Mind Blowing : The CIA spent 20 million dollars on a cyborg cat

The CIA spent 20 million dollars on a cyborg cat which was run over on its very first mission.

-

After five years, Operation Acoustic Kitty did not gather information on the Soviets as was intended and was quickly abandoned.

In the 1960’s, tension between the US and the USSR escalated. The Cold War became a race for information.

-

In 1962, the CIA, therefore, came up with Operation Acoustic Kitty.

The plan was simple: come up with a cat which could walk around Soviet gatherings such as the Kremlin and Soviet embassies and obtain crucial intelligence.
 _

The operation was a hefty mission which required both Surgeons and engineers to collaborate to modify the kitty:

-

1. Engineers had to construct equipment which would not modify the cat’s original movement.
    _
2. The CIA built a 3/4-inch-long transmitter to embed at the base of the cat’s skull.
    -
3. The tail was used as an antenna made from fine wire and woven.
    -
4. Only the smallest batteries were used to preserve natural movements.

In the end, after careful consideration, a gray-and-white female cat was selected.

Looking back on the operation, an agent who worked on the project confessed to reporters that “They made a monstrosity.”

When all was ready, it was time for the first field test:

- A CIA reconnaissance van was sitting across the street from a park marked as the cat’s destination.

- The cyborg cat jumped out of the van.

- It walked across the street and was quickly hit by a van

- A CIA operative returned and picked up the cat’s remains.

In 1967, the project was abruptly abandoned.

The truth is that if you look up any report of this story, journalists have evoked this event as a means of insulting the CIA.

Many find an unusual comfort in the principle that an organization as powerful as the CIA could have created such a failure.

-

Yet I find it important to acknowledge that though the main goal may not be achieved, the project gave insight and progress.

-

A declassified document on the incidence ends as follows: “The work done on this problem over the years reflects great credit on the personnel who guided it, particularly (censored), whose energy and imagination could be models for scientific pioneers.”

-

Operation Acoustic Kitty did not achieve what its primary goal. However, that does not mean that the knowledge and information gained in the process remains a loss to society.