Polygraph Articles, Letters, and Book Chapters

• Polygraph Place Bulletin Board Private Forum. This is not an article but rather an index to an archive comprising 33 message board index pages, each with navigable links to some 40 message threads. This archive, including over 1,300 message threads dating from 2002-2013, provides a wealth of insight into the attitudes, concerns, biases, and characters of some prominent figures in the polygraph community.
   
• Lie Detectors Lie: The Pentagon's False Promise of Assured Loyalty
by Peter J. Ognibene. Washington Post, 13 January 1985. A PDF version of this article, as collected and highlighted by the CIA, is also available. Ognibene's critique of polygraphy remains salient today, as polygraph techniques have not improved in any significant way in the intervening years.
 
• "The Art of Deception: Polygraph Lie Detection" by Michael Lawrence Langan, M.D. Gray Areas, Vol. 4, No. 1 (spring 1995), pp. 75-77. A scanned PDF version (1 mb) of this article is also available.
   
• "Rebuttal of Defamatory Remarks by Polygraph Examiner Dr. Louis I. Rovner, Ph.D." by George W. Maschke, 25 October 2007. In an attempt to discredit this website, Rovner made false and defamatory statements regarding AntiPolygraph.org co-founder George Maschke in a polygraph examination that was videorecorded for evidentiary purposes.
   
• "Positive and Negative Predictive Values of Polygraphs: Results from published 'field' studies" (255 kb PDF) by Dr. Alan P. Zelicoff. Values generated through Monte Carlo simulation indicate "if a subject fails a polygraph, the probability that she is, in fact, being deceptive is little more than chance alone; that is, one could flip a coin and get virtually the same result for a positive test based on the published data."
   
• "Science, Lies, and Controversy: An Epitaph for the Lie Detector" (133kb PDF) by Dr. David T. Lykken. Invited address to the 1991 convention of the American Psychological Association, acknowledging the Award for Distinguished Contribution to Psychology in the Public Interest.
   
• Chapter 4 of Safe House: The Compelling Story of the Only CIA Operative to Seek Asylum in Russia by Edward Lee Howard (Bethesda, MD: National Press Books, 1995). Recounts the author's CIA polygraph experience.
   
• "Polygraph Screening of Sex Offenders," by Dr. Drew C. Richardson, 21 May 2005. A letter to the editor of the UK newspaper Telegraph on plans to implement compulsory lie detector "testing" for convicted sex offenders released under licence.
   
• "Polygraph Operator 'Dr.' Michael Martin Is a Phony Ph.D.," by George W. Maschke, 22 April 2005.
   
• "Polygraph Operator 'Dr.' James Allan Matte Is Not a Genuine Ph.D.," by George W. Maschke, 18 April 2005.
   
• Letter to Dr. Phil McGraw on Polygraph Testing, by Professor John J. Furedy, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, 28 February 2005.
   
• "OSI provides the truth in Baghdad," by USAF Master Sgt. Carolyn Collins, Global Reliance, March-April 2004. This article provides yet another example of unwarranted official belief in the lie detector.
   
• "U.S. Military Computer Systems Used to Post Disinformation on AntiPolygraph.org," by George W. Maschke, 22 April 2004.
   
• Gallery Row: Home of the FBI HQ Polygraph Unit. 18 January 2004.
   
• Foster Father Who "Passed" Polygraph Admits Sex Abuse. 8 December 2003. News release by the United States Attorney, District of Idaho, regarding the case of Robert Philip Long.
   
• "Polygraph: An intelligence tool in growing demand," by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joseph Castleberry, 902nd Military Intelligence Group (Counterintelligence), INSCOM Journal, Spring 2003, pp. 15-16. This article provides an alarming example of unwarranted official belief in the lie detector.
   
• "A Response to Doug Williams," by George W. Maschke, 1 August 2003. Douglas Gene Williams, author of "How to Sting the Polygraph," a manual on polygraph countermeasures that is available for sale on his website, www.polygraph.com, has published a veiled attack against AntiPolygraph.org.
   
• Memorandum to National Nuclear Security Administration Director Lynton F. Brooks (59 kb PDF) congratulating him on his decision to remove David M. Renzelman as director of the Department of Energy's polygraph program. This anonymous letter, sent by fax on 3 March 2003, also includes a farewell memo from Mr. Renzelman.
   
• The Body on the Stairs: A Pedagogical Detective Story (540 kb PDF) by David Thoreson Lykken. Chapter 21 of A Tremor in the Blood: Uses and Abuses of the Lie Detector, 1st edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981. Reproduced here by permission.
   
• "Polygraph Operator 'Dr.' Edward I. Gelb Exposed as a Phony Ph.D.," by George W. Maschke, 16 June 2003.
   
• George W. Maschke's comments to the Department of Energy regarding its decision, published in the Federal Register on 14 April 2003, to completely ignore the National Academy of Sciences' findings on polygraphy.
   
• "How to Beat the Lie Detector" by William Scott Stewart, Esquire, November, 1941.
   
• "Just Say 'No' to FBI Polygraphs" by George W. Maschke, 9 May 2003
   
• Letter to the West Virginia House of Delegates Judiciary Committee by George W. Maschke dated 6 May 2003 on House Bill 2780, that would institute mandatory polygraph screening for sex offender probationers and parolees.
   
• Letter to the editor of the New York Times by Dr. Drew C. Richardson dated 11 April 2003 regarding polygraph screening in light of the James J. Smith case.
   
• A Response to Paul M. Menges Regarding the Ethical Considerations of Providing Polygraph Countermeasures to the Public. AntiPolygraph.org's George Maschke comments on an article by DoDPI countermeasure course instructor Paul M. Menges
   
• Evaluation and Opinion of CQT Polygraphy by Dr. Drew C. Richardson. This statement was successfully used to refute polygraph "evidence" in an administrative hearing. Dr. Richardson is willing to make a signed copy available at no charge to any who may need to discredit polygraph "evidence."
   
• Chapter 15 of Nazi Spies in America by Leon G. Turrou (New York, Random House, 1938, 1939). Describing what is likely the FBI's first use of the polygraph in an espionage investigation.
   
• "Destruction of Records and Personal Attack on Journalist by Defense Security Service" by Michael Ravnitzky. Documents the Defense Security Service's instruction to the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute that it destroy polygraph videotapes to circumvent Freedom of Information Act requests by the public.
   
• "Playing 'Pin the Tail on the Truth' in the Eleventh Circuit: Why Polygraph Evidence Should be Excluded in Federal Courts" (144 kb PDF) by Vincent A. Citro, Stetson Law Review, Vol. 30 (2000), No. 2. Reproduced here by permission.
   
• "Can Criminals Beat the Lie Detectors?" (1.66 mb PDF) by Fred T. Blakemore, Science and Mechanics, Vol. 24, No. 4 (August 1953). The author seems to have uncritically relied on information provided to him by polygraphers. Nevertheless, this article is of historical interest as one of the earliest published writings on polygraph countermeasures and counter-countermeasures. (For up-to-date information about polygraph countermeasures, see The Lie Behind the Lie Detector.)
   
• Letter to the Washington Post by Professor John J. Furedy dated 4 April 2002.
   
• "Thermal imaging polygraph no more valid than the current North American entrails-reading procedure." Letter to Nature magazine by Professor John J. Furedy dated 5 January 2002.
   
• Letter to the Los Angeles Board of Civil Service Commissioners (19 kb PDF) on LAPD polygraph policy dated 30 November 2001 by George Maschke.
   
• LAPD polygraph test results don't tell full truth by George Maschke. Published in the Los Angeles Daily News, 1 November 2001.
   
• "Forensic 'Lie Detection': Procedures Without Scientific Basis" by Professor William G. Iacono. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, Vol. 1 (2001), No. 1, pp. 75-86. Reproduced here by permission.
   
• Referral to the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility regarding evidence of false FBI statements about the DOE polygraph examination of Dr. Wen Ho Lee dated 26 July 2001 by George Maschke.
   
• Letter to the U.S. Senate Committe on the Judiciary by Mark Mallah dated 25 July 2001 regarding his personal experience under investigation and recommending the abolishment of polygraph screening.
   
• "False Detector" by Dr. Alan P. Zelicoff, senior scientist, Sandia National Laboratories. Published in the 4 April 2001 edition of the Albuquerque Tribune and reproduced here by permission.
   
• Open Letter to Senator Bob Graham, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. A request for hearings into polygraph waste, fraud, and abuse dated 18 June 2001 by George Maschke.
   
• Dr. Alan P. Zelicoff's letter dated 13 June 2001 to Dr. Grant LeFarge, Secretary of the New Mexico Board of Medical Examiners, on the ethics of medical determinations regarding polygraphs.
   
• Dr. Alan P. Zelicoff's letter dated 14 June 2001 to Sandia National Laboratories Director C. Paul Robinson and Executive Vice-President Joan Woodard on medical questions and polygraph screening.
   
• Dr. Alan P. Zelicoff's letter dated 14 June 2001 to DOE Office of Counterintelligence director Michael J. Waguespack regarding medical questions and polygraph "testing."
   
• "Polygraph as Superstitious National Security Tool," by Professor John J. Furedy, 25 February 2001.
   
• Open Letter to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld on Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in the DoD Counterintelligence-Scope Polygraph Program dated 29 January 2001 by George Maschke.
   
• Polygraph "Testing" of Informed Subjects: What Are Polygraphers to Do with Those Who Understand "the Lie Behind the Lie Detector?" American Polygraph Association president Milton O. "Skip" Webb, Jr. joins Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson in declining to explain.
   
  • An Open Letter to the American Polygraph Association from George Maschke dated 9 December 2000.
     
  • APA President Skip Webb's reply dated 15 December 2000.
     
  • Follow-up Questions from George Maschke dated 16 December 2000.
     
  • President Webb's Unresponsive Rejoinder dated 16 December 2000.
     
• Letter to U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairmain Richard Shelby from Dr. Alan P. Zelicoff dated 6 November 2000.
   
• Polygraph Screening and the Lie Behind the Lie Detector: A Second Open Letter to Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson dated 12 October 2000 by George W. Maschke.
   
• Open Letter to Hamilton County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas General Division Presiding Judge Robert S. Kraft dated 30 September 2000 by George W. Maschke.
   
• Open Letter to All Elected Politicians and Appointed Public Office Holders dated 20 September 2000 by Wild Bill.
   
• The Lying Game: National Security and the Test for Espionage and Sabotage dated 17 December 1999 by George W. Maschke.
   
• Open Letter to Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson dated 12 October 2000 by George W. Maschke.