This project was created in the interest of developing nuclear weaponry capable of controlled mass destruction. The experiments carried out in the interest of this project were numerable and extensive, and many were also very controversial. Despite the controversy surrounding these experiments however, their necessity in the proper development of defense mechanisms (such as the atomic bomb) was placed in higher priority than that of the health of the people involved in and harmed by the experiments. Had the results of the nuclear research and testing been released to the public, the controversy surrounding the human aspect of the experiments would likely have led to the termination of the Manhattan Project. It was very important that the public not be made aware of the Manhattan Project because the project was a major step in developing the modern US defense system and maintaining the national security of the US likewise. The reason for the atom bomb's development was the inherent need for a defense mechanism that was more advanced than that of the enemy. At that time it was believed that Hitler was also in the midst of building an atomic bomb , and the only way to defend against nuclear threat is with nuclear weapons of your own. This is an example of a balance of terror. Especially after the actual creation of the atom bomb it was imperative that the public not be allowed access to such extremely valuable and potentially volatile information. If allowed into the wrong hands, it could certainly have meant the destruction of human life as a whole. .

             An example of intelligence information obtained in part by espionage and used to gain a clear and decisive advantage over the enemy comes from World War II. During the war the German military utilized a complicated and ingenious method of cyptology in the form of a machine called Enigma . Enigma was an electromechanical machine used to encode messages sent between factions of the German military.