Declassified: 2 Top Secret U.S. Intelligence Projects That Totally Seem Made Up, But Really Happened

If either of the following declassified operations became the subject of a big-budget blockbuster hit, the only surprise would be that it really happened. Yet, indeed, both did. We all know that  in the best spy film franchises, be it James Bond's 007 or Austin Powers, highly secret weaponry and espionage gadgets are half the fun. Just think about the time the International Man of Mystery was faced with a pack of Dr. Evil’s fembots. Now hear this: the CIA tried to rig a common house cat to be a spy bot. The CIA also tried to weaponize lightning. If it sounds too crazy to be true, scroll on.

Zeus Hurled Bolts of Lightning, Why Not Us?

Scientists hired by the Central Intelligence Agency to study the idea of weaponizing the weather found that it’s possible to direct bolts of lightning. Essentially delivering the CIA a secret weapon capable of zapping any assassination target, this one is incontrovertibly fatal. In a declassified memorandum, a scientist, whose name is redacted, says that the leader phenomena can be mimicked with “artificial leaders.” . The strike is loaded with 300 million volts of electricity. Addressing the Research and Development Special Activities deputy in 1967, the scientist states, “The central idea is to provide artificial leaders to cause discharges to occur when and where we desire them.” He goes on to say, cloud warfare lightning strikes can be accomplished with tiny wires, about a “few thousandths of an inch” wide and about one to five miles long. As far as we know, the technology was never put into use. This according to the CIA, one of the most secretive organizations on the planet.

Project Acoustic Kitty: This CIA Mission Had One Life

The CIA tried to train a cat. During the Cold War, the intelligence agency believed that rigging a cat with spy equipment and guiding it into the Kremlin to record classified conversations would be possible. And, though they do not fully admit a mission fail, it certainly did. After wiring up a cat with a listening device implanted in its cochlea, an antenna wired down its spine and up its tail, and a battery pack stitched into its belly, it was sent on its first training mission. However, it did not even live through it.

The cat, a CIA investment of $10 to $15 million 1967-era taxpayer dollars, veered from trainers and was hit and killed instantly by a taxi. To be sure, the CIA investigated the taxi driver, only to find he was not a Soviet double agent. Hence, a random accident summarily ended Project Acoustic Kitty. It sounds made up, but you can read about it in The Wizards of Langley, Jeffrey Richelson’s 2001 book. He quotes Victor Marchetti, the then executive assistant to the director of the CIA. His assessment? “They made a monstrosity.”