That isn&#x27;t particularly outlandish. The Red Mercury hoax is pretty well documented and very similar:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;11&#x2F;22&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;the-doomsday-scam.html?_r=0" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;11&#x2F;22&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;the-doomsday-scam...</a><p>The whole thing might have been a great way to &#x27;out&#x27; spies (by tracing information flow) and generally confuse and psych out the Soviets.