As the intelligence community began to suspect that bin Laden might be hiding out in the compound the model was built to help President Obama and the limited number of top officials briefed on his potential whereabouts so they could visualize what they were seeing on satellite photos…
Built over the span of six weeks the styrofoam model was made to scale and shows the walls and infrastructure inside the compound’s walls. Every shrub and piece of ivy lining the walls seen in the satellite pictures is accurately represented in the model. The model’s scaling is one inch represents 7 feet.
“Model making is one example to replicate what people are seeing from imagery,” said Karen Finn, a spokesperson for NGA.
She said the model is one of several built by the agency to help senior administration officials, as well as military personnel involved in the planning and carrying out of last year’s raid on the compound.
