German Terrorists Planned May 1982 Raid on US Government Building

By Vera Kessler · August 9, 2026

A terrorist assault team planned a May 1982 attack on a US official building using explosives stolen from a bunker and hidden in the basement of a red tile roof house.

On or about 7 September 1981, a truck or "jeep type vehicle" arrived at a bunker. The witness, identified as Source 869-01, could not recall the exact time but had the "impression of darkness," suggesting the activity occurred in the early morning or late afternoon. The source observed boxes being loaded onto the vehicle and believed the truck made several trips to the site.

This scene is the starting point of a report titled "PROJECT 8122 SUMMARY," found in the CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room. The document explicitly warns that the information is provided as "raw intelligence data" and has not been subjected to "any intermediate analysis, evaluation or collation." It is a collection of observations from multiple sources, layered with the uncertainty and specificity of field reporting.

A White German Tag

Source 869-01 reported seeing four personnel at the bunker. Three arrived in the truck; the fourth was already on-site. Two of these individuals appeared "military" in their dress and seemed "familiar with this place." One of them reportedly held "some responsibility" for the installation or the "group of...container places."

The vehicle itself was described as being the same size as a 3/4 ton truck. It bore a "white German tag"—a white plate outlined in black with a small square in the upper left corner colored "black, red, brown or red, black brown." The source recalled the tag being numbered 862 or 863.

By 5 September 1981, according to Source 878-01, boxes were being moved from the bunker into a similar jeep-type vehicle. This source noted that four individuals were involved, including at least one female, and described all participants as "foreign... Germans."

The Giessen Newspaper

As the investigation progressed into early 1982, the focus shifted to identifying the individuals involved. Several sources referenced police suspect composite photos published in an article in the Giessen Newspaper dated 18 January 1982.

The reports on the female suspect are contradictory. Source 882-01 placed her in a "selling place" or store located underneath a covered walk with arches, near a large highway and a canal or river. This source claimed she lived in a multi-storied gray apartment building across from a square traffic circle with a park.

However, Source 879-32 described the female suspect as working in an "underground shopping area" with cement ceilings and walls, located in a "tunnel like place." This source added that she attended university and lived with a girlfriend in a modern cement apartment building. She was associated with an individual identified phonetically as "Kirt Jergen" and the city of Stuttgart was mentioned as being relevant in an "unidentified way."

The male suspects were equally disparate in their descriptions. One male, according to Source 884-01, lived in a yellow stucco on brick building in a "run down industrial area" near an "'L' shape beer garden" and a railyard. This suspect reportedly spent most of his time at "the old Gasthaus building."

Another male suspect, identified by Source 875-32, allegedly worked with "circuitry...in telephone or electricity" and drove a small green, white, or gray utility van with an emblem on the door. The license plate was described as a small rectangular German plate superimposed by a square plate with faded yellow paint and the numbers "J&Rgxx."

A third male, per Source 883-32, worked in a "big yard" involving "aluminum conduct piping" in a poor area near a railroad yard. He lived in a "bonding house" on the perimeter where the new city ends and the suburbs begin, approximately one block from a trolley car access. Across from his house was a "food kaserne" featuring a red circle emblem with a "golden crown" or "golden thread."

May 1-5, 1982

The movement of the boxes from the bunker was not merely a theft of property. Source 878-01 indicated that the boxes contained explosives, which were later stored in a basement under a two-story house with a red tile roof. The house was marked with the number 718 or 719. The source noted that buildings in the area were marked with "Arabic numbers, long tails, white, white on blue background, dark blue, like Navy blue... background is oval."

These explosives were allegedly stolen under contract. The report states that the individuals who stole the materials were not necessarily the ones intended to use them. The objective, according to Source 883-01, was a planned attack scheduled for the period of 1-5 May 1982.

The target was believed to be an airbase in the same city as the red-tiled house, within ten miles of the residence. Source 883-32 expanded on this, describing an "assault team of four or five, more... terrorists" intending to carry out an action similar to those seen at the airport in Brussels. The ultimate goal was an attack against "a US official building that would be distinctly representative of the US Government."

While the US National Archives holds unrelated records such as the "Minutes of the Coordination Committee" (NAID 606688), this CIA summary remains a fragmented snapshot of a specific threat window in 1982. The record ends without confirming if the suspects in the Giessen Newspaper were apprehended or if the May deadline passed without incident.