William Peter Kampiles (born December 21, 1954) is a former United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee during the Cold War known for selling a top secret KH-11 spy satellite manual in 1977.
His friend George Joannides later testified that Kampiles had wanted to work in the covert section of the CIA, but would need to undertake the necessary training.
[3] Upon quitting, he stole a top-secret KH-11 spy satellite manual from CIA headquarters in 1977 for monetary gain,[2] with the intention of becoming a double agent.
[4] In January 1978, Kampiles surprised his friends by flying unexpectedly to Athens, Greece,[4] in the middle of winter which was highly uncommon, instead of summer as most Greek-Americans did.
[4] The case was passed off to another Greek-American, experienced senior research analyst Vivian Psachos, who realized the story Kampiles gave was not true.