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I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to Be Destroyed By Me: Emblems from the Pentagon's Black World
They’re on the shoulders of all military personnel: patches showing what a soldier’s unit does. But what if that’s top secret?
I Could Tell You... is a bestselling collection of more than seventy military patches representing secret government projects. Here author/photographer/investigator Trevor Paglen explores classified weapons projects and intelligence operations by scrutinizing their own imagery and jargon, disclosing new facts about important military units, which are here known by peculiar names (“Goat Suckers,” “Grim Reapers,” “Tastes Like Chicken”) and illustrated with occult symbols and ridiculous cartoons. The precisely photographed patches—worn by military personnel working on classified missions, such as those at the legendary Area 51—reveal much about a strange and eerie world about which little was previously known.
I Could Tell You... is a bestselling collection of more than seventy military patches representing secret government projects. Here author/photographer/investigator Trevor Paglen explores classified weapons projects and intelligence operations by scrutinizing their own imagery and jargon, disclosing new facts about important military units, which are here known by peculiar names (“Goat Suckers,” “Grim Reapers,” “Tastes Like Chicken”) and illustrated with occult symbols and ridiculous cartoons. The precisely photographed patches—worn by military personnel working on classified missions, such as those at the legendary Area 51—reveal much about a strange and eerie world about which little was previously known.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 2007
9 people are currently reading
757 people want to read
About the author
Trevor Paglen
31 books44 followersTrevor Paglen is an artist, writer, and experimental geographer whose work deliberately blurs lines between social science, contemporary art, journalism, and other disciplines to construct unfamiliar, yet meticulously researched ways to see and interpret the world around us.
Paglen's visual work has been exhibited at Transmediale Festival, Berlin; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA); Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams; the 2008 Taipei Biennial; the Istanbul Biennial 2009, and has been featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, Wired, Newsweek, Modern Painters, Aperture, and Art Forum.
Paglen has received grants and commissions from Rhizome.org, Art Matters, Artadia, and the Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology.
Paglen is the author of three books. His first book, Torture Taxi: On the Trail of the CIA’s Rendition Flights (co-authored with AC Thompson; Melville House, 2006) was the first book to systematically describe the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program. His second book, I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me (Melville House, 2007) an examination of the visual culture of “black” military programs, was published in Spring 2008. His third book, Blank Spots on a Map, was published by Dutton/Penguin in early 2009. In spring 2010, Aperture will publish a book of his visual work.
Paglen holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley, an M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in Geography from UC Berkeley.
Paglen lives and works in Oakland, CA and New York City.
Paglen's visual work has been exhibited at Transmediale Festival, Berlin; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA); Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams; the 2008 Taipei Biennial; the Istanbul Biennial 2009, and has been featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, Wired, Newsweek, Modern Painters, Aperture, and Art Forum.
Paglen has received grants and commissions from Rhizome.org, Art Matters, Artadia, and the Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology.
Paglen is the author of three books. His first book, Torture Taxi: On the Trail of the CIA’s Rendition Flights (co-authored with AC Thompson; Melville House, 2006) was the first book to systematically describe the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program. His second book, I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me (Melville House, 2007) an examination of the visual culture of “black” military programs, was published in Spring 2008. His third book, Blank Spots on a Map, was published by Dutton/Penguin in early 2009. In spring 2010, Aperture will publish a book of his visual work.
Paglen holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley, an M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in Geography from UC Berkeley.
Paglen lives and works in Oakland, CA and New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
March 22, 2024
Patches representing covert military programs. I could tell you but...well, maybe I have already said too much. This was a very interesting book; seems that there are lots of unofficial 'programs' going on in the DOD - makes one wonder how many programs we will never be aware of - and how many 'actions' they have taken.
July 20, 2008
In high school art class, I silk screen T-shirts with that said MAJESTIC 12 UFO RESCUE SQUAD...with a flying saucer hovering over an upside down triangle. I got a B- and ignored by the cheerleaders. If you want to be popular, don't seek the truth, kids.
***
Update: Not truly the blackest of ops, here. More off-white, gray or brown: test flights, satellites; to me, black-ops signals X-Files, reverse-engineered alien technology and secret moonbase operations.
***
Update: Not truly the blackest of ops, here. More off-white, gray or brown: test flights, satellites; to me, black-ops signals X-Files, reverse-engineered alien technology and secret moonbase operations.
January 4, 2011
Intriguing, totally weird, little book. There's even a patch featuring a wraith from an ICP album cover.
November 7, 2012
Trevor Paglen is an artist, an investigator and a provocateur. His book presents USA military patches used by the special foces or black ops troops. The patches are photographed and highlighted, their purpose and symbolism explained. Many of these patches were shown to him by black ops troops. The secrets these patches contain are fascinating. And, on another level, they wake us up to the fact that millions of dollars are spent on black ops and these secret troops now number 860,000, all on top secret clearance. Does a free society need so many secret special troops? And can even The President know of all their "activities" and control them?
HORRIBLE!
HORRIBLE!
May 5, 2008
A nicely designed but short collection of uniform patches collected from classified military projects. The author tries to interpret the patches to derive information about the nature of the projects. For example, a lot of them have six stars on them, which he suggests refers Area 51 (5+1, get it?) in Nevada. I don't buy all of his speculations but I do respect that there are a few of the patches on which he just admits he doesn't know what the hell they are for. A perfect little book to thumb through.
July 27, 2013
You should read this for the explanation of the title alone. Not sure why it took me so long to get this because I'm already familiar with Paglen's other works. Recommended for artists, patch collectors, true metal heads, military science buffs, and people who live for UFO sightings. Here is the covered-up colors that military personnel wear while working on black op projects.
July 18, 2011
Trevor Paglen, I Could Tell You but Then You Would Have to Be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Pentagon's Black World (Melville House Press, 2007)
As is usual, I haven't read reviews for this book before I started writing this one, but I'd be willing to make you a small bet given (a) what I know about the reviews of Trevor Paglen's other books and (b) what I know of Amazon reviewers in general: there are going to be a sizable minority of reviews of this book that are going to complain, perhaps a lot, about how many of the entries in this book, especially towards the back, have almost no information listed about them. For as is the case with Blank Spots on the Map, much of the material Paglen covers here is still very much classified; even in the cases where he does have more information on a subject than one would expect, it's couched in terms that denote hearsay or speculation. (On very few pages does one see the phrase “[t]his project was declassified in...”.) Okay, I'm willing to concede the point that conspiracy theorists come off a lot more convincing if they actually don't claim to know everything, but few of them back their stuff up as much as Paglen has over the past five years. You don't see a great deal of that in this pocket-size art book, more's the pity; Paglen makes a few references to having got the information from folks who previously worked on these projects, but there's a complete absence of footnotes (where Blank Spots on the Map was loaded with them) here; I think of this as a kind of companion piece to Blank Spots.... It presents a series of patches and emblems worn by military types who had been involved in black projects over the years (Paglen notes at the beginning that he presents them almost at random, and that the collection is in no way comprehensive or exhaustive), with what information he has, and that's it. Like I said, an art book. The commonalities in design are interesting, if not necessarily instructive (one must rely a great deal on Paglen's interpretation if one is to get anywhere in decoding these things), and the whole is grimly amusing, in a way.
And I want a Goatsuckers patch. ****
(For the record: the odd wording of the title is explained in Paglen's discourse on the final patch in the book, the only one close to being long enough to earn the title of “essay”, and the most interesting of the bunch.)
As is usual, I haven't read reviews for this book before I started writing this one, but I'd be willing to make you a small bet given (a) what I know about the reviews of Trevor Paglen's other books and (b) what I know of Amazon reviewers in general: there are going to be a sizable minority of reviews of this book that are going to complain, perhaps a lot, about how many of the entries in this book, especially towards the back, have almost no information listed about them. For as is the case with Blank Spots on the Map, much of the material Paglen covers here is still very much classified; even in the cases where he does have more information on a subject than one would expect, it's couched in terms that denote hearsay or speculation. (On very few pages does one see the phrase “[t]his project was declassified in...”.) Okay, I'm willing to concede the point that conspiracy theorists come off a lot more convincing if they actually don't claim to know everything, but few of them back their stuff up as much as Paglen has over the past five years. You don't see a great deal of that in this pocket-size art book, more's the pity; Paglen makes a few references to having got the information from folks who previously worked on these projects, but there's a complete absence of footnotes (where Blank Spots on the Map was loaded with them) here; I think of this as a kind of companion piece to Blank Spots.... It presents a series of patches and emblems worn by military types who had been involved in black projects over the years (Paglen notes at the beginning that he presents them almost at random, and that the collection is in no way comprehensive or exhaustive), with what information he has, and that's it. Like I said, an art book. The commonalities in design are interesting, if not necessarily instructive (one must rely a great deal on Paglen's interpretation if one is to get anywhere in decoding these things), and the whole is grimly amusing, in a way.
And I want a Goatsuckers patch. ****
(For the record: the odd wording of the title is explained in Paglen's discourse on the final patch in the book, the only one close to being long enough to earn the title of “essay”, and the most interesting of the bunch.)
February 12, 2008
Shown here for the first time, these seventy-five patches reveal a secret world of military imagery and jargon, where classified projects are known by peculiar names ("Goat Suckers," "None of Your Fucking Business," "Tastes Like Chicken") and illustrated with occult symbols and ridiculous cartoons. Although the actual projects represented here (such as the notorious Area 51) are classified, these patches-which are worn by military units working on classified missions-are precisely photographed, strangely hinting at a world about which little is known.
By submitting hundreds of Freedom of Information requests, the author has also assembled an extensive and readable guide to the patches included here, making this volume the best available survey of the military's black world-a $27 billion industry that has quietly grown by almost 50 percent since 9/11.
By submitting hundreds of Freedom of Information requests, the author has also assembled an extensive and readable guide to the patches included here, making this volume the best available survey of the military's black world-a $27 billion industry that has quietly grown by almost 50 percent since 9/11.
August 6, 2008
I read about this book in the NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008...
and boy is it exciting. I just love how weird/adolescent/heavy metal these patches are, juxtaposed with the presumably pretty serious/scary world of black military ops. It also reminds me of my weird pog collection from the 90s...trying to decipher what these odd little circles might mean.
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008...
and boy is it exciting. I just love how weird/adolescent/heavy metal these patches are, juxtaposed with the presumably pretty serious/scary world of black military ops. It also reminds me of my weird pog collection from the 90s...trying to decipher what these odd little circles might mean.
June 3, 2011
A collection of over 70 military patches tied to secret government operations. Some are explained, some are still technically classified and are eerily vague, like the one with an alien's head over a strange symbol with the message written in Latin "Let them hate so long as they fear."
Great little book, highly recommended.
Great little book, highly recommended.
March 24, 2012
Absolutely fascinating look at the secret world of patches in the military. Paglen did an amazing amount of investigation and work to uncover these patches, and, more importantly, the world they represent. This book -- with its title on the cover on a real patch -- is fascinating even if you don't care at all about patches, the military, secret operations...
March 13, 2010
This is a very short book containing photographs of patches from secret projects and attempts to correlate the patch to particular secret projects. Obviously, there is not a lot to go on here besides conjecture. It's still a very interesting book worth a look.
January 9, 2015
This was a very interesting read and the emblems are even more interesting to sit and study, some of them are real works of art. I took the patch off of the cover and had it sewn on to my faveorite jacket. Looks killer!
March 10, 2008
Not a challenge to read or anything, but this was fun. An amateur, not at all professional look at the possible meanings behind black ops badges that the military uses. Fun.
June 8, 2008
Delightful little book about the semiology of patches worn by civilian contractors working on Pentagon "black budget" projects. Alternately funny and disturbing.
May 27, 2010
learned alot about the hidden meanings of symbols on top secret military project patches and as well as historical now declassified projects.
July 16, 2011
I really can't talk about it.
September 26, 2014
The subject matter of this book really appealed to me. The sense of humor in some of these black program patches is great and the book is a fun, quick read.
April 7, 2013
Cool collection of military patches from secret government programs. This definitely tickled my not-so-inner conspiracy theorist.
March 30, 2015
Its good
May 29, 2024
Military patches are semi-formal emblems designed and worn by members of specific units or programs. This book is a collection of patches specifically from secret or black projects. Given their nature, much is unknown about most of the meaning and symbolism behind them. Therefore, most patches have a paragraph or two of information about them. The patches often are highly symbolic, with astronomical figures, pop culture references, and Latin phrases being used to obliquely describe the work being performed.
A couple of examples:
- a patch for the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile program, referred by its acronym TSSAM which kind of looks like Tasmanian, has a picture of a tornado with eyes that resembles Tasmanian Devil cartoon character.
- a patch for the team at Area 51 that tested Soviet military hardware the US obtained includes a bear with a red hat and six stars. The hangar the Soviet jets were kept was called Red Square and the team that worked on them were the Red Hats. The six stars (5+1=6) references Area 51.
An interesting look at an aspect of military culture I didn’t know much about. The patch designs vary widely in aesthetic appeal but I was surprised by the amount of operational information put into some of the designs.
A couple of examples:
- a patch for the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile program, referred by its acronym TSSAM which kind of looks like Tasmanian, has a picture of a tornado with eyes that resembles Tasmanian Devil cartoon character.
- a patch for the team at Area 51 that tested Soviet military hardware the US obtained includes a bear with a red hat and six stars. The hangar the Soviet jets were kept was called Red Square and the team that worked on them were the Red Hats. The six stars (5+1=6) references Area 51.
An interesting look at an aspect of military culture I didn’t know much about. The patch designs vary widely in aesthetic appeal but I was surprised by the amount of operational information put into some of the designs.
December 29, 2024
It’s a weird one.
Why would someone make wearable pieces of fabric referencing something completely secret? Also where did your taxes go?
The book asks but does not answer these questions.
It’s not really a book but an album with captioned secret air force patches? Can they really be real. I have no idea don’t ask me.
If we entertain the idea, at least there is something interesting about this book.
You get an interesting display of the unique psychopathy required to be in this space and then to have the uniquely American need to to only make the patches but eventually show them off - a trait that makes the whole of this album a bit more probable to be real. Like a person the book quoted “these are gang colors”. Yeah, it’s definitely not ten minutes of Tom Cruise waiting for you at Area 51.
But it’s always interesting to stare at the weird things even if you logically want to deny it.
So is this the art of a 30 billion dollar gang?
Why would someone make wearable pieces of fabric referencing something completely secret? Also where did your taxes go?
The book asks but does not answer these questions.
It’s not really a book but an album with captioned secret air force patches? Can they really be real. I have no idea don’t ask me.
If we entertain the idea, at least there is something interesting about this book.
You get an interesting display of the unique psychopathy required to be in this space and then to have the uniquely American need to to only make the patches but eventually show them off - a trait that makes the whole of this album a bit more probable to be real. Like a person the book quoted “these are gang colors”. Yeah, it’s definitely not ten minutes of Tom Cruise waiting for you at Area 51.
But it’s always interesting to stare at the weird things even if you logically want to deny it.
So is this the art of a 30 billion dollar gang?
July 8, 2022
This would make a perfect coffee table book if only it were a larger size. The shadowy programs run by the government that we can only guess the contents of make for some very interesting patches. Although I'm sure many of the programs are mundane at best, it's still wild to think about what the military does behind our backs, with our taxes. My personal favorite patch motto: "Opus dei cum pecunia alienum efficemus" -- Doing God's work with other people's money.
April 23, 2020
Fascinating for someone like me who is unfamiliar with military patches except the generic "Kill'em all, and let God sort'em out." The image reference, which often derived from pop culture, in these patches sometimes looks ridiculous but transmits an eerie vibe. This perhaps determined by the notion of secrecy behind those patches.
August 24, 2022
Interest
Perhaps a fascinating coffee table book to glance through, but not relevant to anyone's life.
Reliability
Paglen is a reliable source of information, so this book is a good source if you're interested. His speculation is largely worthless, but is clearly indicated as speculation.
Perhaps a fascinating coffee table book to glance through, but not relevant to anyone's life.
Reliability
Paglen is a reliable source of information, so this book is a good source if you're interested. His speculation is largely worthless, but is clearly indicated as speculation.
March 24, 2018
Fascinating collection of patches from classified US intelligence projects. Don’t expect a lot of facts, but then again, the title of the book should allude to the secrective nature surrounding these embroidered objects.
September 9, 2019
Fun, but short.
An incomplete (and how could it be otherwise?) survey of various black ops patches from a handful of United States military units of various types. The author also discusses the history of military patches. Informative and fun, and not remotely long enough.
An incomplete (and how could it be otherwise?) survey of various black ops patches from a handful of United States military units of various types. The author also discusses the history of military patches. Informative and fun, and not remotely long enough.
January 12, 2023
As I was checking out at the library, the librarian passed this to me as a quick and interesting read. Reading about the history of military patches was interesting. The ones featured in the book are very cool.
October 29, 2024
Genuinely chilling depictions of how some architects of war view themselves, some iconography so obscure and dark as to conjure images of deicide, “A lifetime of silence - Behind the green door” and “Let them hate so long as they fear” gives way to “SNEEKY PETE!” - striking!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews