Agencies use technology in effort to unravel Watergate mystery

Federal officials are using forensic technology on handwritten notes from a Nixon administration meeting to see if they reveal word indentations that could determine what was contained in the 18 1/2-minute gap in the Watergate tapes.

Forensic specialists from several agencies are teaming to determine whether there is any evidence of missing notes taken by H. R. Haldeman, chief of staff to President Richard M. Nixon, during a meeting the two men held on June 20, 1972. The historical record contains only two nonincriminating pages taken during the last minute of the gap, said Phil Mellinger, an amateur historian who prompted the investigation.

But clues in staple marks on the pages suggest they might have been rearranged, he noted.

Multiple staple holes and the angle of the marks "indicated that they were stapled and re-stapled. . . . These were not just notes that were taken, stapled and put into a file. They were adjusted somehow over time," said Mellinger, a former Air Force special agent and National Security Agency systems analyst. The notes are among the permanent records maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration.

He suggested to officials at the Archives that they employ a technique called electrostatic detection to reveal impressions of words underneath the original pages engraved in the remaining documents by heavy pen pressure. The technique involves passing an electrostatic charge over a page protected with plastic film. A distinct pattern of charge emanates from areas on the page where there are indentations. The pattern is visualized by applying an oppositely charged black toner that clings to the indented writing. The process does not damage the documents.

The National Archives agreed to proceed and examiners expect to have results in early 2010, NARA officials said.

This experiment is part of a quest Mellinger began in 2004 to solve the mystery of the 18 1/2-minute gap. At first, he studied secondary sources, including documentaries and articles by journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Mellinger said.

In 2008, Archives officials showed Mellinger the original notes "with the white gloves and all the security -- and I just looked at them and said there's pages missing," he said. Mellinger now serves as chief executive officer at Reston, Va.-based Turiss, an IT security company that specializes in computer forensics. "What I was looking for was whether there was a way to uncover impressions without destroying the document."

Mellinger said his motivation simply is to make sense out of Watergate. "My belief is that people involved in Watergate triggered a lot of suspicion and distrust in our government," he said, adding that similar feelings arose during the investigation into the death of President John F. Kennedy. "I think my study will help restore trust in government while putting the blame for Watergate and its mysteries squarely on specific individuals."

Incidentally, one of the rare instances in which the Archives has needed outside government help for preservation was during the investigation of the bullet used to assassinate Kennedy, NARA spokeswoman Susan Cooper said.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Library of Congress are lending laboratory space to the Watergate forensic investigation. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also is contributing expertise. TIGTA will provide the electrostatic detection apparatus and run tests with it, officials with the IG's office said.