10 Terrifying Government Plots That Nearly Succeeded

9. Black Ops: Project 1794

The Objective: Create an aircraft that was capable of speeds up to Mach 4, a range of 1,000 nautical miles, and take flight without the need for a runway. The Plan: The U.S. government decided to have a flying saucer built, outsourcing the work to Canadian company Avro Aircraft of Ontario. The preliminary designs of the aircraft, sourced from the declassified "Project 1794, Final Development Summary Report", look remarkably like the archetypical 'flying saucer' from many UFO sightings, prompting rumours that the craft was also designed to cause hysteria on Russian shores. Why it failed: Despite a conclusion from Avro that the designs were feasible, with a cost estimate of just $3,168,000, the company appeared to be unable to get the aircraft working as intended. The company managed to get the saucer to fly 3 feet from the ground at speeds of 35 mph, but the project was ultimately cancelled before a finished aircraft was built.