10 Terrifying Government Plots That Nearly Succeeded

3. Project Pigeon

The Objective: To create a guided missile that was uniquely 'intelligent' for the United States military during World War II. The Plan: American behaviourist B.F. Skinner had the madcap idea of having a missile that was literally controlled by a pigeon, and was convincing enough to be given funding by the National Defense Research Committee. The idea was that the bird would be sat inside the missile, with a projection of the target on-screen. A trained pigeon would be able to recognise the intended target on the screen and peck at it. If the pecks were in the centre of the screen, the missile would fly straight, adjusting itself if there were any pecks off-centre. Why it failed: As Skinner put it: "our problem was no one would take us seriously." While the team behind Project Pigeon had some success during trials, it was cancelled in October, 1944, with the military stating, "further prosecution of this project would seriously delay others which in the minds of the Division have more immediate promise of combat application." There's nothing more terrifying than the world's most deadly weapons being in the 'hands' of a pigeon, so they probably made a good call there.