The truth is out: The insider whose secret information helped a pair of Washington Post reporters blow the lid off the Watergate scandal wasn't Henry Kissinger, nor former President George H.W. Bush and certainly not Diane Sawyer, just three of the possibilities (however remote) that have been discussed in politically minded parlors for 30 years. No, according to an article in Vanity Fair (and confirmed by the Post's Bob Woodward), the real Deep Throat, as the confidential source was called, is W. Mark Felt.

Who? A career law enforcement officer who rose to the No. 2 slot at the FBI, Felt, now 91, has long placed prominently in Deep Throat speculation: His job put him in a position to know details of the Watergate break-in, which the FBI was also investigating, and Nixon had passed him over in naming a more loyal candidate to head the FBI. Yet Cartha DeLoach, a former FBI deputy director, remains shocked that Felt, known as a conscientious, no-nonsense agent, would turn to reporters rather than superiors to right a wrong. "He was so professional," says DeLoach. "I just can't believe it!"

Felt, a Democrat whose role in the 1976 Robert Redford-Dustin Hoffman movie All the Presidents Men was played by Hal Holbrook, is now living in retirement in Santa Rosa, Calif., after having suffered strokes, and was clearly ambivalent about his part in the drama. According to Vanity Fair, he only told members of his family he was Deep Throat when they confronted him after years of rumors and inquiries from reporters. Then his grown children persuaded him to go public while there was still time for Felt to take credit for his actions. How will he be regarded by history? Commentator Pat Buchanan, a former Nixon aide, called the tipster "a snitch." But Felt's own grandson Nick Jones, 23, said, "My family believes my grandfather...went well above and beyond the call of duty at much risk to himself to save his country from a horrible injustice. We all sincerely hope the country will see him this way as well."