10 Awesome True Stories That Still Need The Hollywood Treatment
2. Operation Snow White
The biggest infiltration of the United States government in history was not carried out by an enemy nation, nor a terrorist group, nor a secret society bent on controlling the world. It was the work of the Church of Scientology, an effort spearheaded by none other than ol' L. Ron Hubbard himself. Over the course of the 1970's, the devotees of Dianetics planted nearly 5,000 spies in the IRS, the DEA, the Coast Guard, NIMH, the AMA, and much more. They ran wiretaps, stole documents, and more, all to suppress anything on the record that made the Church look bad.
Eventually, the FBI caught wind of what was going on, and launched a counter-infiltration effort. It culminated in multiple high-ranking members of the Church, including Hubbard's wife Mary, going to prison. Hubbard himself had to go into hiding, where he spent the rest of his days. Can you imagine a story like this? The FBI and an organization led by a madman (who believed, among other things, that there was a secret Nazi conspiracy against him) locked in a duel of espionage. Maybe the success of The Master can pave the way for such a work.