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Polygraph "Testing"
Is a Fraud


Make-believe science yields make-believe security.

Did you know:

• The consensus view among scientists is that polygraph testing has no scientific basis?
• The FBI considered the creator of the lie detector test to be a phony and a crackpot?
• The man who started the CIA's polygraph program thought that plants can read human thoughts?
• The foremost polygraph advocate in academia was discredited by a federal judge?
• The longest polygraph school produces newly minted polygraphers in just 14 weeks -- less than half the time it takes to graduate from a typical barber college?
• The National Center for Credibility Assessment (the erstwhile DoD Polygraph Institute) suppressed a study suggesting that innocent blacks are more likely to fail the polygraph than innocent whites?
• The researcher who developed the U.S. Government's polygraph Test for Espionage and Sabotage "thought the whole security screening program should be shut down?"
• The National Academy of Sciences concluded that "[polygraph testing's] accuracy in distinguishing actual or potential security violators from innocent test takers is insufficient to justify reliance on its use in employee security screening in federal agencies?"
• Spies Ignatz Theodor Griebl, Karel Frantisek Koecher, Jiri Pasovsky, Larry Wu-tai Chin, Aldrich Hazen Ames, Nicolás Sirgado, Ana Belen Montes, and Leandro Aragoncillo all passed the polygraph?
• One of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history passed the polygraph and killed again, while an innocent suspect failed?
• Al-Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents know full well that the lie detector is bogus?
• You don't have to be a psychopath, go to spy school, or somehow believe your own lies to fool the polygraph? (We'll reveal how it's done.)

The Lie Behind the Lie Detector

(also available in EPUB and MOBI/Kindle formats)

The dirty little secret behind the polygraph is that the "test" depends on trickery, not science. The person being "tested" is not supposed to know that while the polygraph operator declares that all questions must be answered truthfully, warning that the slightest hint of deception will be detected, he secretly assumes that denials in response to certain questions -- called "control" questions -- will be less than truthful. An example of a commonly used control question is, "Did you ever lie to get out of trouble?" The polygrapher steers the examinee into a denial by warning, for example, that anyone who would do so is the same kind of person who would commit the kind of behavior that is under investigation and then lie about it. But secretly, it is assumed that everyone has lied to get out of trouble.

The polygraph tracings don't do a special dance when a person lies. The polygrapher scores the test by comparing physiological responses (breathing, blood pressure, heart, and perspiration rates) to these probable-lie control questions with reactions to relevant questions such as, "Did you ever commit an act of espionage against the United States?" (commonly asked in security screening). If the former reactions are greater, the examinee passes; if the latter are greater, he fails. If responses to both "control" and relevant questions are about the same, the result is deemed inconclusive.

The test also includes irrelevant questions such as, "Are the lights on in this room?" The polygrapher falsely explains that such questions provide a "baseline for truth," because the true answer is obvious. But in reality, they are not scored at all! They merely serve as buffers between pairs of relevant and "control" questions.

The simplistic methodology used in polygraph testing has no grounding in the scientific method: it is no more scientific than astrology or tarot cards. Government agencies value it because people who don't realize it's a fraud sometimes make damaging admissions. But as a result of reliance on this voodoo science, the truthful are often falsely branded as liars while the deceptive pass through.

Perversely, the "test" is inherently biased against the truthful, because the more honestly one answers the "control" questions, and as a consequence feels less stress when answering them, the more likely one is to fail. Conversely, liars can beat the test by covertly augmenting their physiological reactions to the "control" questions. This can be done, for example, by doing mental arithmetic, thinking exciting thoughts, altering one's breathing pattern, or simply biting the side of the tongue. Truthful persons can also use these techniques to protect themselves against the risk of a false positive outcome. Although polygraph operators frequently claim they can detect such countermeasures, no polygrapher has ever demonstrated any ability to do so, and peer-reviewed research suggests that they can't.

Latest News:

FBI Director Kash Patel Orders Polygraph Dragnet in Hunt for Journalists' Sources
Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian report for MS NOW that the FBI director has ordered more than two dozen former and current members of his security detail, as well as others, to be polygraphed.

Alternatives to the Polygraph?
Science journalist Sarah Scoles reports for the digital magazine Undark on the shortcomings of polygraphy and explores proposed alternative methods of lie detection…

Omaha Police Department Scraps Polygraph Screening
But declines to state why or how this decision will affect prior applicants.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard Ordered Feasibility Review of Random Polygraph Screening
James LaPorta reports for CBS News that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard within the last month ordered intelligence agencies to review whether random polygraphing of employees and contractors would be feasible.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's Anti-Leak Polygraph Directive Disclosed
AntiPolygraph.org has obtained under the Freedom of Information Act a 12 February 2025 memorandum titled, "Use of Polygraph Examinations in Support of Personnel Security Determinations for Initial or Continued Eligibility for Access to Classified Information or Eligibility to Hold a Sensitive Position."

Pentagon Plans Random Polygraphs for Leakers
Alex Horton, Tara Copp, and Ellen Nakashima report for the Washington Post in a 1 October 2025 article titled, "Pentagon plans widespread random polygraphs, NDAs to stanch leaks."

Number of Federal Polygraph Operators Reportedly Down About 30%
Marko Hakamaa reports for SecurityClearanceJobsBlog.com in a post titled, "Polygraph Timelines Affected by DRP and Retirements."

White House Reportedly Directed Department of Defense to Stop Polygraphing for Journalistic Sources
The action reportedly came after Patrick Weaver, a senior advisor to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, "raised alarm to senior officials there about being targeted."

FBI Employees Asked on Polygraph Whether They Have Cast Aspersions on Director Kash Patel
New York Times reporter Adam Goldman, following up on his earlier reporting that senior FBI executives were being polygraphed at a "rapid rate," provides new details about the FBI's use of polygraphs to go after journalistic sources in a new article titled, "The F.B.I. Is Using Polygraphs to Test Officials' Loyalty."

Former CIA Officer Brian O'Neill on Why the Trump Administration's Polygraph Campaign Against Leakers Is Unlikely to Succeed
Former CIA officer Brian O’Neill has written a cogent and well-researched essay for the non-profit, independent news organization, The Conversation titled, "Trump administration's lie detector campaign against leakers is unlikely to succeed and could divert energy from national security priorities."

Reporter Kevin Gosztola Speaks with AntiPolygraph.org Co-Founder George Maschke about the Trump Administration's Reliance on Lie Detectors
Journalist Kevin Gosztola spoke with AntiPolygraph.org co-founder George Maschke for his Dissenter Update podcast.

Polygrapher David Goldberg Interviews AntiPolygraph.org Co-founder George Maschke
On 14 May 2025, AntiPolygraph.org co-founder George Maschke challenged polygrapher David Goldberg, host of the Inside the Polygraph podcast, to explain why, if as Goldberg had maintained in a podcast episode on pre-employment polygraph screening, “you can’t [beat a polygraph test],” any polygrapher would care whether a person has looked up how to beat a polygraph test?

John Young, RIP
While traveling abroad recently, I was saddened to learn that New York architect John Young, who co-founded the website Cryptome, died on 28 March 2025.

CNN on the Trump Administration's Use of Polygraphs as an Intimidation Tactic
CNN senior writer Zachary B. Wolf comments on the Trump administration's use of polygraphs to go after federal employees who speak with journalists.

Senior FBI Executives Reportedly Being Polygraphed at a "Rapid Rate"
In an article titled "Unease at F.B.I. Intensifies as Patel Ousts Top Officials," New York Times national security reporter Adam Goldman notes the increased use of polygraphs under FBI Director Kash Patel's leadership to discourage employees from speaking with journalists.

Trump Administration Using Polygraphs to Investigate Unclassified Leaks
Marisa Taylor, Ted Hesson, Alexandra Alper, and Helen Coster report for Reuters in an article titled, "Trump officials are using polygraph tests to flush out even minor leaks."

Retired Federal Polygraph Operators Awarded $42 Million Federal Contract
The Department of Defense has announced that Capital Center for Credibility Assessment Corporation, a private company run by retired federal polygraphers Patrick J. Roche, Donnie Dutton, and Donald Krapohl, has been awarded a $41,868,715 five-year contract to provide polygraph services for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

On DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's Polygraph Crusade
Last month, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem boasted to broadcaster Tim Pool, “We’re polygraphing everybody!” This month, in an article titled “Inside Kristi Noem’s Polygraph Operation,” Michelle Hackman and Tarini Parti report for the Wall Street Journal that Noem’s polygraph interrogations often concern the leak of information that is not classified.

A Public Challenge to "Expert Polygraph Examiner" David Goldberg
AntiPolygraph.org co-founder George Maschke challenges polygrapher David Goldberg to explain why if, as he claims, you can't beat a polygraph test, any polygrapher would care whether anyone has looked up how to beat a polygraph test.

Senior Pentagon Advisor Ricky Buria Allegedly "Failed to Pass a Polygraph" in Leak Investigation
Hugo Lowell reports for the Guardian in a 9 May 2025 article titled, "White House to take choice of Pentagon chief of staff out of Hegseth's hands" that the White House Office of Presidential Personnel has forbidden Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth from making Ricky Buria, whom Hegseth designated in April 2025 as a "Senior Advisor," his chief of staff.

Of Polygraphs and E-meters
ClearanceJobs.com director of content Lindy Kyzer and former security clearance attorney Sean Bigley discussed the similarities between the U.S. government’s polygraph screening practices and the Church of Scientology’s practice of E-meter auditing for the ClearedCast podcast.

Jeff Stein on the Trump Administration's Polygraph Crusade Against Leakers
Veteran journalist Jeff Stein comments on the Trump Administration’s efforts to identify employees who are speaking with journalists without authorization in a paywalled Substack post titled, “Trump & Co’s Polygraph Pandemonium.”

Jack Hopkins on Polygraph Screening
Podcaster Jack Hopkins has published on Substack a thoughtful and well-researched essay on polygraph screening titled, "Kash Patel's Deception: Stop Believing Polygraphs-Science Unmasks the Real Lies."

FBI Begins Polygraph Hunt for Leakers
Ellen Nakashima and Hannah Natanson report for the Washington Post in an article titled, "FBI, national security agencies using polygraphs for 'leak' hunts."