Forget the atom bomb, we have the bat bomb!

Did you know that in World War II, one of the U.S.’s secret weapons was a bomb filled with live bats?  Neither did we until we stumbled on the book Bat Bomb by Jack Couffer.

The plan, dubbed Project X-Ray, was to place many bats inside a bomb-like capsule (pictured at right) with a parachute.  When the capsule was dropped over Japan, it would slowly descend and open, releasing the bats.  The bats, with napalm incendiary devices tied to their legs, would fly out and roost in buildings.  Their incendiary devices would go off, buildings would burn down, and the Japanese would find their cities devastated by a chaotic firestorm. 

While the project never reached completion, it was approved by President Roosevelt, and considerable research and testing money was invested.  Indeed, if the project had been pursued all the way, some success may have been seen, as during testing in New Mexico, flaming bats inadvertently  burned down a number of structures on the Auxiliary Army Air Base in Carlsbad.