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Project Iceworm -

Project Iceworm was a Cold War experiment launched by the US military in 1958. Someone thought it would be a good idea to hide hundreds of missiles under the ice caps of Greenland! It was believed that this secret vantage point would be ideal for mounting nuclear strikes on the Soviet Union.

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Camp Century -

The Army built a prototype ice base called Camp Century. It consisted of two dozen large underground tunnels carved out of the ice, reinforced with steel and snow. It held living quarters for more than 200 people, scientific labs, and an operating hospital.

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Bye-bye Greenland! -

It was a technological marvel, but shifts in the ice caps disrupted the integrity of the structure, leaving it unsafe (particularly for the protection of nuclear weapons). They were forced to scrap the project in 1966.

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Project Pigeon -

Renowned psychologist B.F. Skinner came up with an outrageous new weapon during World War II. What’s even more outrageous is that the US military actually funded the experiment. The idea was to train pigeons to guide missiles towards enemy targets more accurately.

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Pigeons at the wheel -

Skinner had observed the excellent vision and maneuverability of the pigeon and believed those attributes could be harnessed for his experiment. He conditioned the pigeons to peck at certain predetermined images, such as enemy ships, and then placed them in a tiny cockpit with a screen that displayed the missile's flight path.

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Pigeon pilots -

Having been conditioned to recognize their targets, the pigeon should peck at the familiar images on-screen, steering the missile to its destination.

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A sort of success -

Amazingly, the pigeons proved to be excellent pilots and Skinner’s work won praise from both psychologists and physicists. However, the US military decided that the idea was too outlandish to put into practice.

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The Edgewood Arsenal Drug Experiments -

The 1950s saw the US government take on one of their most controversial projects. The 20-year-long experiment involved testing illegal drugs and other questionable chemicals on soldiers. The goal was to identify non-lethal substances that could be used to incapacitate the enemy and help with interrogations.

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Tricking test subjects -

More than 5,000 unsuspecting soldiers were used as guinea pigs for the experiments, often not knowing what exactly they were signing themselves up for. They were given LSD, PCP, mescaline, and marijuana, to name but a few.

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Side effects and scandal -

Some unfortunate subjects were even exposed to dangerous nerve agents like sarin and VX. There were widespread reports of lasting psychological trauma and health problems as a result of the experiments. The project was shut down following public outrage and a Congressional hearing.

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Bat bombs - During World War II, a dentist by the name of Lytle S. Adams contacted the White House with a novel idea. They were looking for new ways to attack the Japanese, and were presented with the concept of the bat bomb.

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Infiltrating Japan - Adams suggested that small incendiary devices could be attached to the bats, who would then be loaded into bombshells. The bombshells would be dropped over Japanese towns, the bats would escape, and would then take up residence in their preferred habitats; attics, barns, and factories.

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A failed experiment -

When the moment was right, the incendiary devices would be activated, and the towns would be engulfed in flames. The military tested out the idea, but it went awry and they accidentally set fire to their own Air Force base in New Mexico.

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Project Star Gate -

In 1972, the US military obtained information that the Soviet Union was investing millions into experiments on extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis. Not wanting to be left behind, they initiated Project Star Gate.

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Uri Geller -

The famous psychic Uri Geller led the experimentation. Although he was known for bending metal objects with his mind, the military were more interested in his supposed ability to read, and even control, other people’s minds.

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The "remote viewers" -

Psychics were invited in to undertake the role of a “remote viewer.” They attempted to use their abilities to gather intelligence about the enemy. They were involved in numerous counter-terrorism operations, and helped to trace fugitives within the US. The project was shut down in 1995, having gained mixed results!

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The kidnapping of General James Dozier -

In 1981, American General James Dozier was kidnapped by terrorists from his home in Verona, Italy. Initially, the Italian government refused to assist in the investigation, so the US military resorted to alternative methods.

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The rescue -

They called in the psychics from Project Star Gate and asked them to assist in locating General Dozier. They made several guesses, one psychic claiming he was in Padua, another saying they could see a brick building with a red roof. In the end, it was Italian police who located and saved the general.

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The goo gun -

In the 1990s, the US military developed an experimental non-lethal weapon for use in urban combat. They outsourced the project to a company called Adherent Technologies, and the result was like something out of ‘Ghostbusters.’

They developed a weapon that is lovingly referred to as the goo gun or, alternatively, sticky foam. An extremely tacky material is compressed into a gun. Once expelled, the victim will be whacked with a wall of sticky foam and become tangled and immobile.

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Green light for the goo gun? -

The goal was to create something so strong that it could stop a moving vehicle in its tracks. However, it's reported that they ran into issues due to the risk of suffocating living targets.

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Raccoon vision -

Seeing in the dark is extremely important in the field, so night vision goggles are a common part of a soldier’s ensemble. But the Navy wanted to take it to the next level by developing a night vision pill that imitated the ocular capabilities of a nocturnal animal like the raccoon.

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Infrared light -

Raccoons have pigments in their eyes that allow them to see infrared light, which is invisible to humans. The goal was to allow soldiers to be able to detect infrared signals, facilitating the communication of secret messages. However, it doesn't seem to have come to fruition.

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The airborne aircraft carrier -

Aircraft carriers are usually large ships. This makes sense, as they're supposed to be able to carry fighter jets and other aircraft that weigh tons! However, in the 1930s, the US military experimented with putting an aircraft carrier in the sky.

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An airship longer than two football fields -

They created two such airships, called the USS Akron and the USS Macon. They were 800-feet- (244-m-) long beasts that looked like blimps and could carry five airplanes each. Unfortunately, they both eventually crashed, so the experiment was abandoned.

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Dropping biological weapons on home soil -

It’s reported that the US military regularly dispersed chemical weapons over unsuspecting cities to test how they spread. In many cases they would be harmless microbes, simply scattered to get an idea of how a more dangerous compound could be used in biological warfare.

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San Francisco, 1950 -

There are few notable occasions, however, where the chemicals they released over their own unsuspecting citizens were not so harmless. In 1950, a US Navy ship used a giant hose to spray a bacteria into San Francisco’s famous fog. Shortly afterwards, a patient at a local hospital died after becoming infected with this unusual bacteria.

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Tampa, 1955 -

It’s reported that the CIA released the whooping cough virus over the city of Tampa, Florida in 1955. Cases of whooping cough in Florida tripled, and 12 people in Tampa died.

Sources: (History) (Wired) (Insider) (Listverse)

See also: Declassifying the CIA's shady past

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