Talk:John Sipher

Good luck

I wish you luck with this. I think Sipher may well be notable enough for a standalone article, so I may contribute occasionally. -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 04:55, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

Thanks for the interest and support. I'll keep working on it and will ping you when it's closer to resubmission. Bladerunner24 (talk) 00:17, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

User:Valjean Coming back to this soon. Any suggestions for additional sources or content I might have missed? Bladerunner24 (talk) 03:43, 3 January 2026 (UTC)

I have done some research and more than doubled the size of the article, tripled the number of sources, and gotten rid of a dubious source (Washington Examiner), which got its info from an even more deprecated source (Epoch Times). It was used only for a very trivial sarcastic comment. If we can find his joke mentioned in a RS, then we maybe could restore it. Getting rid of dubious sources increases the likelihood of approval because they drag the quality of an article down.

Sipher seems like an interesting guy; very entertaining, knowledgeable, and patriotic, all backed up by good experience. I find the whole world of spies and counterintelligence interesting. If I had only been able to gain some weight at the right time (my family has always been very skinny - some because of concentration camps - and long-lived, with several centenarians), I would have ended up working in U.S. military cryptography (now cybersecurity). They hounded me for several years during the Vietnam War because of my aptitude in that area, but I couldn't gain the weight and gave up trying to get in. I've always wondered about that "aptitude", and how much my test scores were affected by having bar hopped while high on LSD and pot the night before, with very little sleep. The doctors gave me the side eye, because they could see I was literally stoned while getting my physical exam and taking a series of written tests. (The military are fucking desperate to accept almost anyone.) I passed with flying colors, but would likely have scored higher if I hadn't been stoned. I did the same thing before taking my college aptitude tests. While I still got a near perfect score, I did score lower than I normally did, so I guess drug use and taking tests are a bad combination. Duh! Those were the days, my friend. -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 00:40, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

Thanks, Valjean! Interesting stories, I will go ahead and try again! Bladerunner24 (talk) 00:44, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

@Valjean: Disappointed this was declined again, though the reviewer did mention he was likely notable, which gives me hope. I've added birthplace (Cortland, NY) from the Atlantic Council profile and lacrosse captaincy during four national championships from the Hobart profile. Would appreciate your input on whether it's ready to resubmit or if anything else should be added first. Bladerunner24 (talk) 02:30, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

It's far more than a stub article, and they are accepted everyday with far less than this article. I'd just move it to mainspace and hope no one is cranky enough to nominate it for AfD. I'd support you. -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 02:44, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

Worth a shot. If it survives the first few days without AfD nomination, we're probably fine. Thanks for having my back on this. Bladerunner24 (talk) 03:07, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

Feedback from New Page Review process

I left the following feedback for the creator/future reviewers while reviewing this article: Nice start! Please note that as per WP:NEWSWEEK, Newsweek is not a reliable source after 2013; please find a better source for the claims backed up in footnote 15. Thanks and have a wonderful day!

Mariamnei (talk) 13:48, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

That content is not sensitive BLP stuff about someone else and would be covered under ABOUTSELF as his opinion being used in his biography here, so we may have some latitude in favor of keeping it here. It accurately documents his views on the topic. That doesn't mean a better source wouldn'tbe welcome. -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 16:09, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

I checked the source and realized it is copied from Just Security, a RS, so I have simply replaced the Newsweek source. Problem solved. -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 16:32, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

Correction requested

I am the subject of this article, so I have a conflict of interest. I’m requesting a factual correction rather than editing the article directly. In the third sentence of the article it notes that I was the Chief of Station in Moscow. I was not the Chief. I was younger when I was there (and was Chief of Station at several other places later in my career). I don't want people to think I'm claiming I had a more important position than I actually did. I think it happened because lots of TV hits just make the claim, probably because they don't really understand how the CIA works. Please either delete the reference, or if you wish, replace the last phrase with, "and as Station Chief in San Francisco and Jakarta. Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-30077-54 (talk) 13:40, 19 May 2026 (UTC)

Hi John. Welcome to Wikipedia. I'll take a look at this and see if I can help you.

BTW, it would be great if you created an account. It will give you more privacy and editing rights. It would also be nice if you then added an email (it wouldn't be public). I'd like to communicate some sensitive issues with you. -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 14:52, 19 May 2026 (UTC)

 Done That doesn't seem to be essential information, so I just deleted that sentence. I hope that works for you. If you have any other information or concerns that can improve this article, feel free to use this talk page.

Is there an image of you that would be suitable for us to use? If you have one that can be released under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License and the GFDL we use here, that would be great. Just go to Wikimedia Commons and upload it. You can use the Upload Wizard.

Your service, patriotism, and continued work are appreciated. -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 15:02, 19 May 2026 (UTC)

The other option (to add "Station Chief in San Francisco and Jakarta") would need a reliable source. What source can we use? -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 15:05, 19 May 2026 (UTC)