They literally spent 20 million dollars of taxpayer money to turn a regular street cat into a living, breathing cybernetic spy. The project was called "Acoustic Kitty." and honestly, it’s the most hilariously expensive fail ever. The plan was just wild. cia techs took a cat and did a brutal five-hour surgery on it. they shoved a tiny microphone inside its ear canal, hid a battery and a transmitter under the skin along its spine, and literally wove a long antenna into its fur all the way down the tail. the cat was supposed to walk into parks, sit near some russians on a bench, and beam their secret talks back to a surveillance van. But they hit a pretty obvious biological problem during testing. cats just don't give a damn about american national security. instead of spying, the cat kept walking away because it wanted to sleep, chase a mouse, or find food. Did the cia give up? nah. they just threw more millions at it. they put the cat through another surgery and literally cut the nerve that makes it feel hunger so it wouldn't get distracted by trash cans. After five years of training and 20 million bucks down the drain, it was finally game day. undercover agents parked their van near a park on wisconsin avenue in washington. two high-level soviet targets were sitting on a bench, talking. the handler opened the van door, let the cat out, and pointed it toward the bench. The cat took exactly two steps, walked into the street, and got instantly run over and obliterated by a passing washington taxi. it was over in a second. the agents had to run out, scrape the bloody mess off the asphalt before the russians noticed anything, and go back to the office. in 1967, the cia officially canceled the project. it turns out, you can spend millions trying to control nature, but a random city taxi wins every single time. (please excuse my english, it's not my native language but i just had to share this insane piece of history with you guys) Official and declassified government sources for this case: The National Security Archive (GWU): The actual declassified 1967 CIA final memorandum titled "Views on Trained Cats" (released under the FOIA act in 2001). The Smithsonian Magazine: Official report by the US national research institute detailing the surgery, the hunger-nerve cutting, and the taxi incident. The Guardian: Original 2001 investigative journalism piece published right after the documents were officially unsealed in Washington. History Central: Documented historical breakdown of the "Acoustic Kitty" espionage project failure. submitted by /u/BlackberryScared7684 [link] [comments]
Comments