America Strapped Bombs to Bats — They Burned Our Own Base

Описание: America Strapped Bombs to Bats — They Burned Our Own Base

December 7th, 1941, a Pennsylvania dentist watching bats stream from Carlsbad Caverns had an idea so insane it would consume two million dollars, sacrifice over a million bats, and accidentally destroy an entire American Air Force base. His proposal was simple: attach tiny napalm bombs to Mexican free-tailed bats and drop them on Japan's wooden cities. President Roosevelt read the letter and wrote five words that changed everything: "This man is not a nut." What followed was one of the most bizarre weapons programs in military history—Project X-Ray, the bat bomb that proved ten times more effective than conventional incendiary weapons. The Dugway Proving Grounds tests showed one planeload of bat bombs could start 4,748 fires compared to just 167 from regular bombs. But during testing at Carlsbad Army Airfield in May 1943, armed bats escaped and burned the brand-new base to the ground, proving the weapon worked by destroying American military property. The Navy took over, refined the system, and had it combat-ready by mid-1945. Then Fleet Admiral Ernest King cancelled the project—not because it failed, but because another weapon called the atomic bomb was ready first. The bat bomb lost the race to end World War Two by mere months. Discover how a dentist's letter to Eleanor Roosevelt nearly replaced nuclear weapons, why the military spent millions weaponizing nature, and how the strangest idea of the war came terrifyingly close to changing history forever.