History is rife with concepts that are science fiction-sounding, the product of desperation, curiosity, or sheer bravado. From blazing hot deserts to frigid tundras, defense strategists have commissioned projects defying explanation. Here’s a human‑flavored countdown of ten of the strangest—but genuine—military experiments.
10. Peacekeeper Trains: Nuclear Missiles on Rails
During the Cold War, the United States looked for methods of making its nuclear capability impervious to obliteration in a surprise attack. The idea: place ICBMs on trains running across the nation, continuously changing location to render targeting virtually impossible. Although there were prototype successes, astronomical costs, logistical issues, and subsequent arms-reduction agreements prevented the trains from becoming fully operational.
9. Camel Corps: Desert Transport by Camel
In the 1850s, the U.S. Army tried importing camels from the Middle East to travel across the Southwest deserts. The beasts were hardy and well-adapted, but soldiers overwhelmingly preferred horses and mules. Following the Civil War, the program faded out quietly, leaving a bizarre footnote in frontier history.
8. Pain Ray: Heating People (Non‑Lethally)
Scientists developed a weapon called the Active Denial System: a millimeter‑wave source that warms the outer layer of skin, causing severe pain without damage. Built to control crowds, it drives targets back. Although theoretically operational, concerns about ethical and health issues have restricted its application.
7. Edgewood Experiments: Testing Chemicals on Soldiers
From the 1950s to the 1970s, thousands of U.S. soldiers at Maryland’s Edgewood Arsenal were exposed to dozens of chemical agents to study effects, test protective equipment, and mimic battlefield exposure. Long-term effects were suffered by many participants, making this chapter one of the most contentious in military medical testing.
6. Project Iceworm: Missiles Under Greenland’s Ice
In the early 1960s, American strategists dreamed of digging tunnels under the ice sheet of Greenland to hide mobile nuclear missiles. It was mobility and secrecy in one. But engineering problems and hostile environmental conditions sank the project before it ever went online.
5. Bat Bombs: Drop Fire‑Starting Bats on Cities
During World War II, someone had a genius idea: outfit bats with little incendiary devices, fill them into bombs, and drop them onto wooden Japanese cities. Ideally, bats would roost in attics and eaves, catch fire, and spread large-scale fires. Although tested, logistical problems prevented it from ever reaching beyond experimental phases.
4. Avrocar and Project 1794: Actual Flying Saucers
In the 1950s and ’60s, the U.S. and Avro Canada joined forces to build a disk-shaped VTOL craft. The VZ‑9 Avrocar was meant to hover, take off vertically, and attain high speeds. But it proved unstable and lacked airflow control. It couldn’t rise above a few feet, tangent into forward flight, and ultimately was abandoned, though not without valuable lessons for vertical flight designs.
3. The Gay Bomb: Chemical Morale Warfare
During the 1990s, American researchers came up with a non-lethal weapon aimed at demoralizing the enemy by causing soldiers to act out homosexually. Although it never progressed beyond paper, the concept remains a strange example of excessive psychological warfare experimentation.
2. Project Stargate: Psychic Agents
In the Cold War, U.S. intelligence went so far as to test remote viewing—trained psychic awareness—to observe enemy targets. Participants reported successes, but results were spotty and not reliable. Years later, after years of experimentation, the program died quietly, leaving behind stories of psychic spies and mystery.
1. Acoustikitty: CIA’s Feline Spies
Perhaps the most iconic of them all: transforming cats into spy devices. The CIA inserted microphones and transmitters into stray cats, so they would prowl close to Soviet targets and eavesdrop on conversations. In theory, it was a success. In practice, cats wouldn’t follow procedures. They escaped, failed to approach targets, and the scheme was eventually dropped—but its title survives as a ridiculous boast of spy ingenuity.
These tests mirror the unprecedented lengths to which military strategists have gone in the search for an edge. Some tested technological limits, others fell into moral quicksand—or both. But each is a reminder of the way innovation, stress, and creativity can converge to bring about projects stranger than fiction.