10 Insane Plans You Won't Believe The Military Tried
10. Bat Bombs
The Second World War was a conflict unlike any other in human history. Well, it was a little bit like the First World War, but it went on for a lot longer and saw warfare change forever with breakthroughs like the nuclear bomb.
Throughout the conflict, countries on all sides had their best minds coming up with novel, devastating weapons. Ideally, weapons that the enemy would never be prepared for. Which is probably what lead to the United States developing what they nicknamed the bat bomb, literally a shell casing which would house a hibernating Mexican free-tailed Bat with a small bomb attached.
The bat would fly at the a target, the timer on the bomb would go off, and boom. Invented by a dentist pal of Eleanor Roosevelt, the reason for using bombs tied to bats instead of actual shells was so they could wage attack on the Japanese paper houses hidden within the country's woods.
Sadly, the bats were too heavy and seen to drop like stones, meaning the experimental weapon was rarely deployed.