By Brian Anderson
San Ramon Valley Times

Sept. 11, 1999

LIVERMORE — Lawrence Livermore Laboratory got its first glance Friday at the nuts and bolts of polygraph testing, a measure federal officials are pushing to help guard the country's top secret information.

The lab's lesson plan on lie detection was a precursor to Tuesday's first public hearing on proposed rule changes that would expand the pool of federal employees required to take the test.

A federal polygraph expert painted a picture at the lab of what scientists and other government employees with high security clearances likely will face after the rules change.

Sitting in a quiet room to avoid inaccurate readings, a tester certified by the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute will interview the person for 30 minutes or more to develop a rapport.

Two tubes used to gauge breathing are wrapped around the chest, one on the upper torso and another lower down. A patch monitors the skin and an armband measuring blood pressure is strapped to the upper arm.

The tools are hooked into equipment similar in appearance to a personal computer where the system measures anxiety. Anxiety, said government polygrapher Gordon Barland, is the key that opens a liar's secret doors.

"When a person is telling a lie there is a burst of anxiety," he said.

Four questions will be asked, Barland said: Are you spying for another country? Have you committed an act of espionage? Have you had unauthorized contact with a foreign intelligence officer? Have you disclosed nationally sensitive information to an unauthorized foreign intelligence officer?

Blood pressure peaks and falls with the questions depending on the amount of honesty in the answers. Sweat glands well up and breathing intensifies.

All the while, computers are recording every blip.

Initial results are gauged on the spot and the untruthful are encouraged to confess. More than 100 people of nearly 7,500 people the Department of Defense tested in the 1998 fiscal year did just that.

Two people will ultimately review the results and determine whether a spy has surfaced or not.

About 200 Livermore lab workers belonging to the Society of Professional Scientists and Engineers decried the tests last month in a statement.

Lie detector tests, the group said, are unreliable and the process will bolster "intimidation and resentment" rather than heightened security.

"I'm very concerned about the false positives," said group member Lee McVey, referring to results that claim someone telling the truth is lying. "And the questioning process involves denying (someone the right to have) someone else present as a witness."

Barland conceded Friday the test was no security guarantee.

"I can't stand before you and say the polygraph is 92.4 percent accurate," said Barland, who said that's the Defense Department's expectation of polygraph accuracy. "No test is perfect."

The first of seven public hearings being held across the country will take place Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Building 123 at the lab.

People were encouraged to sign up to speak, but not many have done so, said a lab spokeswoman.