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"Whatever happens, secrecy must be maintained at all costs."
— Scott Tracy

Because the technology of International Rescue is so insanely advanced, it could be dangerous in the wrong hands - and so the organisation keeps it, and indeed itself, secret. Disallowing the public to take pictures of them, or their Thunderbirds, is one of the ways they do this. Sometimes, though, the situation leaves them with little choice but to resort to more extreme measures and methods. This page is a list of the attempts made by various people (most of all, by the Hood) to photograph International Rescue.

The Hood's Attempt at London Airport[]

Through his psychic rapport with his half-brother, Kyrano, the Hood learns that International Rescue is ready to begin operations. Plotting to lure the International Rescue craft, he straps a bomb to the landing gear of the atomic-powered airliner Fireflash.

When Thunderbird 1 arrives at London Airport, the Hood disguised as a police officer takes photographs of TB1's interior. Spotted by the rocket plane's Automatic Camera Detector - which triggers an alarm at Scott's Mobile Control Centre - he then flees, chased by the airport police, but they lose him on the M.1. Scott calls in IR's London-based field agent, Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, who takes up the pursuit in her pink Rolls-Royce (FAB 1). On a quiet stretch of motorway, FAB 1's grille-mounted machine-gun blows the Hood's car off the road - and his pictures are ruined as the car crashes down an embankment.

Ned Cook's Attempt[]

Following a rescue mission involving Thunderbirds 1 and 2 putting out a fire at an oil well, Scott's departure is delayed when he detects journalist Ned Cook and his cameraman Joe filming the rescue nearby. While Virgil departs in Thunderbird 2, Scott pursues Ned's jeep and erases the film in Joe's roof-mounted camera, acknowledging that Ned was just doing his job but stating that IR must preserve its secrets.

The Hood's Attempt at Lake Anasta[]

During a treasure hunting expedition to Lake Anasta where he tortures Brains to get some information of the treasure's whereabouts in a sunken temple, he sees International Rescue from his submarine, who have arrived to rescue him and decides to use this opportunity to photograph their aircrafts once again. He turns on his photoscope to take pictures of Thunderbirds 1 and 2, again setting off TB1's Automatic Camera Detector, which doesn't go unnoticed by IR.

Later as he attempts to destroy Thunderbird 4 and collect the treasure after torturing Brains again and destroying the temple, his submarine is attacked and the Hood escapes before the submarine explodes which also destroys the pictures he took with it.

The Hood's Attempt in The Mighty Atom[]

The Hood (disguised as Professor Langley) was invited to attend a demonstration of the "Mighty Atom" - a sophisticated camera, in the guise of an ordinary mouse - at a Government research unit. Using his hypnotic powers to overcome the demonstrator (Professor Holden) and the other guests, he stole the device, intent on using it to photograph the control room of the new Saharan Atomic Station.

He then plans to lure International Rescue to the scene, by setting off a fire similar to an earlier fire at an Australian atomic station - and using the Mighty Atom to photograph the control cabins of the Thunderbirds.

After Thunderbird 2 arrives, the Hood sends in his "little friend" to photograph its controls. Later on, though, back at his temple, he discovers to his fury that the robotic mouse has instead taken pictures of TB2's passenger, screaming at it! The Mighty Atom's programming had caused it to focus on photographing a moving figure (Lady Penelope, who had begged Jeff Tracy to let her go along on the rescue), rather than the immobile control systems.

In a rage, the Hood then destroys the device.

The Hood's Attempt in Martian Invasion[]

Having hypnotized Kyrano into turning off Thunderbird 1's Automatic Camera Detector, The Hood is then able to film the rescue (posing as Mr. Stutt) of two actors trapped inside a water-filled cave, on the Nevada location set of the science-fiction film Martian Invasion...

However, when Scott and Virgil learn that their rescue operation had been filmed, start-to-finish, TB1 and TB2 set off in pursuit of the now-missing cameraman. And they must catch him, because his film cannot otherwise be erased!

Working together, the two Thunderbirds finally corner their quarry's Jeep when TB2 triggers a strategic landslide at one end of a roadway tunnel. With the road now fully blocked - TB1's covering the other end - The Hood escapes on foot into the trees...

...and presently manages to steal a small civilian aircraft - one that (unfortunately, for him) had been scheduled for repairs, and that he had little experience in flying. It subsequently crashed into the mansion-house of his current contact, 'General X', and the rescue-film was apparently destroyed in the resulting fire.

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