1 00:00:01,917 --> 00:00:06,042 [Dan narrating] 2 00:00:08,542 --> 00:00:11,375 [energetic music] 3 00:00:14,042 --> 00:00:17,042 - What are the most shocking weapons ever created? 4 00:00:17,042 --> 00:00:18,958 How about one that transforms animals 5 00:00:18,958 --> 00:00:20,792 into cold-blooded killing machines? 6 00:00:20,792 --> 00:00:22,167 [bats flying] 7 00:00:22,167 --> 00:00:24,417 - This is absolutely a stroke of genius. 8 00:00:24,417 --> 00:00:27,875 Bats can carry more of their body weight than birds. 9 00:00:27,875 --> 00:00:29,667 They fly faster than birds. 10 00:00:29,667 --> 00:00:32,500 - And then when the timer goes off, the napalm is ignited 11 00:00:32,500 --> 00:00:34,125 and then kabam! 12 00:00:34,125 --> 00:00:35,000 [napalm exploding] 13 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:36,417 They explode. 14 00:00:36,417 --> 00:00:37,542 - Or a device that breaches enemy lines 15 00:00:37,542 --> 00:00:40,708 with some rather unconventional ammunition. 16 00:00:40,708 --> 00:00:45,583 - They filled a trebuchet with their most foul-smelling, 17 00:00:45,583 --> 00:00:48,417 worst looking, rotting, bloated corpses 18 00:00:48,417 --> 00:00:50,417 and launched them into the city. 19 00:00:50,417 --> 00:00:52,125 - They're exploding on impact. 20 00:00:52,125 --> 00:00:53,625 [energetic music] 21 00:00:53,625 --> 00:00:57,042 Just stuff is just oozing from all sorts of gaps 22 00:00:57,042 --> 00:00:58,917 and crevices in these bodies. 23 00:00:58,917 --> 00:01:02,542 - What about a gun that gives its user a real headache? 24 00:01:02,542 --> 00:01:06,750 - An inventor decides that guns have a major problem. 25 00:01:06,750 --> 00:01:10,917 - He thinks that he can take the firearm to the next level 26 00:01:10,917 --> 00:01:13,375 by making it a hands-free device. 27 00:01:13,375 --> 00:01:17,375 - And thus the gun helmet is a recipe for disaster. 28 00:01:17,375 --> 00:01:19,417 - These are the weapons so wild, 29 00:01:19,417 --> 00:01:21,750 they are truly unbelievable. 30 00:01:21,750 --> 00:01:24,625 [energetic music] 31 00:01:33,917 --> 00:01:35,333 [video whooshing] 32 00:01:35,333 --> 00:01:37,500 In 1941, after suffering an unprecedented attack 33 00:01:37,500 --> 00:01:40,083 on home soil, the United States knows 34 00:01:40,083 --> 00:01:43,042 it must retaliate, but how? 35 00:01:43,042 --> 00:01:46,417 The answer lies in a secret weapon so unusual, 36 00:01:46,417 --> 00:01:49,292 it is the last thing anyone expects. 37 00:01:49,292 --> 00:01:50,708 [ammunition exploding] 38 00:01:52,542 --> 00:01:54,958 - The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, 39 00:01:54,958 --> 00:01:57,583 the United States enters World War II. 40 00:01:57,583 --> 00:02:02,500 And we're trying to come up with any, any clever idea 41 00:02:03,500 --> 00:02:06,208 to end the war as quickly as possible. 42 00:02:06,208 --> 00:02:09,583 - In Pennsylvania, this dental surgeon by the name 43 00:02:09,583 --> 00:02:13,250 of Dr. Lyle Adams thinks that he has the ideal remedy, 44 00:02:13,250 --> 00:02:15,792 the ideal weapon for the United States. 45 00:02:15,792 --> 00:02:17,500 [bright music] 46 00:02:17,500 --> 00:02:19,292 - Adams is a part-time inventor, 47 00:02:19,292 --> 00:02:22,542 and he is also a man who enjoys exploring caves. 48 00:02:22,542 --> 00:02:25,250 And one day he's touring around caves in New Mexico 49 00:02:25,250 --> 00:02:27,708 and he sees bats hanging everywhere, 50 00:02:27,708 --> 00:02:31,667 and he thinks, what if we weaponize them? 51 00:02:31,667 --> 00:02:35,667 - [Dan] His idea, strap explosives to bats 52 00:02:35,667 --> 00:02:38,375 and release them into enemy territory. 53 00:02:39,542 --> 00:02:42,708 - This is absolutely a stroke of genius. 54 00:02:42,708 --> 00:02:45,458 Dr. Adams knows that bats can carry more 55 00:02:45,458 --> 00:02:47,875 of their body weight than birds. 56 00:02:47,875 --> 00:02:50,083 They fly faster than birds. 57 00:02:50,083 --> 00:02:54,500 - The way this can work is that you can chill the bats down 58 00:02:54,500 --> 00:02:59,042 to around 40 degrees and they enter a hibernation state. 59 00:02:59,042 --> 00:03:00,500 - Each hibernating bat is fitted 60 00:03:00,500 --> 00:03:03,292 with a little incendiary device of napalm. 61 00:03:04,667 --> 00:03:07,958 These hibernating bomb-laden bats could then be loaded 62 00:03:07,958 --> 00:03:12,000 into a canister and that could be carried up aloft. 63 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:13,542 In a B25. 64 00:03:13,542 --> 00:03:16,208 Once released, the bats would naturally wake up 65 00:03:16,208 --> 00:03:18,375 when they hit warmer air. 66 00:03:18,375 --> 00:03:20,292 - They will then flutter off 67 00:03:20,292 --> 00:03:23,917 and find whatever building they possibly can and roost. 68 00:03:23,917 --> 00:03:26,375 - So these bats make their way into the eaves of buildings, 69 00:03:26,375 --> 00:03:27,875 into attics, into crawl spaces, 70 00:03:27,875 --> 00:03:30,542 and then when the timer goes off, the napalm is ignited 71 00:03:30,542 --> 00:03:32,292 and then kabam! 72 00:03:32,292 --> 00:03:33,208 [napalm exploding] 73 00:03:33,208 --> 00:03:34,292 They explode. 74 00:03:34,292 --> 00:03:37,125 - Exploding bats may sound wild, 75 00:03:37,125 --> 00:03:39,958 but Adams has friends in high places. 76 00:03:39,958 --> 00:03:41,292 [bright music] 77 00:03:41,292 --> 00:03:44,375 - Adams knows the first Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. 78 00:03:44,375 --> 00:03:48,333 He writes her a letter describing what he wants to do. 79 00:03:49,750 --> 00:03:52,708 She then shows that letter to her husband, the president 80 00:03:52,708 --> 00:03:54,375 of the United States, the commander in chief 81 00:03:54,375 --> 00:03:56,500 of the American military. 82 00:03:56,500 --> 00:04:00,667 - FDR hands the idea over to the US Army Air Force, along 83 00:04:00,667 --> 00:04:05,250 with a $2 million check and says, "Go develop bat bombs." 84 00:04:05,250 --> 00:04:06,542 - To pull this off, 85 00:04:06,542 --> 00:04:10,458 Dr. Adams needs bats, and a whole lot of them. 86 00:04:10,458 --> 00:04:12,375 - Adams chooses the Carlsbad Air Base 87 00:04:12,375 --> 00:04:14,333 because it's right near a system of caves 88 00:04:14,333 --> 00:04:17,375 that have a population of roughly 9 million bats. 89 00:04:17,375 --> 00:04:18,708 So it's perfect. 90 00:04:18,708 --> 00:04:20,208 They'll be able to have an unlimited supply 91 00:04:20,208 --> 00:04:23,417 of bats and be able to test them using Air force airplanes. 92 00:04:24,500 --> 00:04:26,250 - [Dan] There's just one question now, 93 00:04:26,250 --> 00:04:28,042 do these flying mammals have 94 00:04:28,042 --> 00:04:29,583 what it takes to win a war? 95 00:04:29,583 --> 00:04:31,542 - The day arrives to do the first test 96 00:04:31,542 --> 00:04:33,292 without incendiary devices. 97 00:04:33,292 --> 00:04:34,917 So they take thousands of bats 98 00:04:34,917 --> 00:04:37,500 and then drop them over a farm. 99 00:04:37,500 --> 00:04:40,542 They fly down to the ground and they fly into the barn. 100 00:04:40,542 --> 00:04:43,083 They fly into hay bales, fly into the house. 101 00:04:43,083 --> 00:04:45,667 They're doing exactly what they hoped that they would do. 102 00:04:45,667 --> 00:04:48,208 - After the successful test with the unarmed bats, 103 00:04:48,208 --> 00:04:50,375 the army gets a little bit ambitious 104 00:04:50,375 --> 00:04:53,292 and that same day decides to do a mini test 105 00:04:53,292 --> 00:04:55,000 with six armed bats. 106 00:04:56,208 --> 00:04:57,542 - [Dan] Six unlucky bats strapped 107 00:04:57,542 --> 00:04:59,708 with timer rig napalm capsules. 108 00:04:59,708 --> 00:05:02,750 Again, what could possibly go wrong? 109 00:05:02,750 --> 00:05:04,625 - They're getting ready to put them into the casing 110 00:05:04,625 --> 00:05:06,792 when suddenly the bats wake up, they come out 111 00:05:06,792 --> 00:05:08,708 of hibernation mode and they fly away. 112 00:05:08,708 --> 00:05:10,708 These bats fly all over the Air Force base. 113 00:05:10,708 --> 00:05:13,250 They get into a control tower, they get into a hangar, 114 00:05:13,250 --> 00:05:14,625 they go under a fuel tank. 115 00:05:14,625 --> 00:05:16,542 Some of them fly into an automobile nearby. 116 00:05:16,542 --> 00:05:18,417 Turns out it's the general's automobile 117 00:05:18,417 --> 00:05:19,750 and they detonate. 118 00:05:19,750 --> 00:05:22,708 - The test of the bat bomb is such a success, 119 00:05:22,708 --> 00:05:25,833 it demolishes the military base, but it means it works. 120 00:05:25,833 --> 00:05:27,583 It works perfectly. 121 00:05:27,583 --> 00:05:30,458 - [Dan] Unsurprisingly, there is one person 122 00:05:30,458 --> 00:05:33,000 who is not very happy with the outcome. 123 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,667 - Our army Air Corps general is pretty much fed up 124 00:05:36,667 --> 00:05:39,625 with this project because it blows up his car, sort 125 00:05:39,625 --> 00:05:41,375 of puts a blemish on his record. 126 00:05:41,375 --> 00:05:43,750 So it's handed off to the United States Navy, 127 00:05:43,750 --> 00:05:46,708 but the US Navy has other priorities, 128 00:05:46,708 --> 00:05:49,083 and the Navy, uninterested in developing 129 00:05:49,083 --> 00:05:50,458 this program further 130 00:05:50,458 --> 00:05:52,792 turns it over to the United States Marine Corps. 131 00:05:53,875 --> 00:05:55,708 - When the Marines take over this project, 132 00:05:55,708 --> 00:05:57,833 they move the operation eventually to Utah 133 00:05:57,833 --> 00:06:00,708 where they build a model Japanese village, 134 00:06:00,708 --> 00:06:03,083 and they're able to destroy this model village 135 00:06:03,083 --> 00:06:05,542 using these incendiary bats. 136 00:06:05,542 --> 00:06:07,750 - [Announcer] Despite this initial success, 137 00:06:07,750 --> 00:06:11,542 the Marines quickly learn bats aren't always cooperative. 138 00:06:11,542 --> 00:06:14,542 - Sometimes they don't wake up from hibernation, 139 00:06:14,542 --> 00:06:17,375 so when they're dropped out of a plane, they just kind 140 00:06:17,375 --> 00:06:19,875 of fall and land wherever. 141 00:06:19,875 --> 00:06:22,583 - They find that when females are pregnant 142 00:06:22,583 --> 00:06:24,833 and males are in the vicinity of the pregnant females, 143 00:06:24,833 --> 00:06:27,875 that the males become agitated to such a degree 144 00:06:27,875 --> 00:06:30,625 that they're no longer predictably capable 145 00:06:30,625 --> 00:06:33,042 of delivering the explosives as intended. 146 00:06:33,042 --> 00:06:36,333 And there's really only about a five-month period 147 00:06:36,333 --> 00:06:38,875 in the calendar year during which the bat 148 00:06:38,875 --> 00:06:41,500 can be reliably used for the delivery of explosives. 149 00:06:41,500 --> 00:06:42,875 And the big problem there 150 00:06:42,875 --> 00:06:45,625 is that the war goes on 12 months a year. 151 00:06:45,625 --> 00:06:48,875 - As the team is working through all these difficulties, 152 00:06:48,875 --> 00:06:52,000 in parallel, there's another effort underway 153 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,667 to shorten the war, and that is the atomic bomb project. 154 00:06:55,667 --> 00:06:59,708 So eventually the bat bomb is simply discarded. 155 00:07:00,833 --> 00:07:03,833 - As one unconventional idea is shelved, 156 00:07:03,833 --> 00:07:07,375 another is just taking flight, this time with wings 157 00:07:07,375 --> 00:07:09,125 of a very different kind. 158 00:07:09,125 --> 00:07:10,875 [ammunition exploding] 159 00:07:10,875 --> 00:07:12,958 - We're in the midst of World War II 160 00:07:12,958 --> 00:07:15,917 and all the missiles that we used are not guided. 161 00:07:15,917 --> 00:07:19,542 They can't be directed to hit a specific target. 162 00:07:19,542 --> 00:07:22,625 They can only be flown over an area and then dropped. 163 00:07:24,375 --> 00:07:27,875 If we had a way to have that bomb go precisely 164 00:07:27,875 --> 00:07:31,042 to that location, it could be a game changer. 165 00:07:32,208 --> 00:07:33,583 - [Dan] Noted Harvard psychologist 166 00:07:33,583 --> 00:07:37,292 and inventor B.F. Skinner has an epiphany one day 167 00:07:37,292 --> 00:07:38,500 while out for a walk. 168 00:07:38,500 --> 00:07:41,167 [pigeons flying] 169 00:07:41,167 --> 00:07:44,000 He happens to see a flock of pigeons and it occurs 170 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:48,917 to him, I could use their natural innate honing abilities 171 00:07:48,917 --> 00:07:50,083 to direct the bomb. 172 00:07:51,458 --> 00:07:53,083 - Skinner approaches 173 00:07:53,083 --> 00:07:55,292 the National Research Defense Committee with this plan. 174 00:07:55,292 --> 00:07:57,083 He code names it Project Pigeon. 175 00:07:58,708 --> 00:08:00,792 - [Dan] Using pigeons to hone in on the enemy 176 00:08:00,792 --> 00:08:03,833 sounds crazy, but is it crazy enough to work? 177 00:08:05,042 --> 00:08:08,208 The defense committee certainly thinks so. 178 00:08:08,208 --> 00:08:09,917 - Skinner receives $25,000, 179 00:08:09,917 --> 00:08:13,500 or roughly half a million dollars today, to figure out 180 00:08:13,500 --> 00:08:17,333 how to make a pigeon-guided bomb work. 181 00:08:17,333 --> 00:08:18,542 But Skinner has a plan, 182 00:08:18,542 --> 00:08:20,375 and he thinks that in order 183 00:08:20,375 --> 00:08:22,833 to create a pigeon-guided missile, 184 00:08:22,833 --> 00:08:25,750 you need a pigeon-guiding cockpit. 185 00:08:25,750 --> 00:08:28,708 So Skinner creates a little cone that'll go on top 186 00:08:28,708 --> 00:08:33,750 of a glide bomb and in the cone will be a video screen. 187 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,125 - Skinner places a gold electrode on the pigeon's beak. 188 00:08:37,125 --> 00:08:40,792 He then shows the pigeon video of targets like buildings 189 00:08:40,792 --> 00:08:42,958 and battleships on the screen. 190 00:08:44,625 --> 00:08:46,833 - Skinner's theory is this. 191 00:08:46,833 --> 00:08:50,708 If you train a pigeon to peck at an image of a battleship 192 00:08:50,708 --> 00:08:53,417 or a building and you reward them for it, 193 00:08:53,417 --> 00:08:55,042 they'll continue pecking at it. 194 00:08:57,250 --> 00:09:01,750 And after a while, they will no longer require the reward. 195 00:09:01,750 --> 00:09:04,542 They'll just keep pecking. 196 00:09:04,542 --> 00:09:08,542 - The images on the touch panel are linked 197 00:09:08,542 --> 00:09:11,042 to the guidance mechanism of the missile. 198 00:09:11,042 --> 00:09:14,167 So the pigeon actually is guiding the missile 199 00:09:14,167 --> 00:09:16,042 towards its particular target. 200 00:09:17,708 --> 00:09:19,958 - [Dan] The system works almost perfectly, 201 00:09:19,958 --> 00:09:22,500 except for a slight issue with focus, 202 00:09:24,042 --> 00:09:26,833 - It can get distracted, it might get something wrong, 203 00:09:26,833 --> 00:09:28,917 it might send the bomb to the wrong target. 204 00:09:28,917 --> 00:09:30,958 So Skinner comes up with a great idea. 205 00:09:30,958 --> 00:09:33,917 Let's add democracy to our pigeon bombs. 206 00:09:34,958 --> 00:09:38,708 And thus Skinner uses three pigeons. 207 00:09:38,708 --> 00:09:41,875 If two out of three pigeons pick the ship, 208 00:09:41,875 --> 00:09:44,083 the bomb's gonna steer in that direction. 209 00:09:44,083 --> 00:09:48,042 Turns out that pigeon democracy works every single time. 210 00:09:48,042 --> 00:09:50,292 [bright music] 211 00:09:50,292 --> 00:09:52,208 - [Dan] All they have to do now is stick a camera 212 00:09:52,208 --> 00:09:56,167 on the missile and let those pigeon pilots fly, right? 213 00:09:58,000 --> 00:09:59,083 Not so fast. 214 00:10:00,167 --> 00:10:02,708 - The system Skinner creates works very well, 215 00:10:02,708 --> 00:10:05,375 but the army thinks it would be a little bit embarrassing 216 00:10:05,375 --> 00:10:07,792 to have pigeons guiding their missiles. 217 00:10:08,875 --> 00:10:11,208 So they choose not to go with the pigeons, 218 00:10:11,208 --> 00:10:12,875 but it's not a total loss. 219 00:10:12,875 --> 00:10:15,708 The screens that the pigeons were pecking on 220 00:10:15,708 --> 00:10:17,042 are the precursors 221 00:10:17,042 --> 00:10:20,083 to the screens we use every day in our cell phones. 222 00:10:21,375 --> 00:10:24,042 Interestingly enough, the pigeons are ahead of their time. 223 00:10:24,042 --> 00:10:27,125 [energetic music] 224 00:10:27,125 --> 00:10:28,542 - If you think bat bombs 225 00:10:28,542 --> 00:10:31,250 and pigeon-driven missiles are weird, wait 226 00:10:31,250 --> 00:10:32,250 until you see what's next. 227 00:10:36,292 --> 00:10:38,208 - In times of war, protecting lives becomes 228 00:10:38,208 --> 00:10:41,042 just as important as destroying enemies. 229 00:10:41,042 --> 00:10:45,625 This holds especially true for new parents in London in 1939 230 00:10:45,625 --> 00:10:47,208 whose worries go from diaper duty 231 00:10:47,208 --> 00:10:49,917 and nap time to shielding their little bundles 232 00:10:49,917 --> 00:10:53,167 of joy from lethal chemical threats. 233 00:10:53,167 --> 00:10:53,875 [suspenseful music] 234 00:10:53,875 --> 00:10:55,125 - From the first World War, 235 00:10:55,125 --> 00:10:57,083 there were 100,000 deaths from mustard 236 00:10:57,083 --> 00:10:58,250 and chlorine gas. 237 00:10:58,250 --> 00:10:59,958 So you have the military 238 00:10:59,958 --> 00:11:01,958 and scientists trying to develop technology 239 00:11:01,958 --> 00:11:05,375 to keep the population safe from gas attacks, 240 00:11:05,375 --> 00:11:08,042 and baby gas masks are invented. 241 00:11:09,750 --> 00:11:12,292 - Gas mask is probably the wrong word. 242 00:11:12,292 --> 00:11:14,708 This is like a full body suit. 243 00:11:14,708 --> 00:11:17,750 This is like a helmet with a visor 244 00:11:17,750 --> 00:11:21,208 and a metal grate over the kid's face. 245 00:11:21,208 --> 00:11:23,792 - [Dan] In an effort to make them seem less scary, 246 00:11:23,792 --> 00:11:27,042 the government names them the Mickey Mouse mask. 247 00:11:27,958 --> 00:11:29,958 Not sure how much that helps. 248 00:11:29,958 --> 00:11:32,000 - Getting a baby into these gas masks 249 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:33,958 isn't exactly the easiest thing. 250 00:11:33,958 --> 00:11:37,167 You have to load them into this metal visor thing 251 00:11:37,167 --> 00:11:40,708 and then wrap canvas around them like a diaper 252 00:11:40,708 --> 00:11:43,125 with their little legs hanging out from the bottom. 253 00:11:43,125 --> 00:11:45,208 But then it is actually convenient for the parents 254 00:11:45,208 --> 00:11:48,667 because you can wear your gas masked baby like a backpack, 255 00:11:48,667 --> 00:11:50,792 like a gas masked Baby Bjorn. 256 00:11:52,042 --> 00:11:55,375 - This suit is meant to be airtight 257 00:11:55,375 --> 00:11:58,292 and you as the parent have to keep pumping air into it 258 00:11:58,292 --> 00:12:01,333 so your kid has enough fresh air to survive. 259 00:12:01,333 --> 00:12:02,708 It's not hard to imagine 260 00:12:02,708 --> 00:12:04,292 this isn't gonna work well. 261 00:12:04,292 --> 00:12:06,750 - So the bridge start testing out this brilliant idea, 262 00:12:06,750 --> 00:12:09,000 but then the nurses notice a little problem. 263 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,875 The babies are falling asleep. 264 00:12:11,875 --> 00:12:13,375 - [Dan] And it isn't because the babies 265 00:12:13,375 --> 00:12:14,958 are so warm and cozy. 266 00:12:14,958 --> 00:12:16,792 - So it becomes rather clear 267 00:12:16,792 --> 00:12:18,625 that they aren't actually getting as much air 268 00:12:18,625 --> 00:12:19,875 as they're supposed to 269 00:12:19,875 --> 00:12:21,333 and ultimately the project is scraped 270 00:12:21,333 --> 00:12:23,208 because of course, better to run the risk of a 271 00:12:23,208 --> 00:12:26,833 gas attack than inadvertently wipe out a generation 272 00:12:26,833 --> 00:12:29,708 by suffocating them in baby gas masks. 273 00:12:29,708 --> 00:12:30,792 - [Dan] But it does inspire 274 00:12:30,792 --> 00:12:33,458 yet another bizarre idea for armor. 275 00:12:33,458 --> 00:12:35,833 - As the British people are facing the prospect of war, 276 00:12:35,833 --> 00:12:39,750 we also have the baby gas mask stroller, 277 00:12:39,750 --> 00:12:40,917 for the parent on the go who wants 278 00:12:40,917 --> 00:12:42,042 to make sure their child's protected 279 00:12:42,042 --> 00:12:43,958 in the event of a mustard attack. 280 00:12:43,958 --> 00:12:46,875 Basically it looks like a coffin with a visor over it 281 00:12:46,875 --> 00:12:48,167 so you can see the baby, 282 00:12:48,167 --> 00:12:49,708 make sure everything looks good there. 283 00:12:49,708 --> 00:12:52,042 - [Dan] And like the baby gas mask, 284 00:12:52,042 --> 00:12:54,375 the gas stroller is also airtight 285 00:12:54,375 --> 00:12:56,208 with a cute little pump, 286 00:12:56,208 --> 00:12:59,583 just don't forget to give it a squeeze now and then. 287 00:12:59,583 --> 00:13:00,917 - You put your baby 288 00:13:00,917 --> 00:13:02,958 in this airtight coffin-like metal container 289 00:13:02,958 --> 00:13:04,542 that has an air filter that you have 290 00:13:04,542 --> 00:13:06,792 to consistently pump oxygen into, 291 00:13:06,792 --> 00:13:09,542 and you go for a stroll in Piccadilly Circus. 292 00:13:09,542 --> 00:13:11,833 - [Dan] What happens to the person walking the baby 293 00:13:11,833 --> 00:13:14,583 isn't quite clear, but the intent behind it 294 00:13:14,583 --> 00:13:16,208 somehow makes sense. 295 00:13:16,208 --> 00:13:18,125 - During wartime, you still want to go to the park 296 00:13:18,125 --> 00:13:20,250 with your baby even though you're under threat. 297 00:13:20,250 --> 00:13:22,958 So people are just grasping at straws 298 00:13:22,958 --> 00:13:25,292 to maintain their sense of normalcy. 299 00:13:25,292 --> 00:13:26,958 - And luckily, London 300 00:13:26,958 --> 00:13:29,792 and the rest of England we're not attacked 301 00:13:29,792 --> 00:13:31,042 with chemical weapons, 302 00:13:31,042 --> 00:13:34,500 and so the baby stroller was never needed. 303 00:13:36,333 --> 00:13:38,750 - As the fear of chemical threats subside, 304 00:13:38,750 --> 00:13:41,792 a different kind of terrifying attack takes aim 305 00:13:41,792 --> 00:13:43,583 during World War II. 306 00:13:43,583 --> 00:13:46,333 [ammunition exploding] 307 00:13:46,333 --> 00:13:49,208 - After Pearl Harbor, the Japanese essentially are ruling 308 00:13:49,208 --> 00:13:54,292 the entire Pacific, but by 1944, the tide is turned 309 00:13:54,292 --> 00:13:57,208 and the Allies are getting closer to Japan, 310 00:13:58,250 --> 00:14:01,083 and as a result, desperate times call 311 00:14:01,083 --> 00:14:02,625 for desperate measures. 312 00:14:02,625 --> 00:14:04,458 Enter the kamikaze. 313 00:14:04,458 --> 00:14:05,833 [ammunition exploding] 314 00:14:05,833 --> 00:14:08,542 [suspenseful music] 315 00:14:08,542 --> 00:14:10,875 - These planes have a pilot. 316 00:14:10,875 --> 00:14:13,208 They're loaded with bombs and extra fuel, 317 00:14:13,208 --> 00:14:16,292 and they're designed to slam right into American ships. 318 00:14:19,208 --> 00:14:21,625 - So the Japanese Navy is looking around 319 00:14:21,625 --> 00:14:23,500 and they see these kamikaze planes 320 00:14:23,500 --> 00:14:26,750 and they think, well, that's a good idea. 321 00:14:26,750 --> 00:14:28,958 What if we had something like that? 322 00:14:30,292 --> 00:14:32,833 - [Dan] Japanese Navy lieutenants, Hiroshi Kuroki 323 00:14:32,833 --> 00:14:36,208 and Sekio Nishina, come up with a daring design, 324 00:14:36,208 --> 00:14:38,958 the Kaiten Torpedo, which roughly translates 325 00:14:38,958 --> 00:14:42,083 to the heaven shaker. 326 00:14:43,292 --> 00:14:45,458 - The Japanese have long relied on torpedoes as one 327 00:14:45,458 --> 00:14:49,375 of their main weapons for naval engagements, 328 00:14:49,375 --> 00:14:50,708 but it's very difficult 329 00:14:50,708 --> 00:14:53,250 to get a torpedo on time and on target. 330 00:14:54,542 --> 00:14:58,542 What they develop is essentially a suicide submarine. 331 00:15:00,958 --> 00:15:04,042 - They take their standard type 93 torpedo, 332 00:15:04,042 --> 00:15:06,750 and in the center right behind the payload, 333 00:15:06,750 --> 00:15:08,625 they add a cockpit for a pilot. 334 00:15:10,167 --> 00:15:12,958 - It's got rudimentary controls, it's got a steering column. 335 00:15:12,958 --> 00:15:15,875 It also has a button to detonate the warhead. 336 00:15:17,333 --> 00:15:20,833 The torpedo is 30 feet long, but the real importance comes 337 00:15:20,833 --> 00:15:22,458 with its speed. 338 00:15:22,458 --> 00:15:27,167 It can reach 60 miles an hour, which is almost twice as fast 339 00:15:27,167 --> 00:15:29,417 as any ship afloat at the time. 340 00:15:31,042 --> 00:15:32,458 - [Dan] While it seems like 341 00:15:32,458 --> 00:15:34,917 a pretty straightforward single use vessel, 342 00:15:34,917 --> 00:15:37,167 it still needs to be tested. 343 00:15:37,167 --> 00:15:40,708 - The first tests that are done are done without a payload, 344 00:15:40,708 --> 00:15:44,667 but it's still dangerous to ram a target under the water. 345 00:15:44,667 --> 00:15:47,583 [suspenseful music] 346 00:15:49,042 --> 00:15:53,125 During these trials, 15 men die, 347 00:15:54,292 --> 00:15:56,958 including one of the inventors, Hiroshi Kuroki, 348 00:15:56,958 --> 00:15:58,917 who was killed in one of the tests. 349 00:16:02,208 --> 00:16:04,958 - So now with testing complete, there's only one thing left 350 00:16:04,958 --> 00:16:07,333 to do, and that's to put it into battle. 351 00:16:07,333 --> 00:16:10,000 And who's gonna run that first mission? 352 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,333 None other than the other inventor, 353 00:16:13,875 --> 00:16:16,458 Lieutenant Sekio Nishina. 354 00:16:17,708 --> 00:16:20,750 - He wants to pay tribute to his best friend who died 355 00:16:20,750 --> 00:16:25,542 during training, and as such, he brings a box of his ashes 356 00:16:25,542 --> 00:16:29,167 that are going to ride like a co-pilot with him into action. 357 00:16:30,583 --> 00:16:33,500 - [Dan] On the morning of November 20th, 1944, 358 00:16:33,500 --> 00:16:36,083 the Kaiten sets out on its first mission, 359 00:16:36,875 --> 00:16:40,417 to ram the USS Mississinewa. 360 00:16:41,542 --> 00:16:44,042 - Nishina drives it across the harbor 361 00:16:44,042 --> 00:16:47,083 and slams into the side of the US oil ship. 362 00:16:47,083 --> 00:16:50,250 [suspenseful music] 363 00:16:53,833 --> 00:16:57,458 The explosion blows a massive hole into the starboard side 364 00:16:57,458 --> 00:16:58,875 of the Mississinewa. 365 00:16:58,875 --> 00:17:03,000 It rolls over and 63 sailors 366 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:04,583 on board are killed. 367 00:17:07,083 --> 00:17:08,875 - Although it appears that the Kaiten is going 368 00:17:08,875 --> 00:17:10,875 to be a revolutionary weapon, 369 00:17:10,875 --> 00:17:13,875 as a matter of fact, when they put them into operation, 370 00:17:13,875 --> 00:17:16,500 there's very little success. 371 00:17:16,500 --> 00:17:19,208 At the end of the day, 179 American sailors 372 00:17:19,208 --> 00:17:21,542 lose their lives in Kaiten attacks, 373 00:17:21,542 --> 00:17:24,750 but nearly 1,000 Japanese are lost 374 00:17:24,750 --> 00:17:28,667 either on the Kaitens themselves or in the mother submarines 375 00:17:28,667 --> 00:17:31,417 that are sunk on the way to deliver their cargo. 376 00:17:33,417 --> 00:17:35,375 - The Kaiten torpedo stands as one 377 00:17:35,375 --> 00:17:38,167 of the war's most harrowing inventions. 378 00:17:38,167 --> 00:17:41,667 A grim reminder of just how far some are willing to go, 379 00:17:43,167 --> 00:17:46,292 but when brute force won't do, some turn to brain power. 380 00:17:50,125 --> 00:17:51,833 - Protecting your head in battle is crucial, 381 00:17:51,833 --> 00:17:53,375 but a century ago, someone turned 382 00:17:53,375 --> 00:17:56,292 that safety gear into something far more offensive. 383 00:17:59,333 --> 00:18:00,625 - Prior to World War I, 384 00:18:00,625 --> 00:18:04,292 an inventor Albert Bacon Pratt decides 385 00:18:04,292 --> 00:18:06,500 that guns have a major problem. 386 00:18:08,417 --> 00:18:09,542 [gun firing] 387 00:18:09,542 --> 00:18:10,375 You actually have to hold them in your hand, 388 00:18:10,375 --> 00:18:12,875 point them and pull the trigger. 389 00:18:12,875 --> 00:18:17,208 - He thinks that he can take the firearm to the next level 390 00:18:17,208 --> 00:18:20,125 by making it a hands-free device. 391 00:18:20,125 --> 00:18:22,542 - So Pratt goes into his Vermont workshop 392 00:18:22,542 --> 00:18:25,708 and tinkers away with what he thinks will be the solution 393 00:18:25,708 --> 00:18:27,208 to modern warfare. 394 00:18:27,208 --> 00:18:28,750 It's called the gun helmet. 395 00:18:31,875 --> 00:18:35,708 - The design is a steel shell, 396 00:18:35,708 --> 00:18:39,375 and integrated into the steel shell is the weapon. 397 00:18:39,375 --> 00:18:42,375 And from the barrel, there's also a site that falls down. 398 00:18:42,375 --> 00:18:45,875 So all the marksman has to do is look at his enemy 399 00:18:45,875 --> 00:18:48,083 and boom, hands-free shooting. 400 00:18:49,500 --> 00:18:51,542 - [Dan] This of course begs $1 million question. 401 00:18:51,542 --> 00:18:55,167 How does one fire a handgun without their hands? 402 00:18:56,500 --> 00:18:59,583 - The marksman has a rubber hose in his mouth, 403 00:18:59,583 --> 00:19:02,875 and he blows into that hose, which is routed up 404 00:19:02,875 --> 00:19:06,958 above his face into the helmet, which ignites a bulb, 405 00:19:06,958 --> 00:19:10,208 depresses the trigger, and now you have hands-free firing. 406 00:19:10,208 --> 00:19:12,250 [gun firing] 407 00:19:12,250 --> 00:19:13,667 - His patent illustrates 408 00:19:13,667 --> 00:19:16,500 that the helmet has another function. 409 00:19:17,375 --> 00:19:19,458 On the top, there's a spike, 410 00:19:20,458 --> 00:19:23,958 and it's actually a cooking utensil. 411 00:19:23,958 --> 00:19:27,917 The wearer can tenderize meat, stir stew, 412 00:19:27,917 --> 00:19:30,208 maybe even butcher a bear. 413 00:19:30,208 --> 00:19:32,333 - [Dan] Cooking stew notwithstanding, 414 00:19:32,333 --> 00:19:34,958 there is one glaring flaw in Pratt's design 415 00:19:34,958 --> 00:19:37,625 that is a real headache to move past. 416 00:19:37,625 --> 00:19:41,292 - At this time in history, guns have serious recoil. 417 00:19:41,292 --> 00:19:42,708 When they fire that gun, 418 00:19:42,708 --> 00:19:45,042 that sucker's gonna kick his head back. 419 00:19:45,042 --> 00:19:46,417 [gun firing] 420 00:19:46,417 --> 00:19:48,792 The neck can snap, the skull can crack, 421 00:19:48,792 --> 00:19:50,333 and even teeth can be broken. 422 00:19:51,708 --> 00:19:54,667 - And thus, the gun helmet is a recipe for disaster. 423 00:19:57,583 --> 00:19:59,750 - Apparently, the US military agrees 424 00:19:59,750 --> 00:20:02,875 because the gun never makes it to the front lines, 425 00:20:02,875 --> 00:20:06,083 but there's another way to use your head in battle 426 00:20:06,083 --> 00:20:07,750 and it won't give you whiplash. 427 00:20:10,625 --> 00:20:14,500 - Conventional espionage is although a very successful way 428 00:20:14,500 --> 00:20:16,333 of gathering intelligence about a potential foe, 429 00:20:16,333 --> 00:20:19,167 it's also very difficult. 430 00:20:19,167 --> 00:20:21,333 So during the decades of the Cold War, 431 00:20:21,333 --> 00:20:23,500 the government comes up with a plan. 432 00:20:23,500 --> 00:20:27,125 The US military establishes Operation Stargate, 433 00:20:27,125 --> 00:20:29,292 and this is a program by which 10 434 00:20:29,292 --> 00:20:31,917 or 15 men are trained at Fort Meade in Maryland 435 00:20:31,917 --> 00:20:35,792 in a psychological exercise that's called remote viewing. 436 00:20:37,833 --> 00:20:39,250 - What is remote viewing? 437 00:20:39,250 --> 00:20:42,958 Well, simply put, it is psychic spying. 438 00:20:42,958 --> 00:20:47,875 The principle of psychic spying is that people use the power 439 00:20:47,875 --> 00:20:49,833 of their mind to 440 00:20:49,833 --> 00:20:53,125 locate all the usual intelligence targets, 441 00:20:53,125 --> 00:20:56,292 missile silos, military bases, 442 00:20:56,292 --> 00:20:58,125 ballistic missile submarines, 443 00:20:58,125 --> 00:21:00,375 that sort of thing. 444 00:21:00,375 --> 00:21:02,542 - [Dan] Incredibly, this unique form 445 00:21:02,542 --> 00:21:05,500 of espionage seems to actually work. 446 00:21:05,500 --> 00:21:09,958 - Turns out the results are way better 447 00:21:09,958 --> 00:21:12,875 than chance alone should allow. 448 00:21:12,875 --> 00:21:15,542 Some of the estimates about the success rate 449 00:21:15,542 --> 00:21:19,500 of this program put the figure at 70, 80% 450 00:21:21,042 --> 00:21:22,458 - From these experiments, 451 00:21:22,458 --> 00:21:27,042 the Army identifies six, quote, star performers. 452 00:21:27,042 --> 00:21:31,250 One of these star performers is named Joseph McMoneagle. 453 00:21:32,583 --> 00:21:35,250 - During his remote viewing session, he begins 454 00:21:35,250 --> 00:21:36,708 to sketch out what he's seeing. 455 00:21:38,625 --> 00:21:41,083 - McMoneagle claims that he's capable 456 00:21:41,083 --> 00:21:42,875 of seeing deep into the Soviet Union, 457 00:21:42,875 --> 00:21:46,292 and he observes the construction of a large submarine. 458 00:21:46,292 --> 00:21:49,333 And what McMoneagle describes ends up being the 459 00:21:49,333 --> 00:21:52,458 Typhoon class of Soviet ballistic missile submarine 460 00:21:52,458 --> 00:21:56,000 six months before their existence is made public. 461 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,667 But while McMoneagle is seen as a star performer, 462 00:21:58,667 --> 00:22:01,292 he's not even the best one of the group. 463 00:22:01,292 --> 00:22:03,208 That would be his colleague, Pat Price, 464 00:22:03,208 --> 00:22:06,292 who is deemed a psychic treasure. 465 00:22:06,292 --> 00:22:09,583 Pat Price is supposedly successful in being able 466 00:22:09,583 --> 00:22:12,833 to infiltrate an underground Soviet nuclear research site. 467 00:22:12,833 --> 00:22:16,042 - Price claims to remote-view the development 468 00:22:16,042 --> 00:22:19,000 of a particle beam weapon that the Soviets are going to use 469 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:20,083 to shoot down satellites. 470 00:22:21,250 --> 00:22:22,542 - [Dan] Despite its promise, 471 00:22:22,542 --> 00:22:25,375 Operations Stargate never really takes off, 472 00:22:25,375 --> 00:22:27,500 and the CIA shelves the program. 473 00:22:29,042 --> 00:22:31,625 - But there's a suspicion that it's only in public 474 00:22:31,625 --> 00:22:33,583 that the plug has been pulled. 475 00:22:33,583 --> 00:22:37,542 Some people believe these programs continue to this day. 476 00:22:37,542 --> 00:22:41,083 There is a theory that this is a classic black op. 477 00:22:41,083 --> 00:22:42,667 It's still going on, 478 00:22:42,667 --> 00:22:45,792 but it's buried somewhere in the private sector perhaps. 479 00:22:47,958 --> 00:22:51,083 - It may sound like a strange Cold War footnote, 480 00:22:51,083 --> 00:22:52,375 but Operation Stargate 481 00:22:52,375 --> 00:22:55,000 stands out as one of the most groundbreaking 482 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:57,000 military intelligence experiments ever. 483 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:03,875 - When used wisely, spite can be a very dangerous weapon, 484 00:23:03,875 --> 00:23:05,708 especially if you are a professional welder 485 00:23:05,708 --> 00:23:09,208 with a passion for DIY projects. 486 00:23:09,208 --> 00:23:11,458 [video whooshing] 487 00:23:11,458 --> 00:23:13,333 - It's June of 2004, 488 00:23:13,333 --> 00:23:15,208 and the town of Granby, Colorado, 489 00:23:15,208 --> 00:23:17,625 has descended into panic, 490 00:23:17,625 --> 00:23:21,250 [building rumbling] 491 00:23:21,250 --> 00:23:25,250 because there is a homemade armored vehicle laying waste 492 00:23:25,250 --> 00:23:27,250 to local buildings in the community. 493 00:23:27,250 --> 00:23:30,125 It is a absolute wrecking machine. 494 00:23:30,125 --> 00:23:32,708 [building collapsing] 495 00:23:32,708 --> 00:23:35,333 The local law enforcement have no idea 496 00:23:35,333 --> 00:23:37,083 how to stop this thing. 497 00:23:37,083 --> 00:23:38,875 It seems to be armor-plated. 498 00:23:38,875 --> 00:23:41,958 It's knocking down buildings, running over vehicles. 499 00:23:41,958 --> 00:23:44,542 It seems to be retrofitted to be more 500 00:23:44,542 --> 00:23:47,625 of an armored fighting vehicle than an actual bulldozer. 501 00:23:47,625 --> 00:23:51,542 As a matter of fact, it's quickly nicknamed the killdozer. 502 00:23:51,542 --> 00:23:52,708 [video whooshing] 503 00:23:52,708 --> 00:23:54,542 - But what the scared citizens of Granby 504 00:23:54,542 --> 00:23:56,875 don't realize is that the man driving 505 00:23:56,875 --> 00:23:59,375 the steel-clad behemoth is a neighbor 506 00:23:59,375 --> 00:24:02,458 they know [video whooshing] and like. 507 00:24:03,292 --> 00:24:04,750 [gentle music] 508 00:24:04,750 --> 00:24:07,708 - Marvin Heemeyer is the local man behind the wheel. 509 00:24:07,708 --> 00:24:10,167 He is known as an expert welder, 510 00:24:10,167 --> 00:24:14,375 and in fact, he runs a very successful business in town. 511 00:24:14,375 --> 00:24:17,875 Outwardly, he seems to be living a happy life. 512 00:24:17,875 --> 00:24:19,750 - [Dan] Life should be good for Marvin, 513 00:24:19,750 --> 00:24:22,042 but there's something sticking in his craw. 514 00:24:22,042 --> 00:24:23,375 [video whooshing] 515 00:24:23,375 --> 00:24:26,125 - For years, Marvin has been in a battle 516 00:24:26,125 --> 00:24:30,708 with the Granby Town Board due to a land dispute. 517 00:24:31,750 --> 00:24:33,875 - [Dan] The trouble starts in the early '90s 518 00:24:33,875 --> 00:24:36,542 when Marvin outbids the concrete company next door 519 00:24:36,542 --> 00:24:38,167 for a prime piece of land. 520 00:24:39,625 --> 00:24:42,875 They allegedly retaliate by using their connections 521 00:24:42,875 --> 00:24:46,500 with the board to get Marvin slapped with costly fines. 522 00:24:47,542 --> 00:24:50,000 - Marvin grudgingly pays the fines, 523 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:54,875 but when he's making out his check, he uses the memo section 524 00:24:54,875 --> 00:24:59,833 to insult the town board, calling them cowards and frauds. 525 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:02,208 - [Dan] As the town finds continue with no end 526 00:25:02,208 --> 00:25:05,958 in sight, Marvin's rage builds. 527 00:25:05,958 --> 00:25:08,875 [suspenseful music] 528 00:25:10,167 --> 00:25:14,917 - One night, Marvin claims to hear the voice of God. 529 00:25:14,917 --> 00:25:19,708 That voice tells him to get revenge on all of the people 530 00:25:19,708 --> 00:25:22,208 that are involved in this scandal. 531 00:25:22,208 --> 00:25:25,000 [video whooshing] 532 00:25:26,708 --> 00:25:31,542 Marvin gets himself a bulldozer at a local auction, 533 00:25:31,542 --> 00:25:33,750 and while he is running his business 534 00:25:33,750 --> 00:25:36,167 during the day, at night, 535 00:25:36,167 --> 00:25:38,375 he's spending his time creating 536 00:25:38,375 --> 00:25:41,750 this impenetrable armored attack vehicle. 537 00:25:43,667 --> 00:25:45,417 - [Dan] Marvin reinforces the killdozer 538 00:25:45,417 --> 00:25:47,417 with steel plates and concrete, 539 00:25:47,417 --> 00:25:49,292 making it virtually impenetrable. 540 00:25:50,625 --> 00:25:52,458 Instead of windows, he mounts cameras 541 00:25:52,458 --> 00:25:54,458 behind bulletproof glass 542 00:25:54,458 --> 00:25:56,750 and navigates using internal monitors. 543 00:25:59,625 --> 00:26:02,708 On June 4th, 2004, 544 00:26:02,708 --> 00:26:04,750 Marvin's rampage begins. 545 00:26:06,083 --> 00:26:08,125 - The first thing he turns into rubble 546 00:26:08,125 --> 00:26:11,583 is the concrete factory next door owned by the family 547 00:26:11,583 --> 00:26:13,250 who he had the problems with. 548 00:26:14,250 --> 00:26:15,792 - Law enforcement shows up 549 00:26:15,792 --> 00:26:19,167 and they start firing 50 caliber bullets at him. 550 00:26:19,167 --> 00:26:21,750 They even try to use concussion grenades, 551 00:26:21,750 --> 00:26:23,875 but not a scratch on the killdozer. 552 00:26:23,875 --> 00:26:25,458 - [Dan] Marvin takes to the highway 553 00:26:25,458 --> 00:26:28,875 to visit everybody on his long list. 554 00:26:28,875 --> 00:26:33,167 - Next, Marvin hits the propane company owned 555 00:26:33,167 --> 00:26:34,625 by a town board member. 556 00:26:34,625 --> 00:26:38,708 Then he moves to the town hall itself 557 00:26:38,708 --> 00:26:41,208 and runs it completely into the ground. 558 00:26:42,667 --> 00:26:45,542 - He turns the killdozer towards the hardware store, 559 00:26:45,542 --> 00:26:47,167 also owned by a board member. 560 00:26:48,583 --> 00:26:53,250 But Marvin makes one massive tactical blunder. 561 00:26:53,250 --> 00:26:55,875 He fails to realize the building 562 00:26:55,875 --> 00:26:58,333 does have a basement. 563 00:26:59,625 --> 00:27:02,583 The killdozer wedges into the basement 564 00:27:02,583 --> 00:27:04,042 where it gets stuck. 565 00:27:05,667 --> 00:27:07,792 - [Dan] The dozer starts overheating, 566 00:27:07,792 --> 00:27:09,667 and finally shuts down. 567 00:27:11,625 --> 00:27:14,083 - Marvin does not survive the ordeal, 568 00:27:14,083 --> 00:27:17,083 but he does become a folk hero of sorts 569 00:27:17,083 --> 00:27:19,292 for the people in the area, people who feel 570 00:27:19,292 --> 00:27:21,792 that taking matters into their own hand 571 00:27:21,792 --> 00:27:24,000 is the only act they have left. 572 00:27:26,042 --> 00:27:28,750 - Decades earlier, the British military rolled out 573 00:27:28,750 --> 00:27:33,042 something just as unstoppable and far more explosive. 574 00:27:33,042 --> 00:27:35,375 [tank firing] 575 00:27:38,208 --> 00:27:41,208 - It is 1943 and World War II is at a stalemate. 576 00:27:41,208 --> 00:27:44,417 The Germans have built a massive fortification 577 00:27:44,417 --> 00:27:48,500 along the entire French Coast called the Atlantic Wall. 578 00:27:48,500 --> 00:27:50,708 It's nigh unimpenetrable. 579 00:27:52,875 --> 00:27:55,542 - So this is a big conundrum for the Allies. 580 00:27:55,542 --> 00:27:57,833 How do you get troops on the beach 581 00:27:57,833 --> 00:28:00,917 and circumvent the obstacle of the Atlantic wall? 582 00:28:02,708 --> 00:28:04,208 - [Dan] What they come up with 583 00:28:04,208 --> 00:28:06,750 is something straight out of a "Road Runner Cartoon". 584 00:28:06,750 --> 00:28:07,542 [video whooshing] 585 00:28:07,542 --> 00:28:08,583 [gentle music] 586 00:28:08,583 --> 00:28:10,250 - The weapon is the brain child 587 00:28:10,250 --> 00:28:13,542 of British Wing Commander C.R. Finch Noise, 588 00:28:13,542 --> 00:28:14,875 and he comes up 589 00:28:14,875 --> 00:28:17,333 with what he thinks will be a war-winning weapon. 590 00:28:18,792 --> 00:28:22,875 - Picture, if you will, two 10-foot tall steel wheels 591 00:28:22,875 --> 00:28:27,375 upon which are 70 slow burning cordite rockets. 592 00:28:27,375 --> 00:28:29,875 In the middle, a canister stuffed 593 00:28:29,875 --> 00:28:32,333 with 4,000 pounds of high explosive. 594 00:28:33,750 --> 00:28:35,542 - [Dan] The idea, get up close to the beach 595 00:28:35,542 --> 00:28:36,708 with the panjandrum, 596 00:28:36,708 --> 00:28:38,750 spark up the rockets and let her rip. 597 00:28:39,792 --> 00:28:42,583 - They wanted to send 12 panjandrums up 598 00:28:42,583 --> 00:28:46,625 to the beach at Normandy to blow channels in the wall 599 00:28:46,625 --> 00:28:49,042 so that the troops could just walk on through. 600 00:28:50,292 --> 00:28:52,583 That's an insane idea 601 00:28:52,583 --> 00:28:57,042 for this rocket powered wheel of death. 602 00:28:57,042 --> 00:29:01,042 - [Dan] In late 1943, Finch Noise decides it's time 603 00:29:01,042 --> 00:29:04,708 to take the panjandrum out for a little test spin. 604 00:29:04,708 --> 00:29:07,958 - Finch Noise invites the military's top brass 605 00:29:07,958 --> 00:29:10,708 to witness this war machine in action. 606 00:29:10,708 --> 00:29:12,208 - This being a test, they decide, 607 00:29:12,208 --> 00:29:14,042 we're not gonna actually blow something up. 608 00:29:14,042 --> 00:29:18,000 So its payload, rather than being 4,000 pounds of explosive, 609 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,250 is 4,000 pounds of inert sand. 610 00:29:21,250 --> 00:29:24,708 This turns out to be a very wise decision. 611 00:29:25,917 --> 00:29:28,083 - When the test begins, they light the rockets 612 00:29:28,083 --> 00:29:31,333 and the panjandrum comes off the landing craft. 613 00:29:31,333 --> 00:29:34,000 Everything looks good for the first 20 or 30 feet, 614 00:29:35,375 --> 00:29:39,500 then it starts losing rockets and all hell breaks loose. 615 00:29:39,500 --> 00:29:42,917 - An officer's dog starts chasing the panjandrum 616 00:29:42,917 --> 00:29:46,083 down the beach like it's a chew toy. 617 00:29:46,083 --> 00:29:49,667 Then the panjandrum turns and starts going after the dog. 618 00:29:49,667 --> 00:29:51,417 Rockets are firing irregularly. 619 00:29:51,417 --> 00:29:54,542 The things flipping from side to side like a wagon wheel. 620 00:29:54,542 --> 00:29:57,958 It's an unmitigated disaster, and for that reason alone, 621 00:29:57,958 --> 00:30:00,708 the panjandrum is not included in the plans 622 00:30:00,708 --> 00:30:02,042 for the D-Day invasion. 623 00:30:05,292 --> 00:30:06,625 - We are happy to report 624 00:30:06,625 --> 00:30:09,917 that no dogs were harmed in the making of the panjandrum. 625 00:30:13,625 --> 00:30:16,208 - In times of war, a necessity breeds not just innovation, 626 00:30:16,208 --> 00:30:18,958 but sometimes unspeakable acts of resourcefulness. 627 00:30:18,958 --> 00:30:22,042 One such example comes from the Mongol Empire 628 00:30:22,042 --> 00:30:25,417 while running low on soldiers and ideas. 629 00:30:26,708 --> 00:30:29,958 - So it's the early part of the 13th century, 630 00:30:29,958 --> 00:30:34,500 and the Golden Horde, a mighty massive military force led 631 00:30:34,500 --> 00:30:38,542 by Genghis Khan, overtakes most of Asia, is on their way 632 00:30:38,542 --> 00:30:42,250 to Europe and takes over the Crimean Peninsula. 633 00:30:42,250 --> 00:30:44,708 - [Dan] In the newly conquered Crimean Peninsula, 634 00:30:44,708 --> 00:30:46,333 the Mongols strike a deal 635 00:30:46,333 --> 00:30:48,917 with Genoese merchants in the walled City of Caffa, 636 00:30:48,917 --> 00:30:51,250 keeping the peace for now. 637 00:30:51,250 --> 00:30:53,958 - All goes really well for some time 638 00:30:53,958 --> 00:30:56,958 until we have a new Khan, Janibek. 639 00:30:59,167 --> 00:31:02,833 Janibek Khan wants Caffa back. 640 00:31:02,833 --> 00:31:03,958 - [Dan] For two brutal years, 641 00:31:03,958 --> 00:31:06,292 the Mongols batter the city. 642 00:31:06,292 --> 00:31:08,917 Just as victory seems within reach, 643 00:31:08,917 --> 00:31:11,833 something unexpected turns the tide. 644 00:31:13,125 --> 00:31:17,167 - Suddenly, men in the Mongol army are dying in droves. 645 00:31:18,500 --> 00:31:20,333 - Janibek is seeing his soldiers fall left and right. 646 00:31:20,333 --> 00:31:21,875 He's thinking, how are we gonna continue 647 00:31:21,875 --> 00:31:23,333 a siege like this? 648 00:31:24,542 --> 00:31:27,208 - At the same time, the Genoese look over this wall 649 00:31:27,208 --> 00:31:29,625 and they're starting to see this powerful Mongol army 650 00:31:29,625 --> 00:31:34,458 writhing in pain on the fields, vomiting, just bleeding. 651 00:31:34,458 --> 00:31:37,208 And they think to themselves, we've won. 652 00:31:37,208 --> 00:31:38,542 They're too sick to fight. 653 00:31:38,542 --> 00:31:39,875 There's no way that they're gonna be able 654 00:31:39,875 --> 00:31:41,375 to take over the city from us. 655 00:31:41,375 --> 00:31:42,792 We get to keep it. 656 00:31:42,792 --> 00:31:43,833 The day is ours. 657 00:31:43,833 --> 00:31:45,042 Hurrah. 658 00:31:45,042 --> 00:31:46,375 - [Dan] That's when the golden horde 659 00:31:46,375 --> 00:31:48,875 of Mongols fearless leader devises a plan 660 00:31:48,875 --> 00:31:53,000 that is both unbelievable and well disgusting. 661 00:31:54,042 --> 00:31:56,417 - They filled a trebuchet 662 00:31:56,417 --> 00:32:00,750 with their most foul smelling, worst looking, rotting, 663 00:32:00,750 --> 00:32:04,375 bloated corpses and launched them into the city in the hopes 664 00:32:04,375 --> 00:32:08,458 that the smell alone will drive the residents out. 665 00:32:08,458 --> 00:32:11,042 [energetic music] 666 00:32:11,042 --> 00:32:13,375 - They're bloated bodies, they're corpses. 667 00:32:13,375 --> 00:32:14,958 So when they hit, 668 00:32:14,958 --> 00:32:16,708 [bodies falling] 669 00:32:16,708 --> 00:32:19,208 they're exploding on impact. 670 00:32:19,208 --> 00:32:23,583 Just stuff is just oozing from all sorts of gaps 671 00:32:23,583 --> 00:32:25,167 and crevices in these bodies. 672 00:32:25,167 --> 00:32:29,000 - The Genoese are inside going, man, we know we have 673 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:31,458 to do something with all these dead bodies. 674 00:32:31,458 --> 00:32:35,333 So they start loading them into wagons 675 00:32:35,333 --> 00:32:39,333 and carrying them to the river and dumping them in. 676 00:32:41,667 --> 00:32:43,333 - [Dan] Problem solved, right? 677 00:32:43,333 --> 00:32:44,542 Nope. 678 00:32:44,542 --> 00:32:46,375 Turns out the Genoese 679 00:32:46,375 --> 00:32:50,375 are victims of a new form of warfare. 680 00:32:50,375 --> 00:32:51,583 - As they're collecting these bodies 681 00:32:51,583 --> 00:32:53,125 and starting to dump them, they're noticing 682 00:32:53,125 --> 00:32:54,542 that they're also starting to get sick, 683 00:32:54,542 --> 00:32:57,500 and they're also starting to have the same symptoms 684 00:32:57,500 --> 00:33:00,125 that the Mongols did outside of the city. 685 00:33:00,125 --> 00:33:01,875 They are now writhing in pain 686 00:33:01,875 --> 00:33:04,083 and they realize, oh my God, 687 00:33:04,083 --> 00:33:06,958 we've got the same thing that they got. 688 00:33:08,250 --> 00:33:10,125 - [Dan] What the Genoese got 689 00:33:10,125 --> 00:33:13,167 is none other than one of the most infectious diseases. 690 00:33:14,042 --> 00:33:16,208 - The disease that Janibek 691 00:33:16,208 --> 00:33:18,833 and the Mongols have hit the Genoese with 692 00:33:18,833 --> 00:33:20,375 is the bubonic plague. 693 00:33:23,542 --> 00:33:25,042 - So Janibek Khan's original idea 694 00:33:25,042 --> 00:33:26,375 was to just stink these people out. 695 00:33:26,375 --> 00:33:28,250 But now he's realizing, oh my God, 696 00:33:28,250 --> 00:33:30,875 I can get them just as sick as my men. 697 00:33:30,875 --> 00:33:32,583 So the bodies keep coming over the wall. 698 00:33:32,583 --> 00:33:35,250 He has no shame in throwing these men, 699 00:33:35,250 --> 00:33:36,292 flinging them over the walls, 700 00:33:36,292 --> 00:33:38,292 just watching them explode on impact 701 00:33:38,292 --> 00:33:40,625 and getting these Genoese people sick. 702 00:33:40,625 --> 00:33:42,333 [suspenseful music] 703 00:33:42,333 --> 00:33:45,625 - The Black plague trebuchet is easily the weirdest example 704 00:33:45,625 --> 00:33:48,417 of biological weaponry in human history, 705 00:33:48,417 --> 00:33:51,750 and its impact will reach far beyond the walls of Caffa. 706 00:33:53,042 --> 00:33:55,833 - The Mongols retreat south of Caffa, 707 00:33:55,833 --> 00:33:59,208 and all the Genoese abandon the city, 708 00:33:59,208 --> 00:34:02,208 board boats towards Europe. 709 00:34:02,208 --> 00:34:06,375 And what they begin to do in their retreat 710 00:34:06,375 --> 00:34:09,125 is spread the black plague through Europe. 711 00:34:12,167 --> 00:34:13,417 - We can't say for certain 712 00:34:13,417 --> 00:34:15,625 that Mongols are solely responsible 713 00:34:15,625 --> 00:34:17,875 for this infamous pandemic. 714 00:34:17,875 --> 00:34:20,958 What we do learn is a valuable lesson, 715 00:34:20,958 --> 00:34:22,458 when launching hazardous ammunition, 716 00:34:22,458 --> 00:34:25,250 it's best to keep a safe distance, 717 00:34:25,250 --> 00:34:27,792 but centuries later, that gets a lot harder 718 00:34:27,792 --> 00:34:29,375 when the payload is nuclear. 719 00:34:30,542 --> 00:34:32,542 [bomb exploding] 720 00:34:32,542 --> 00:34:33,583 [gentle music] 721 00:34:33,583 --> 00:34:35,375 - At one of the peaks of the Cold War, 722 00:34:35,375 --> 00:34:38,625 the US Navy and the US Air Force are the two services 723 00:34:38,625 --> 00:34:41,292 leading the way in America's nuclear arsenal. 724 00:34:43,208 --> 00:34:44,708 But the Army wants to find some way 725 00:34:44,708 --> 00:34:47,708 to use nuclear devices in its own activities, 726 00:34:47,708 --> 00:34:49,542 notably in the field. 727 00:34:49,542 --> 00:34:52,542 - What if on the battlefield, a confrontation 728 00:34:52,542 --> 00:34:56,583 with Soviet Russia, we have a portable nuclear weapon? 729 00:34:56,583 --> 00:35:01,042 A nuclear bomb attached to the end of a bazooka? 730 00:35:02,042 --> 00:35:05,208 That is a battle winning idea. 731 00:35:05,208 --> 00:35:07,208 [video whooshing] 732 00:35:07,208 --> 00:35:09,042 - [Dan] They call it the Davy Crockett, 733 00:35:09,042 --> 00:35:11,167 and it packs a potent punch. 734 00:35:11,167 --> 00:35:13,208 - The Davy Crockett weapon system fires 735 00:35:13,208 --> 00:35:15,417 a 20 ton nuclear warhead. 736 00:35:15,417 --> 00:35:18,042 Anything in its immediate vicinity is gonna be reduced 737 00:35:18,042 --> 00:35:20,167 to ash, rubble. 738 00:35:20,167 --> 00:35:22,708 [bomb exploding] 739 00:35:22,708 --> 00:35:26,208 - It's great at eradicating your enemies. 740 00:35:26,208 --> 00:35:30,917 It's also great at eradicating your allies. 741 00:35:30,917 --> 00:35:32,333 - [Dan] Therein lies the king 742 00:35:32,333 --> 00:35:35,375 of the wild frontier's little problem. 743 00:35:35,375 --> 00:35:38,208 - It uses radioactive material, 744 00:35:38,208 --> 00:35:41,375 and the men who are deploying this device are going 745 00:35:41,375 --> 00:35:43,042 to be very close to it, 746 00:35:43,042 --> 00:35:45,417 so they're at risk of radiation poisoning. 747 00:35:45,417 --> 00:35:46,792 - What they actually tell them 748 00:35:46,792 --> 00:35:51,000 to do is safely fire the weapon, hide behind cover. 749 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,125 Don't look at the bright flash, get away 750 00:35:53,125 --> 00:35:54,500 as quickly as possible. 751 00:35:54,500 --> 00:35:57,292 That way you don't suffer from nuclear fallout. 752 00:35:57,292 --> 00:36:00,125 - [Dan] Believe it or not, friendly fire radiation 753 00:36:00,125 --> 00:36:02,417 isn't the only issue. 754 00:36:02,417 --> 00:36:07,042 - Deploying nuclear weapons on a battlefront 755 00:36:07,042 --> 00:36:10,750 is a guaranteed way to start an escalation 756 00:36:10,750 --> 00:36:12,292 to global nuclear war. 757 00:36:12,292 --> 00:36:15,333 It won't just stop with the Davy Crockett. 758 00:36:16,375 --> 00:36:18,917 - The army starts recalling the weapon. 759 00:36:18,917 --> 00:36:20,292 The official reason 760 00:36:20,292 --> 00:36:23,333 is that they are not accurate enough for combat. 761 00:36:23,333 --> 00:36:26,333 [bomb exploding] 762 00:36:27,750 --> 00:36:29,958 - Well, I think the threat of possibly ending civilization 763 00:36:29,958 --> 00:36:33,250 as we know it merits a change of pace. 764 00:36:37,083 --> 00:36:38,542 - There's no shortage 765 00:36:38,542 --> 00:36:40,875 of bizarre World War II weapons, from baseball grenades 766 00:36:40,875 --> 00:36:43,708 to a wind cannon that shoots puffs of air at the enemy. 767 00:36:43,708 --> 00:36:47,500 But these pale in comparison to one British engineer's idea 768 00:36:47,500 --> 00:36:50,167 to bounce the Nazis out of the war. 769 00:36:56,542 --> 00:36:59,417 - In World War II, Britain comes up with this idea 770 00:36:59,417 --> 00:37:02,542 to attack Germany within. 771 00:37:02,542 --> 00:37:04,792 We're gonna destroy their infrastructure. 772 00:37:04,792 --> 00:37:08,167 So the idea that they come up with is destroying dams. 773 00:37:08,167 --> 00:37:10,417 They will terrorize the population, 774 00:37:10,417 --> 00:37:13,250 but they'll also take out hydroelectric power, 775 00:37:13,250 --> 00:37:15,542 and it should have a negative impact 776 00:37:15,542 --> 00:37:18,083 on their manufacturing capacity. 777 00:37:18,083 --> 00:37:20,042 - An easy way to take out the dam 778 00:37:20,042 --> 00:37:22,333 would be to shoot a torpedo at it, 779 00:37:22,333 --> 00:37:25,458 but the Germans actually have torpedo nets. 780 00:37:25,458 --> 00:37:26,750 So that's off the table. 781 00:37:28,708 --> 00:37:32,125 - Dr. Barnes Wallace is an engineer, 782 00:37:32,125 --> 00:37:36,000 and he's got a plan to get something past the torpedo net 783 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:39,417 and below, which would ultimately cause them to fail. 784 00:37:39,417 --> 00:37:40,708 - [Dan] To Dr. Wallace, 785 00:37:40,708 --> 00:37:43,500 the answer is as easy as skipping stones. 786 00:37:44,875 --> 00:37:47,208 - You bounce the bomb across the surface of the water, 787 00:37:47,208 --> 00:37:50,042 it hits the dam, then drops down and explodes, 788 00:37:50,042 --> 00:37:53,917 and just the right point to create maximum damage. 789 00:37:53,917 --> 00:37:57,542 - But a key element is that the bombs must have back spin. 790 00:37:57,542 --> 00:38:00,375 So backs spin helps in several ways. 791 00:38:00,375 --> 00:38:03,542 One, it helps with the skipping off of the water, 792 00:38:03,542 --> 00:38:06,292 but also when it finally hits the wall of the dam, 793 00:38:06,292 --> 00:38:08,750 the back spin has the English effect, 794 00:38:08,750 --> 00:38:11,417 and it brings it down to the base of the dam, 795 00:38:11,417 --> 00:38:12,708 so it settles there. 796 00:38:14,042 --> 00:38:16,708 - [Dan] With no idea on how to create the backspin. 797 00:38:16,708 --> 00:38:19,667 Barnes Wallace does what many of us do when stumped at work. 798 00:38:20,417 --> 00:38:21,792 He hits the golf course. 799 00:38:23,208 --> 00:38:25,583 - He realizes something about the golf ball 800 00:38:25,583 --> 00:38:28,042 that may actually help with the bouncing bomb, 801 00:38:28,042 --> 00:38:31,917 and that is is that the golf ball has these dimples. 802 00:38:31,917 --> 00:38:34,625 - Because a golf ball, the way the dimples work on it, 803 00:38:34,625 --> 00:38:37,417 it actually helps create the backspin. 804 00:38:37,417 --> 00:38:40,042 - Barnes Wallace and his designers 805 00:38:40,042 --> 00:38:41,500 actually incorporate this 806 00:38:41,500 --> 00:38:43,833 into their bouncing bomb, even to the point 807 00:38:43,833 --> 00:38:45,958 where they're calling them the golf mines. 808 00:38:47,333 --> 00:38:49,875 - [Dan] By July of 1942, it's test time. 809 00:38:51,458 --> 00:38:54,125 Will Dr. Barnes Wallace's dimpled bomb have what it takes 810 00:38:54,125 --> 00:38:55,542 to take out a dam? 811 00:38:56,792 --> 00:38:59,458 - They find a place in Wales called Nant-y-Gro Dam, 812 00:38:59,458 --> 00:39:02,083 and that's where they first test the bouncing bomb. 813 00:39:02,083 --> 00:39:03,667 The RAF bomber takes off 814 00:39:03,667 --> 00:39:06,958 with the bouncing bomb slung underneath. 815 00:39:06,958 --> 00:39:11,417 You have to spin it at exactly the right speed, 500 RPM. 816 00:39:11,417 --> 00:39:15,083 You have to be exactly the right height over the water, 817 00:39:15,083 --> 00:39:17,500 60 feet, and you have to be traveling 818 00:39:17,500 --> 00:39:21,917 at exactly the right speed, 232 miles per hour. 819 00:39:21,917 --> 00:39:24,958 This is a very narrow window that these teams have to hit. 820 00:39:26,375 --> 00:39:29,792 - It skips across the river, hits the dam, sinks. 821 00:39:29,792 --> 00:39:31,958 90 seconds later, 822 00:39:31,958 --> 00:39:34,000 [bomb explodes] 823 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,542 the bomb works. 824 00:39:36,542 --> 00:39:38,625 - [Dan] The Confident Royal Air Force readies a fleet 825 00:39:38,625 --> 00:39:42,000 of bombers eager to bounce havoc on the Germans. 826 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,500 Enter the dam busters. 827 00:39:44,500 --> 00:39:47,625 - Just after midnight on May 17th, 1943, 828 00:39:47,625 --> 00:39:50,000 the dam busters go into action, 829 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:53,042 and the raid is led by a 24-year-old wing commander 830 00:39:53,042 --> 00:39:56,833 by the name of Guy Gibson, with 133 men from Britain 831 00:39:56,833 --> 00:40:00,167 and their allies flying in 19 bombers. 832 00:40:00,167 --> 00:40:01,417 The plan calls for them 833 00:40:01,417 --> 00:40:04,542 to hit three dams in Germany's Ruhr Valley, 834 00:40:04,542 --> 00:40:06,208 their industrial heartland. 835 00:40:06,208 --> 00:40:09,875 [suspenseful music] 836 00:40:09,875 --> 00:40:12,167 - Gibson is the first to release his bomb. 837 00:40:12,167 --> 00:40:15,125 It bounces three times on the surface of the water, 838 00:40:15,125 --> 00:40:16,792 but then falls short. 839 00:40:16,792 --> 00:40:19,917 One plane's bouncing bomb even bounces clean over the dam. 840 00:40:21,542 --> 00:40:24,458 The first four planes miss, the fifth plane coming in 841 00:40:24,458 --> 00:40:26,583 is Flight Lieutenant David Maltby. 842 00:40:26,583 --> 00:40:28,542 He's approaching the reservoir. 843 00:40:28,542 --> 00:40:30,500 Gibson circles back around 844 00:40:30,500 --> 00:40:32,833 so that he takes the fire on his plane 845 00:40:32,833 --> 00:40:35,250 so that Maltby can make it through, 846 00:40:35,250 --> 00:40:37,667 and Maltby releases his bouncing bomb. 847 00:40:38,375 --> 00:40:41,542 [suspenseful music] 848 00:40:42,625 --> 00:40:45,083 - And then suddenly the bomb explodes, 849 00:40:45,083 --> 00:40:46,458 concrete is crumbling. 850 00:40:46,458 --> 00:40:49,875 A huge column of water goes into the sky. 851 00:40:49,875 --> 00:40:52,375 Complete success. 852 00:40:52,375 --> 00:40:53,875 - [Dan] By the end of their mission, 853 00:40:53,875 --> 00:40:57,250 the dam busters take out two of the three targets, 854 00:40:57,250 --> 00:40:59,750 but they pay a high price. 855 00:40:59,750 --> 00:41:04,583 - Out of 133 men, 53 are killed on this raid. 856 00:41:04,583 --> 00:41:07,750 Three of them end up in the hands of the Germans, 857 00:41:07,750 --> 00:41:11,083 but the dam busters go down in history as one 858 00:41:11,083 --> 00:41:15,583 of the most legendary squadrons ever to take to the skies. 859 00:41:18,042 --> 00:41:19,542 [energetic music] 860 00:41:19,542 --> 00:41:21,792 - Whether it's handheld nukes or bomb dropping bats, 861 00:41:21,792 --> 00:41:25,042 these are not only the wildest weapons ever created. 862 00:41:25,042 --> 00:41:28,833 They are the very best of the unbelievable.