9. The Colonel Is Called White Because He's The Sum Of All The Agents
The Spectrum agents all have names based on colours, such as scarlet, blue, and green. But why was their colonel called "White"? The theory is simple: White is the base colour of the spectrum of visible light; in essence, he is the sum of all the agents' colours. However, as any schoolkid can tell you, the spectrum of light is made up of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. So let's check the names of the Spectrum agents. Blue? Check. Green. OK. But what were the other agents again? Captain Ochre, Captain Magenta, Captain Grey, Captain Brown, Doctor Fawn, and (of course) Captain Scarlet fill out the ranks - and none of those are exactly colours in the spectrum of visible light. So much for the theory.