The U.S. Government’s Strangest Secret Ops
Throughout history, governments have engaged in secret operations that range from the strategically sublime to the undeniably absurd. The U.S. government, in particular, has taken part in numerous clandestine projects — now declassified — that continue to inspire fascination and incredulity alike.
These operations tend to reflect the tensions (and prejudices) of the times, as well as the eccentricities of military and intelligence strategy. They underscore the lengths to which governments will go to maintain national security or undermine their rivals, while also highlighting a very particular intersection of imagination, fear, and ambition. Here are five of the strangest secret U.S. government operations.
Glowing Foxes
World War II saw an almost endless array of secret ops that ranged greatly in scope and levels of success. One of the most bizarre ideas was a program called Operation Fantasia, which aimed to scare the Japanese people with glowing foxes. It was the brainchild of Ed Salinger, a psychological warfare strategist at the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), who ran an import/export business in Tokyo before the war.
Salinger believed that Japanese morale could be devastated by exposing soldiers and civilians to “real-life” kitsune — fox-shaped, shape-shifting spirits with magical abilities from Japanese folklore, considered tricksters and potential portents of doom. Salinger outlined his idea in a discriminatory memo, arguing that Japanese people were “subject to superstitions, beliefs in evil spirits and unnatural manifestations which can be provoked and stimulated.”
Carrying out this xenophobic plan was another matter altogether. One idea involved launching fox-shaped balloons, which had whistles that simulated fox sounds and released a custom-made fox odor, to fly over Japanese villages. Understandably, this idea was deemed impractical — but the OSS didn’t stop there. They then planned on catching live foxes, spray-painting them with glowing paint, and releasing them throughout Japan. The idea made it to the testing stage, when 30 glowing foxes were released in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park to gauge the reactions of the locals. The project grew ever more bizarre and unfeasible, until it was eventually abandoned.
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Bat Bombs
Developed during World War II, Project X-Ray sought to weaponize bats in the war against Japan. The plan involved attaching tiny, timed incendiary devices to bats, which were then packed into bomb casings. The bombs would be dropped over various Japanese cities just before dawn, releasing the explosive bats to go roost under the eaves of buildings. The timed devices attached to each bat would then explode, causing widespread chaos and setting entire cities on fire — at the time, most Japanese buildings were made of wood, bamboo, and paper.
Extensive tests were carried out, involving thousands of bats and numerous setbacks. Many bats simply escaped after being released, and others steadfastly refused to participate. But after two years and $2 million in research costs, the bat bombs were almost ready for war. At the same time, however, another weapon was being developed: the atomic bomb. This dreadful weapon soon overshadowed all others, including the bat bombs, and the U.S. Navy cancelled Project X-Ray in late 1944.
Nuking the Moon
In the late 1950s, amid the space race and Cold War anxieties, the U.S. Air Force initiated Project A119, a frankly reckless and potentially catastrophic initiative with the aim of detonating a nuclear bomb on the moon. The reasoning behind the bizarre plan was to demonstrate the full force of American military power and technological prowess in order to shock the Soviet Union.
The now-declassified research paper behind the operation, which involved some of America’s top scientists, bore the apparently harmless title “A Study of Lunar Research Flights, Vol 1.” It outlined a mission to detonate a thermonuclear warhead, carried by an intercontinental ballistic missile, on the lunar surface to create a large flash of light that could be observed from Earth — meant to be a potent symbol of American dominance.
Thankfully, calmer heads prevailed. Scientists ultimately deemed the project too risky due to the potential for various unknown effects, including the possible contamination of the lunar surface, the complete alteration of the moon’s orbit, and unforeseen ecological consequences involving Earth-moon interactions.
CIA Vampires
In the early 1950s, Philippine insurgents known as the Hukbalahap, or Huks, were a concerning presence for both local government and U.S. intelligence. To deal with the growing threat, a CIA operative, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Lansdale, was installed in the Philippines to get the movement under control. Lansdale began using psychological warfare against the Huks, by weaponizing local superstitions. He ordered a plane to fly over villages, broadcasting warnings in Tagalog that promised curses would befall anyone harboring insurgents, and he had “Eyes of God” painted outside the homes of other potential sympathizers.
While studying the regional folklore, Lansdale’s team also learned of a creature that the locals believed to roam the hills: the aswang. This terrifying, blood-sucking creature was part vampire, part witch, and part werebeast, with a fondness for human blood and organs. Using this to his advantage, Lansdale had his team spread rumors that an aswang was feeding in the area. To ramp things up even further, the CIA operatives killed one of the patrolling Huks and made it look like an aswang attack. Upon discovering the body, and having already heard the rumors, the remaining Huks soon fled.
The “Gay Bomb”
In 1994, the U.S. Air Force came up with one of the most misguided military research proposals in American history. The secret plan aimed to create what the press later dubbed a “gay bomb,” which, when detonated, would make enemy soldiers “irresistible” to each other, according to government papers. The theoretical bomb would release an aerosolized chemical weapon containing potent aphrodisiacs that would attract enemy soldiers to each other, disrupting their combat effectiveness and incapacitating the enemy in some kind of loved-up miasma. Ultimately, the bizarre project was shelved. The “gay bomb” later received an Ig Nobel award in 2007, a satirical award given for strange and surprising scientific ideas.
