The US Central Intelligence Agency reportedly deployed Israeli-made Pegasus spyware as part of a deception campaign in Iran during efforts to rescue a downed American airman.The spyware—developed by NSO Group—was used to send fake messages to Iranian leadership and operatives of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), falsely indicating that the missing airman had already been located, according to a Times report.While US officials had earlier acknowledged the use of deception tactics, they had not publicly confirmed the use of Pegasus, which is typically known for hacking devices to gather intelligence.
Deception tactics and covert messaging
According to the report, Pegasus allowed operatives to send messages via platforms like WhatsApp and Signal that appeared to originate from compromised devices, effectively misleading Iranian forces during the rescue effort.The operation was part of a broader mission to retrieve one of two US airmen whose aircraft was downed in Iranian territory during the ongoing conflict. The rescue marked a rare instance of US aircraft losses inside Iran since the war began on February 28.
‘Ghost Murmur’ tech reportedly used to locate airman
The CIA also used a highly classified system, dubbed “Ghost Murmur”, to detect the airman’s heartbeat from a distance and pinpoint his location in mountainous terrain.The technology, reportedly developed by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, is said to rely on advanced sensing methods, potentially involving quantum magnetometry, to isolate biological signals from environmental noise.CIA director John Ratcliffe hinted at such capabilities, saying the agency deployed “human assets and exquisite technologies that no other intelligence service in the world possesses,” comparing the mission to “hunting for a single grain of sand in the middle of a desert”. However, experts have expressed scepticism over the feasibility of detecting a heartbeat from miles away, noting that such signals are extremely weak even at close range. Despite this, US President Donald Trump appeared to endorse the existence of advanced undisclosed technologies, saying to The New York Post in an interview, “Nobody even knows what it is… we have equipment the likes of which nobody has ever even thought about”.The rescue operation reportedly involved more than 150 aircraft and hundreds of special forces personnel, with Israeli intelligence support also playing a role in assessing conditions on the ground.