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    Why Coriander Tastes Like Soap to Some People

    Last updated: Wednesday 15th April 2026

    Quick Summary

    This article explains why some people taste soap when eating coriander. It turns out a specific gene affects how we smell certain citrusy compounds in the herb. For those with this gene, coriander has a distinctly unpleasant, soapy flavour, which is surprising because for everyone else, it's a delicious herb.

    In a hurry? TL;DR

    • 1CIA covertly salvaged a sunken Soviet submarine (K-129) in 1974 using a massive mechanical claw.
    • 2The mission, Project Azorian, was disguised as a deep-sea manganese nodule mining operation by Howard Hughes.
    • 3A specialized ship, the Glomar Explorer, was built with a unique capture vehicle named Clementine.
    • 4The salvage partially succeeded, recovering nuclear torpedoes and vital codebooks from the ocean floor.
    • 5Project Azorian redefined espionage and deep-sea engineering, a testament to Cold War technological competition.
    • 6The operation contributed to the 'neither confirm nor deny' policy often used in intelligence matters.

    Why It Matters

    It's astonishing that a secret Cold War mission to steal a sunken Soviet submarine from the ocean floor was disguised as a deep-sea mining operation by the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes.

    In 1974, a massive mechanical claw descended three miles into the Pacific Ocean to steal a sunken Soviet submarine. This mission, executed under the guise of deep-sea mining by Howard Hughes, represents the most expensive and complex clandestine salvage operation in history.

    TL;DR

    • The Mission: A CIA-funded operation to recover the Soviet K-129 submarine.
    • The Cover: Howard Hughes claimed to be mining manganese nodules from the seafloor.
    • The Engineering: Construction of the Glomar Explorer, a ship with a literal giant claw.
    • The Result: A partial success that yielded nuclear torpedoes and codebooks.
    • The Legacy: The origin of the phrase "neither confirm nor deny".

    Why It Matters

    Project Azorian changed the rules of international espionage and deep-sea engineering, proving that even the ocean floor provides no sanctuary for military secrets.

    The Cold War Chessboard

    The late 1960s were defined by a silent, underwater arms race. In March 1968, the Soviet Golf II-class submarine K-129 vanished in the North Pacific. While the Soviet Navy searched in vain for their lost vessel, the Americans had already pinpointed the wreckage using a sophisticated acoustic detection system.

    The submarine was resting 16,500 feet below the surface. To the CIA, this was not just a shipwreck; it was a goldmine of cryptographic equipment and nuclear technology. They needed a way to haul nearly 2,000 tonnes of steel from the abyss without the Kremlin noticing.

    The logistical hurdle was immense. At the time, no technology existed to lift such weight from that depth. More importantly, any visible attempt by the US Navy would be seen as an act of provocation. The mission required a civilian mask.

    The Hughes Connection

    Enter Howard Hughes, the eccentric billionaire. The CIA approached Hughes to provide a plausible commercial cover. The story fed to the press was that Hughes was investing in a pioneering venture to mine manganese nodules—valuable mineral deposits—from the ocean floor.

    To support the lie, they built the Hughes Glomar Explorer, a 618-foot vessel equipped with a massive sub-surface docking well, known as the Moon Pool. Central to the operation was Clementine, a giant mechanical capture vehicle designed to grasp the submarine and pull it into the ship's belly.

    The audacity of the plan relied on the public's willingness to believe in the idiosyncratic whims of a wealthy recluse. Who else but Howard Hughes would spend hundreds of millions on a futuristic mining ship?

    The Descent of Clementine

    On 4 July 1974, the Glomar Explorer arrived at the wreck site. For weeks, the crew lowered the heavy capture vehicle on a string of pipe sections. The mechanical stress was unprecedented. According to declassified documents from the CIA’s internal history, the weight on the hoist system exceeded 3,000 tonnes.

    As the claw finally gripped the K-129 and began the slow ascent, disaster struck. At roughly 9,000 feet, one of the claw's tines snapped. Two-thirds of the submarine broke away and plummeted back to the seafloor, shattering upon impact.

    Only the forward section of the sub was recovered. While the CIA missed out on the primary codebooks located in the aft, they successfully retrieved two nuclear-tipped torpedoes and the bodies of six Soviet sailors.

    A Burial at Sea

    In a rare moment of Cold War solemnity, the CIA filmed a formal burial at sea for the recovered Soviet crewmen. The ceremony was conducted in both English and Russian, with the sailors’ bodies draped in the Soviet flag.

    Years later, in 1992, CIA Director Robert Gates presented a film of this ceremony to Russian President Boris Yeltsin as a gesture of transparency and respect. It was a moment of veracity in a relationship usually defined by deception.

    The Glomar Response

    The secret eventually leaked. In 1975, the Los Angeles Times broke the story after a burglary at Howard Hughes' office revealed documents linking the Glomar Explorer to the CIA. When journalists began filing Freedom of Information Act requests, the Agency needed a legal shield.

    They responded with a phrasing that has since become a staple of bureaucracy: "We can neither confirm nor deny the existence of the records." This is officially known as the Glomar Response. It allowed the government to protect latent secrets without admitting that those secrets existed in the first place.

    Technical Comparison of Deep-Sea Feats

    Feature Project Azorian (1974) Modern Deep-Sea Mining Explore
    Primary Goal Submarine Recovery Mineral Extraction Read about the tech →
    Target Depth 16,500 feet 13,000 - 19,000 feet View depth records →
    Cover Story Mining manganese Commercial Profit Mining history →
    Success Level Partial / Strategic Emerging Industry Future of mining →

    The Engineering Legacy

    While the mission was only a partial intelligence success, it was a total engineering triumph. The Glomar Explorer successfully pioneered heavy-lift technology at depths previously thought inaccessible.

    It used a sophisticated dynamic positioning system—employing several thrusters controlled by computers—to keep the massive ship perfectly stationary above the wreck despite Pacific currents. This technology is now the industry standard for offshore oil drilling and deep-sea research.

    The nascent field of deep-ocean engineering owes its rapid acceleration in the 1970s to this singular, desperate intelligence mission. It was a palimpsest of history, where a Cold War secret was written over the top of genuine scientific advancement.

    Key Takeaways

    • Audacious Engineering: Project Azorian remains one of the greatest mechanical feats of the 20th century.
    • The Power of Cover: Howard Hughes provided the perfect "eccentric billionaire" mask for a government operation.
    • Diplomatic Echoes: The mission's discovery forced a new level of honesty—and a new level of legal evasion—between world powers.
    • Underwater Secrets: The mission proved that the deep ocean is not a vault; with enough money and engineering, anything can be retrieved.
    • The Truth Behind the Glomar Response
    • How Howard Hughes Fooled the World
    • The Cold War's Most Expensive Failures
    • Deep Sea Mining: From Cover Story to Reality

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Project Azorian was a top-secret CIA operation in 1974 to salvage a sunken Soviet submarine, the K-129, from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean using a ship called the Glomar Explorer.

    The public cover story was that the Glomar Explorer, built by Howard Hughes, was a deep-sea mining vessel looking for manganese nodules on the ocean floor.

    The Glomar Explorer was equipped with a giant mechanical capture vehicle, nicknamed Clementine, designed to grip and lift the submarine from extreme ocean depths.

    While the operation was only partially successful, the CIA recovered the forward section of the K-129 submarine, which included nuclear torpedoes and some codebooks.

    Project Azorian demonstrated advanced deep-sea engineering capabilities, changed international espionage tactics, and is the origin of the government's common response of 'neither confirm nor deny' regarding sensitive operations.

    Sources & References