The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming. Well, maybe not.

In 1966 a movie was released called The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. The film is an American comedy directed by Norman Jewison. The movie was released in Panavision, also! Cool! The film was based on a novel by Nathaniel Benchley titled The Off-Islanders.

The plot of the movie revolves around a Soviet Russian submarine that just happens to come ashore on a New England island, kind of like Nantucket. In the movie all of the small island New Englanders go bonkers in the ensuing chaos.

Well, hold onto your britches because as of early Thursday morn there is actually a Russian spy ship a scant 30 miles off the coast of Connecticut. Yes, it is true! A real live actual Russian spy ship is cruising around within close proximity to the eastern coast of the United States. Holy Mackerel!

Of course upon hearing this news Wednesday I had to call my dad Gerry Brown who lives in Newington, Connecticut. My dad by the way was in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War even though he harbors a keen dislike of guns. While serving in the Navy my dad actually refused to... Oh, never mind. Anyway, there's a Russian spy ship a scant 30 miles off the coast of....my dads apartment and I thought, heck, I better call him! I needed to know what my fathers take on the whole thing was.

Well, as my family is of Russian descent (My great grand parents split the scene and fled Russia in the early 1900's) my dad and I decided that he would paddle out to the Russian spy ship and share some of his coveted homemade Borscht with them.

I know, I know! This development is serious. So here's what is happening. Thursday morning the U.S. Coast Guard said that that they are monitoring the situation, as are federal agencies.  According to the Hartford Courant the ship is beginning to move South of Connecticut.

Further, it is more than a little disconcerting that the Russian spy ship had been hanging around waters a mere 30 miles from the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut.

Federal agencies agree that this is an aggressive move on the part of Russia, but there is little threat to U.S. national security.

Hope the spy ship crew enjoys my fathers old family recipe for Borscht with sour cream and a boiled potato, of course! Old Brown family recipe.

Jeff Brown
Founder/Editor
Purple Walrus Press.