Alex Wellerstein on Twitter: "Out of all of the secrecy stamps the US used, I think "EYES ONLY" is the most immediately unintuitive. "Eyes" as opposed to what... Toes? Ears? Teeth? Noses? (Actual answer: it means don't make a copy of the document.)… https://t.co/zebIXATGr2"

@wellerstein

Historian of science, secrecy, and nuclear weapons. Professor of STS at @FollowStevens. UC Berkeley alum with a Harvard PhD. NUKEMAP creator. Coder and web dev.

Hoboken, NJ / NYC

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1. Dr Ian ‏ @IanHopkinson_ 28 Dec 2017
  
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  Replying to @wellerstein
  
  No licking the secrets!
  
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1. Kristie Macrakis‏ @KristieMacrakis 28 Dec 2017
  
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  Replying to @wellerstein
  
  "FOR YOUR EYES ONLY" is the original then shortened.E.g. For (the Navy's( Eyes Only etc.
  
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1. Robert Hopkins‏ @CobraBall3 28 Dec 2017
  
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  Replying to @wellerstein
  
  Thanks for clarifying this.
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1. Alessandro Allasia ‏ @Sassia674 28 Dec 2017
  
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  Replying to @wellerstein
  
  IMO this is the best score to play while eyeing those documents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkVGfVXPy18 …
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1. Bit by Bit ‏ @cryptocoinage 28 Dec 2017
  
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  Replying to @wellerstein
  
  Just when you thought you were safe from getting Rick Rolled...
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1. Julian Fekety‏ @jafekety 28 Dec 2017
  
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  Replying to @wellerstein
  
  Isn’t taking a picture of the “EYES ONLY” stamp making a copy of a portion of the document? So does that hypothetically mean that is sort of illegal?
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1. Julian Fekety‏ @jafekety 28 Dec 2017
  
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  Replying to @wellerstein
  
  I know that you are dealing with unclassified documents but imagine how crappy it would be to get in trouble for solely copying the eyes only stamp?
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1. Jonathan McDowell‏Verified account @planet4589 28 Dec 2017
  
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  Replying to @wellerstein @nktpnd
  
  Interesting. I first came across it in the context "UK Eyes Only" which I understood to mean "Don't let those damn Yanks see it".
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1. Abortion is Healthcare ‏ @ABamonte 28 Dec 2017
  
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  Replying to @wellerstein
  
  pic.twitter.com/7oHLfuP3ja
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1. EK3‏ @EK14MeV 28 Dec 2017
  
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  Replying to @wellerstein
  
  Making copies back in the day seemed like hazmat work on spirit duplicator machines, and the strong smell of the isopropanol and methanol mix solvent. Then the purply-blue print dye. Mimeographs weren't any better. :D Hardly a task in secrecy, except cameras, which beg for prison
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1. EK3‏ @EK14MeV 28 Dec 2017
  
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  Replying to @wellerstein
  
  It also means not to mark the documents, for added preservation and authenticity in national security-tagged publications.
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