In 1983, Australian intelligence became a laughing stock after spies trashed a hotel and threatened staff during a botched training exercise

In 1983, a hotel in Melbourne, Australia, found itself under siege by 5 men wearing masks and brandishing sledgehammers, tear gas, and submachine guns. They smashed one of the doors to a room, kidnapped a man, and threatened staff and bystanders who stood in their way. What hotel staff and almost 400 guests in the building didn’t know was that this was all a part of an intelligence training exercise.

The Sheraton Hotel in Melbourne became the center of a national embarrassment for Australia after a group of trainee agents working for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) made fools of themselves during what was supposed to be a covert training exercise.