From the Archives of Peter Merlin, Aviation Archaeologist

Book excerpt: Features new photographs and text by artist Trevor Paglen, centered on the archive of Peter Merlin - a historian and leading expert on classified aircraft. Merlin, a former NASA archivist, has amassed a vast collection of flight wreckage, dossiers, and memorabilia - objects that are sometimes the only remnants of covert government operations. Paglen's stark photographs of these symbol-laden challenge coins, patches, models, and other objects build on his long-standing interest in the culture of secrecy while providing a fragmentary peek into decades of elusive military missions.