaction on the polygraph. But thinking about an instance where I was actually pulled over with the potential for a big ticket (a real "oh shit" moment) - and visualizing that instant of seeing the flashing lights in my rear-view mirror - did the trick. (This could be ripe for abuse, but my examiner made it clear that he didn't want to know any details.) I had to stop for a moment after the question was posed, think, and then very deliberately say "no" to produce the right response to these controls. I could actually feel a slight numbing sensation in my hands when I was producing a good lie. This took a little coaching and I had to repeat two segments. I honestly feel like my reaction was to the memory of the incident itself, not to my "lie" about it (which really felt more like following directions in order to pass a test, something which most LANL employees are well practiced at). This is the primary reason I question the polygraph process.
The third type of question, of course, was the actual counterintelligence questions. These were, approximately: Have you ever disclosed classified information to an unauthorized person? Do you have any unreported relationships with foreign nationals? Have you ever attempted to sabotage a classified computing system? and Have you ever conspired to overthrow the US Government? Each round of recording contained only one of these questions, asked two or three times, mixed in with a few of each type of control question. The examiner presented each question he would be asking, gave it a little more definition, and then asked me if I had any reaction to the question that I'd like to discuss. Those weren't his exact words, but the idea was, if I had any particular question or concern about it, I was supposed to discuss it with him. I went through a few possibilities on the foreign national one (coworkers, incidental contact) and reviewed a near-infraction I was once incidentally involved in. While the recorder was on, he then said "Other than what we have already discussed, [insert question]?" I am told that if your polygraph indicates deception on these questions, they will stop the recording, give you another chance to get things off your chest, and then do the round over again. I have also been told that what comes out of your mouth during these interludes is the only thing that can really get you into trouble. (Everything that happens in the room is recorded, and I would imagine there is a second person watching the process as it occurs.) If you simply answer "yes" and "no" and then decline to provide any further elaboration on your answers, the worst that can happen is that you will fail to pass. Eventually if you fail to pass on multiple tries, they can order a field investigation to look deeper into your background.
That's about it. There was a break in the middle of the session, back into the waiting room. At the end, he told me the data had to pass through a QA review but that I had provisionally passed. It took me about three hours from arrival at the test center until I was back in my car. It wasn't horrible, just very weird. I do not believe it improved national security.

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Posting 2
Anonymous said...

Doc,

I will add my experience to the list of CI polygraphs. I took mine about 18 months ago. Same place as the first poster. Identical experience up until I got called to go on over to the polygraph suites. I got this examiner, (his mentality I guess was that of a used car salesman, just by the way he talked and acted) I asked him his name, he said it didn't matter for me to know it. That set me up on the defensive right there. I had researched the polygraph online and through my local library. I literally read everything I could get my hands on. The polygrapher line for line did exactly what most of my reseach said he would do. The pretest was exactly as described. It was at this point I realized that I was dealing with a neanderthal, who couldn't think beyond the scripted process he was employing. So we went through the questions, and he hooked me up. As we were going through the questions, he yelled a couple of times, he said I was breathing too shallow, and accused me of trying to manipulate the test. I just continued breathing at my normal rate. I was more relaxed than I thought I would be. And I think he didn't much like that. We went through the questions 3 times. He stopped the questioning a couple of times, because he said I was having a reaction to the foreign national contacts question. I wasn't, I knew that this was a ploy and an area of concern for everyone I talked too, other folks said the same after their polys. I said nothing was bothering me. We completed the testing and he left to examine and score the charts, at least that is what I assumed he was going to do. I had no worries as I 100% told the truth. But it was interesting to note that the knowlege of the polygraph procedure and the format used was predictable. The upfront study on the polygraph was a great comfort. Mr Neanderthal came back in and had me go sit in the waiting area. Within a 1/2 hour I was told I could go home. I never heard anymore about it. Total time was about 3.5 hours. After that experiece, I now more than ever know and believe that the polygraph is a complete waste of time. The key thing is not to be intimidated and also not allow the brainwashing routines (pretest and examiner bluster) and the little numbers test, (they use it supposedly to calibrate the machine), swing you into believing that it really does work. Its nothing more than a mind game. Anyone with game theory experience will see it for what it is.
May 19, 2007 11:35 PM

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Posting 3
Anonymous said...

I've had 3 or 4 CI polygraphs over the years and the best advice I ever received was from a DOE Security Mgr who said "All I know is never admit to anything... they'll take the slightest indiscretion and turn it into a major security breech".

His point was that DOE was looking for "examples" to justify the success of the CI polygraph Program.

May 20, 2007 5:02 AM

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Keep the cards and letters coming folks, this kind of documentation of personal experiences can't help but be helpful in a couple of ways: 1) It gives the rest of us something to base our hopes and fears on beyond the threats and promises of LANS/DOE and 2) It provides a modicum of oversight to those in charge of the process; If they act in abusive ways it is likely to be exposed through this kind of publication.

We are moderating comments on this post as we do NOT care to let the hecklers "tag" this thread with their need to be heard. This is why there are two posts here, the original which drew in a couple of hecklers right away and this one which is dedicated specifically to these testimonials. Random commentary can go to the other post.

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