Real-Life 007: Wristwatch Camera, Tiny Tools

June 6, 2008 — -- A camera so tiny it can fit in an ink pen or a watch. A speedboat in disguise. Paper that dissolves in water. While these may sound like they're pulled from the plotlines of "Goldfinger" or "Get Smart," these Bond-like gadgets are actually straight out of the backrooms and spy missions of the CIA.

In "Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs from Communism to Al-Qaeda," Robert Wallace, the former head of the CIA's office of technical service, along with H. Keith Melton, explores the technical advancements and, at times, hilarious marvels of the spy industry and the office that developed it.

"The office of technical services is a group of men and women that makes all of the spy gear for agents and for offices to use in clandestine operations," Wallace told ABC News. "So if you need secret writing or if you need a listening device or perhaps you need a special communication device or you need a special weapon or you need an identity document, those are the kind of things that the office made and did."

Since the office opened in the 1950s, every disguise, audio bug and other spy doodad went through the office — even a tool kit can fit in a rectal suppository.

"The primary way the ideas were developed was on needs from field officers," Wallace said.

Technical officers served overseas with the agents they were supporting.