Damn Interesting • Operation Acoustic Kitty

#1 totoro!totoro! 22 August 2006 at 10:28 am

so the program was an “unadulterated failure”, was it? and it was abandoned? sure, that’s what they say… *eyes her pet cat suspiciously*

#2 HarleyHetz 22 August 2006 at 10:36 am

OK, was this a REAL cat they got killed, or a robot cat…and if it was a robot cat, how come it got hungry in the first place???

#3 rp2 22 August 2006 at 10:48 am

gg CIA.. you killed a cat

#4 le sacre 22 August 2006 at 10:56 am

huh. this reads like the lamest email forward hoax ever, but it’s apparently true, having been reported in the chigago sun times and on the bbc.

what’s the point of telling a cat, “ok cat, ONLY listen to those two guys on the bench!”? and how did they “override” the cat getting hungry?

#5 xircso 22 August 2006 at 10:58 am

…..There was a Soviet compound in Washington D.C. during that time? I guess that it was like an embassy…or a known spy hangout, speakeasy style?

And my cat does seem to listen more when I talk about sensitive government information…

#6 Haywood Jablome 22 August 2006 at 10:59 am

Yea really. I doubt the technology in the 1960’s could successfully create a cyborg cat and give it commands.

Override hunger – Failed

#7 Coherent 22 August 2006 at 11:08 am

I’ve seen this before. It’s hard to tell if it’s real or not. Some unanswered questions; why didn’t they just accoustically surveil the target? If it’s not visible, but cat-accessible, how did they train the cat to be attracted to the target site? Cats are extremely difficult to reliably train, and I imagine they would be even more so after the trauma of massively invasive surgery. Not to mention that once you actually train one to do a trick, THEN you’d have to modify that specific one. But “Victor Marchetti” mentions it as the other way around. Not to mention the ultrasophisticated neurosurgery trick of “putting in a wire” to make it ignore hunger.

I’d consider this a low confidence likelihood of truth.

#8 howlinhobbit 22 August 2006 at 11:39 am

I had to check my calendar to see if it was April 1st or something. This one just doesn’t ring true, for reasons mostly well cited in the previous comments.

#9 sbn56 22 August 2006 at 11:56 am

Poor kitty.

This is right in step with the fact that octopi are roughly on par with cats, intelligence wise. Of course, cats are also roughly on par with octopi. Trainable? Maybe. Manageable? Never.

#10 A-Train72 22 August 2006 at 12:05 pm

Cure for cancer? nah… End world hunger? nope…. HEY! lets spend 15 million dollars on a cyborg cat. Oh man that would be so cool.

#11 Greg Bjerg 22 August 2006 at 12:09 pm

Author’s Note:

First time I heard this story I thought, “This can’t be true. It must be an urban legend.”

Two things convinced me otherwise:

1. Collaborating material came from very good sources such as the BBC, George Washington University, and the Guardian in Britain. Never did I hear the word hoax associated with this story. When a story as widespread as this appears I look for discrediting information. (IE: I found such information regarding the infamous computer printer virus that took out Saddam’s air force). As for Victor Marchetti he has been a good source for news organizations on CIA background.

2. It seemed consistant with CIA oprations at the time, like the use of psychics, LSD, poisonous wet-suits, remote viewers and mind control attempts. The limited information on the operation was gained from a Freedom of Information Act (FOA) request in 2002.

There are several questions as to how many cats were used before they got the first trial example.

And if you think this is strange, consider that the British were considering using GERBELS to spot terrorists. That didn’t work either.

#12 anna k 22 August 2006 at 12:19 pm

I believe it, but what I find astounding is the fact that no one at CIA who had a lazy cat at home put up his hand and said, “You know, maybe this isn’t the best species to be training…”. Who doesn’t know that 99.9% of cats are complete jerks? And we love them for it, but we all know that it’s bad enough getting them not to shed on the sofa, let alone stalk Russians!

#13 zslp2 22 August 2006 at 12:20 pm

That reads like something Dr Evil would do in an Austin Powers movie…

#14 Oasx 22 August 2006 at 12:37 pm

Poor Kitty :(

#15 mHagarty 22 August 2006 at 01:40 pm

Man, this just doens’t have enough info to be “damn interesting!”

#16 noway 22 August 2006 at 01:50 pm

That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard a cat used for…remote controlled Frogger…”Woops, didn’t see that one coming!”

#17 bryon 22 August 2006 at 02:22 pm

So after the taxi driver “hit that pussy”, I wonder if he at least sent flowers..?

#18 openside 22 August 2006 at 03:12 pm

Hi all, long time reader, first time poster :-)

Man, this just doens’t have enough info to be “damn interesting!” – mHagarty

The above comment made me realise what I actually find most interesting about this site, and it’s not always the stories. Quite often it’s the comments.

This whole story gives credence to the “Work smarter not harder” ethos – I mean how hard was it to surgically alter a cat and train it to wander up to covert operatives – yet those same people let it loose on the other side of the road to where they wanted it to be??

I call BS – sorry Greg :-(

#19 j0e 22 August 2006 at 04:04 pm

Puurrrfect, it is just another example of the government hairballs coming up with ways to chase the catnip called power. Sounds like the perfect plan for a police state using people’s pets.

#20 Daniel Lew 22 August 2006 at 05:08 pm

In defense of Greg, he’s awesome.

Also, I would not lightly accuse us of putting forth false information, especially without any counter-evidence. We know how ridiculous some of our stories sound, and what scrutiny some of our readers put us under. None of us would put forth an article we had not researched, or believed only on our own intuition. I, myself, have occasionally been disappointed by finding that, after a few minutes of research, something that seems astounding very quickly become almost undoubtably false. Anyways, what seems crazy to us now may seem reasonable to people at the time (the world is flat. Any takers?).

#21 rk 22 August 2006 at 05:22 pm

kitty run over? what a cat tastrophy

#22 Sen.McCarthy 22 August 2006 at 05:32 pm

Yes…with $15 million of research, they never thought to release the cat so that he DOESN’T have to cross the street. Nevertheless, I’m adding “Cyborg Spy Cat” to my Christmas wish list.

#23 me09 22 August 2006 at 05:37 pm

15 MILLION?!?!

#24 openside 22 August 2006 at 06:02 pm

Daniel Lew said: “In defense of Greg, he’s awesome.

Also, I would not lightly accuse us of putting forth false information, especially without any counter-evidence. “

Sorry Greg/Daniel, I do not question your integrity for a second…I’m just struggling so hard to reconcile this in my own mind – it was your country’s *intelligence* agency after all.

#25 sierra_club_sux 22 August 2006 at 06:56 pm

And after the cat it was birds… …hence the UAV’s, easier to control and cheaper to build. Not nearly as fun as watching cats get flattened though. And crashed UAV’s won’t feed anyone…

#26 Damanda2 22 August 2006 at 07:33 pm

Yup, we’ll just drop off this cat and get back to headquarters. Go Buttons, GO! *watches intently.* NOoooooooooo BUUUTTTOOONSSSSS !!!!

#27 mrmonett 22 August 2006 at 08:18 pm

Cats can have a rough time some days. Here’s another one in trouble:

http://www.floppytaco.com/video_clips/catinafan.wmv

#28 Alpha Binary 22 August 2006 at 08:30 pm

It must have sucked, for that cat…

#29 Arcangel 22 August 2006 at 10:39 pm

Greg Bjerg says: 1. Collaborating material came from very good sources such as the BBC, George Washington University, and the Guardian in Britain. Never did I hear the word hoax associated with this story.

Well this wouldn’t be the first time in history that several news agencies were hoaxed on the same story. I can’t recall the fellows name but he would put out stories to see which news media picked it up and ran with it without verifying the story itself. Upon publication of the said story he would come forward and admit it was phoney. It’s called fact checking and research. Now I am in no way saying that this particular story is false but it wouldn’t surprise to find out later that it indeed was.

#30 fizban7 23 August 2006 at 12:03 am

Should have taken that 15 million and just asked to pay for the information. SAME RESULT!

#31 megzee 23 August 2006 at 01:17 am

Uhhhhhh…..DUH. I’ve been blessed *rolling eyes* with two wonderful kitties, and I have learned one imprtant thing….THEY NEVER LISTEN.

#32 Marius 23 August 2006 at 01:31 am

Coming soon from Loren Michaels Productions: Toonces the Spy!

#33 KeithLDick 23 August 2006 at 02:53 am

Meow….

I guess in those times, there was nothing “Any Nation” wouldn’t try to get the upper hand…

Not seeing any thing different these days either… hehehe

#34 mushyp 23 August 2006 at 03:39 am

What you’ve not mentioned is the KGB file entitled Operation Felicidal Taxi. I think you’ll find that particular project was much more successful

#35 Puppeto 23 August 2006 at 04:25 am

Soviet taxi 1, CIA cat 0.

I’m not surprised something like this did happen. The work that the military has done with dolphins in the past and currently is pretty amazing. Of course sometimes they serve as simple cannon fodder to find floating mines, but hey it’s still better than having one of your ships blown out of the water.

At least the soviets got it right with their suicidal bomb dogs and took out a few Nazi tanks during WW2 :). Still proof that the dog wins in the end.

#36 Dr. B. 23 August 2006 at 04:30 am

I have it from a reliable CIA source who must remain anonymous, that the Supervisory Agent who conceived and managed the Acoustic Kitty program was the father of the agent who told President Bush where all those WMDs were hidden.

Nepotism is beautiful.

#37 Melon Head 23 August 2006 at 04:54 am

I suppose the taxi driver was a bird?

I have a difficult time believing this story.
Why would they let the cat out on the other side of the street while traffic was on it?
Heeeeere’s your sign.

#38 irea6242 23 August 2006 at 05:39 am

I don’t understand why they didn’t simply try with a DOG?

Okay, so maybe a dog following you around like it wanted a sausage could have become suspicious after a while, but what agent in their right mind would have believed it was the CIA in there??

(plus, they would have left the poor cats alone!)

#39 denki 23 August 2006 at 06:35 am

A-Train72 said: “Cure for cancer? nah… End world hunger? nope…. HEY! lets spend 15 million dollars on a cyborg cat. Oh man that would be so cool.”

You know what would be cooler? TWO CYBORG CATS! I’m sure that with our technological advances we could make a few hundred on that budget…

So wait, a cat got more budget thrown at it than a man? A certain six million dollar man? Does this mean that if his project had gotten 15 million dollars put into it, he’d just get hit by a taxi on the first day of the job too?
“OK Steve, when we open the van door, go across the street and…no, Steve, NO! Put down the toy mouse!”
Actually, that would rock. Two spies are sitting down and having a chat on a park bench when some middle-aged guy wearing a red tracksuit just comes up and stands there…doesn’t say anything, just stands…maybe staring at them, or off into the distance, with a baby-like smile on his face. Maybe purrs a little. Then just leaves once he gets hungry.
“{Hey, was that guy a spy?}” “{Nah, I think he’s just retarded or something…}”

This story reminded me of when the Furby was banned from government offices due to the fact that it could record and regurgitate voices/things it heard. Sigh…I guess furry things just don’t belong in the world of espionage.

#40 HarleyHetz 23 August 2006 at 06:45 am

Yea, the antennea in the tail is a bit much too…I don’t wish to discredit the author, or the site administrators, but I call BS on this one. Sorry guys.

#41 just_dave 23 August 2006 at 06:45 am

I had read about an experiment where a cockroach was able to be fitted with a remote control device wired into it’s brain, allowing it to be steered and moved forward & backward. Too bad that wasn’t around when they were trying to get this cat thing going.

#42 Alan Bellows 23 August 2006 at 08:21 am

If anyone can find any evidence that this story is not true (aside from “doubt”), please post it! If something appears which triggers serious questions about its accuracy, we’ll gladly tack a message to this article stating as much. We’re pretty careful about accuracy, and all of our research has indicated that this story is true; but as others have said, large-scale dupes have occurred before.

Something to consider in the meantime is that both the US and the USSR had gobs of bizarre programs at the height of the Cold War, such as the use of psychics to remote-view or kill enemies, and the MKULTRA experiments with LSD. In comparison to some other confirmed strangeness from that era, this one is a featherweight.

#43 Matt Apple 23 August 2006 at 10:16 am

We can rebuild him, we have the technology.

But seriously wouldn’t a listening device inside a cat be drowned out by all that purring? My cat’s purring is loud from the outside, I can only imagine what it must sound like from the inside!

#44 Griffin 23 August 2006 at 10:35 am

I would say that this story is from the F.O.I.A. and thus the information is accurate to a point. But keep in mind this is the C.I.A. So we know one fact for sure. “Nothing is as it seems”.

Since they are very diliberate in disseminating information and they have specific reasons for letting some information out. You can be pretty sure that this project was proposed and attempted if for no other reason that to distract from the real program, or to take the funds and channel them elsewhere. They may have also wanted to work on the minds of the targets and implant the idea that all animals, not just cats, could be used to eavesdrop on them. Thus forcing the KGB or other hostile targets to divert funds to detect such activities. Can you imagine if this information was leaked to the KGB? Maybe this was some operatives clever idea of a joke. They wanted to see who was looking at cats? So, the information is no doubt true, but I seriously doubt that the objective was true.

#45 ToDance4Ever 23 August 2006 at 02:29 pm

This story does seem pretty outrageous. Whether it be true or not, this story is pretty damn interesting to me.

I personally am not a huge cat fan. But I can see why the CIA chose to use a cat instead of a different(smarter) animal such as a dog….Cats are less obvious and less suspicious looking. They can creep up to somebody and that person wouldn’t even know. I know I have been scared by my aunt’s cat once too many times when I would find it lying next to me all of a sudden and I thought it was a huge rat.

I do agree that the CIA should have known that this plan of theirs was not going to work. I mean…they were using a cat!

That money could have been used for better or other purposes such as world poverty. But thats just my opinion.

#46 Melon Head 23 August 2006 at 04:55 pm

Suppose it is true

It would have been a very ill-conceived plan.
Maybe it cost so much because it was a false trail for all that money.
It sounds cockamamy (spelling?) enough that one would feel silly for taking it seriously enough to question it.
Someone lined his or her pockets.

#47 PRiME 23 August 2006 at 10:01 pm

Excuse me com-rad but is your pussy cats eyes glowing red, and what is with that antenna dish coming out of its arse???

I would believe it, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried it on human subjects as well. Someone should check into that, the million dollar man. erm well back in the days when cyborgs were cheap that is! :)

#48 Griffin 24 August 2006 at 08:53 am

I would also point out that the public budget (which is classified) for the Company, is the only one where any F.O.I.A. requests are fielded. Any program inside that venue is of no interest to the Company. It’s something for the politicians. The more the public thinks the Company is involved in money wasting and silly programs, the more it serves their purposes. You’ll see why if you think about it.

#49 Melon Head 24 August 2006 at 10:36 am

Show me $15 million and I’ll show you a lot of nice furniture

#50 Chris 24 August 2006 at 11:14 am

“The agency considered using exploding cigars or seashells to remove Cuban leader Fidel Castro”

OK, we wasted 15 million (dang…..FIFTEEN 1960’s MILLION DOLLARS and a cat. THEN they determine the project was a failure. Exploding cigars?? Seashells?? So, what can we believe is a project that was successful? We’ll probably never know for sure about the successful ones because they’re still using or purrfecting. All factors were considered…….except for the taxi. It’s amazing how some of these concepts can be sold with conviction!

#51 orpple 24 August 2006 at 03:08 pm

The failure to complete the mission can be directed at the operative (human) who should have properly briefed the agent (spykitty) properly. Considering all that had been done to spykitty, a snort of catnip, maybe a mouse tossed in the direction of the Evil Russians would have helped. Did anyone check to see if the Cab driver was a U.S. citizen? Those pesky Ruskies were everywhere ya know.

#52 Kafka 25 August 2006 at 07:28 pm

I think that all they did was to put a listen device in a cat and place it in areas where it could gather intelligence. Governments have long used animals for their own devices. In WW2, the Soviets used exploding dogs to try to destroy German tanks. Pretty cruel.

I think that the story has been somewhat exaggerated (You can’t put wires in to cure hunger), but I don’t doubt that any number of governments have tried to use this technique. What they should have done was use a Bugged Turtle. It’s small, it’s tough and it doesn’t move very fast, or very much at all. But then again, turtles look suspicious.

#53 murkurie 25 August 2006 at 08:25 pm

So why can’t they just “put in a wire” to override it when I get hungry? It could be a lot less expensive than metabolic surgery such as gastric bypass and the like. Hmmmm….

#54 cornerpocket 26 August 2006 at 09:07 pm

The scarey part is that the isolation and arrogance and ill-guidedness of this fiasco of an enterprise is STILL out there, but the technology and whatnot is vastly superior nowadays. What hairbrained stunts are being funded even now as we ponder THIS one? What will DamnInteresting be telling us in 25 years when the Freedom of Information allows 2006 to be scanned for preposterous CIA projects. Obviously there are no consequences for such predictably futile wastes of money and efforts.

#55 mensadave 27 August 2006 at 05:11 am

Last night (8/26-27) Art Bell did a short segment detailing the story of Acoustic Kitty, and today one of the local papers (Tonawanda, NY) had a brief article on Kittinger. Coincidence? You be the judge.

#56 siusaidh 28 August 2006 at 07:17 pm

How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven. – Robert A. Heinlein

#57 Gizmo The Cat? 29 August 2006 at 03:09 pm

rp2 said: “gg CIA.. you killed a cat”

I hope it wasn’t a cute cat… :(

mensadave said: “Last night (8/26-27) Art Bell did a short segment detailing the story of Acoustic Kitty, and today one of the local papers (Tonawanda, NY) had a brief article on Kittinger. Coincidence? You be the judge.”

Is there a link to the artucle? And do thy mention this on thw Coast To Coast AM website?

#58 Kao_Valin 02 November 2006 at 12:21 pm

Well dogs are man’s best friend. I mean really, would you rather kill that stuck up cat, or your best friend? That’s what I thought :). A 15 million dollar conspiracy to execute Mr Bigglesworth.

#59 vonmeth 18 November 2006 at 11:33 pm

Lol. Am I the only one that busted out laughing when cat got hit by the car? I mean I love animals and all (Vet here) but … seriously, that is a great punchline ;)

#60 Codog 16 December 2006 at 03:23 am

I know what you mean vonmeth!!

#61 Entropy462 27 December 2006 at 12:31 pm

vonmeth said: “Lol. Am I the only one that busted out laughing when cat got hit by the car? I mean I love animals and all (Vet here) but … seriously, that is a great punchline ;)”

lol … it’s like a bad sitcom

#62 thatonegirl 27 December 2006 at 10:54 pm

sigh…..the more things i read about the CIA, the more twitchy i get about our “intelligence” agency, especially during the Cold War era.
yay, American ingenuity at its….weirdest?

#63 onomatopoeia 29 January 2007 at 10:57 pm

I feel kind of evil because when it said ‘The cat ambled into the road, and was struck by a taxi almost immediately.’ I smiled…

#64 DaveyFiskars 02 February 2007 at 07:40 pm

Huge cat lover, still laughed imagining the reactions of these clandestine CIA agents as their 15 million dollar cat trots away from the car (and just try to tell me that ANY cat having undergone umpteen surgeries would have returned to his handlers) only to be struck by a vehicle.

Reminds me of the story of the two arctic seals after the Juan-Valdez oil spill. The Alaskan/Canadian/some damn government spent something like $2 million and months cleaning and rehabilitating these seals. When the time came to release them into the wild, reporters and camera crews, the whole friggen media turned out to watch these seals as they were reintroduced to the wild. Each one waddled into the surf, only to be eaten by a killer whale not 45 seconds later. There’s video of it somewhere.

#65 blenderhead 25 February 2007 at 11:10 am

i would have loved to see the faces of the observers when they saw their kitty get turned into a pulp… hey should have put a self destruct device into the cat. imagine the taxi drivers face when he hit the cat and it exploded?

#66 dennis 28 July 2007 at 07:57 pm

The article states:………”they employed psychics to attempt “remote viewing” of Russian military secrets; and the CIA even put the Soviets on the business ends of clairvoyant minds to attempt mind-control.”……….Psychics, remote viewing, clairvoyant, etc……is not scientific,…….it is of the (evil) spirit-world (fallen angels, demons). The Old Testament and the New Testament (Bible) forbids us to contact the evil-spirit-world. Dave Hunt (Bend, Oregon) is famous for researching and explaining this stuff. Read his books.

For example,……..dousing (water-witching) is divination (the obtaining of info from the evil-spirit-world), and the Bible forbids us to do divination.
In the Exodus, Pharoah’s magicians were occultists , and they were able (by satanic power) to duplicate some of Moses’s miracles. But God’s miracles defeated satan’s miracles.
See also Acts 19;19, Acts 16;16.

#67 onbelay1 15 August 2007 at 06:58 pm

“After several surgeries and intensive training, the cyborg cat was ready for its first field test. The CIA drove the cat to a Soviet compound on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C., and let him out of a parked van across the street. The cat ambled into the road, and was struck by a taxi almost immediately.”

I cracked up at this. It would make a great comic strip.
On a more serious note, how on earth do the CIA not foresee something like the cat getting hit by a vehicle? After all, they spent five years and 15 million dollars testing. Intelligence must have been in short supply back in the 60’s.