"After interviewing polygraph experts at the CIA, FBI and other agencies, the panel of the National Academy of Sciences determined that it is possible to fool a lie detector, especially if the subject is being screened for general criminal or spy activity and not for some specific act."

"The academy committee, appointed at the request of the Department of Energy, decided that polygraphs cannot be relied on for mass screening of federal employees because they can falsely suggest an honest employee is lying and can be fooled by someone who is trained to do so."

"The report noted that sometimes a person appears to be lying on a polygraph when in fact he or she is anxious -- especially if that person is from a "socially stigmatized" group."

For more on the inaccuracies of polygraghs, visit Antipolygraph.org where you will learn that polygraph "testing" is:

Theoretically unsound and is not a valid diagnostic technique.

Entirely dependent on the polygrapher lying to and deceiving the examinee.

Biased against the truthful, resulting in many honest and law-abiding people being falsely accused each year.

Easily beaten.