A Cold War Catastrophe is a work stemming from over five years of research in the libraries and archives in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It represents materials and insights into one of the most public of spy scandals to rock West Germany during the Cold War era and remains an issue which could still undermine the credibility of western intelligence agencies today. At present, the Central Intelligence Agency is still holding tight to roughly 1000 pages of documentation for reasons one can only speculate on roughly fifty years after the event in question, namely, the apparent defection of West Germany's head of counter-intelligence officer, namely, Otto John. Otto John interacted on a weekly basis from 1950-1954 with representatives of all western intelligence agencies including personal contacts with Allen Dulles, head of the CIA, shortly before his disappearance. The details included in my manuscript have never before been released to the public.