1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,600 Speaker 1: Hey guys, Steve here, you are listening to one of 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: our original twenty six episodes. If you listen to any 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: of our new episodes, you're gonna notice that we're sounding 4 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:11,639 Speaker 1: a little different in these ones. Yeah, there's a reason 5 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: for that. There is they've been remastered. They have been 6 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: remastered because they had a really annoying hum. Yeah, I 7 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 1: mean a huge thanks to listener James for doing almost 8 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: all of the legwork on this thing. They'll also notice 9 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: if you had listened to what we're calling the last 10 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,639 Speaker 1: twenty six episodes before and you're re listening now, the 11 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:33,160 Speaker 1: music and sound effects are gone. Yes, we've we've gone 12 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: back to straight audio, so be warned. We sound a 13 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: little different today than we do in what you're about 14 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:49,560 Speaker 1: to listen to. Yeah, bye bye, Thinking Sideways. I don't 15 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: think you never know what stories of things we simply 16 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: don't know the answer too. Well. Hi there, and welcome 17 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:09,759 Speaker 1: back to Thinking Sideways the podcast. I am Steve, and we, 18 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:12,039 Speaker 1: as always are going to get into a story that 19 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: doesn't quite have an answer and try and figure it 20 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: out because Joe loves to solve them. Oh yeah, we'll 21 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 1: solve this one for sure. Okay, all right, good. Well, 22 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: let's let's hop right into the story. I'm not gonna 23 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: tell you what it is quite yet. I want to 24 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: set the stage. So it's nineteen fifty and we're in Germany. 25 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: I better stop talking then. Huh no, no, it's okay, okay, 26 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 1: uh and uh it's a nice sunny day. It's May. 27 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:46,040 Speaker 1: And wait do you hear that? Yeah? What was that? 28 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: That is a US airplane flying over the field that 29 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: we're standing in. Okay, okay, because we're in Germany in 30 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties, which means that it is now an 31 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: occupied territory. Pretty normal, pretty normal, which makes sense. Well, 32 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: there's a problem though with this, and that is what 33 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: happened supposedly within days of this particular plane, or any 34 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,920 Speaker 1: plane flying over this field, and that is the appearance 35 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: of the potato beetle. Not just any potato Beetlelorado, the 36 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: Colorado potatoe. You are absolutely correct, sir. So here's what 37 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: the story is, ladies and gentlemen. According to the accounts, 38 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,399 Speaker 1: and this is one specifically, it was the twenty third 39 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: of May, and a farmer by the name of Max 40 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: Trevor had noticed American planes flying over his fields. He's 41 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: in East Germany, and the next morning, according again to 42 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: his account, he was shocked to discover that his fields 43 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: of potatoes were full of potato beetles, not just any 44 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,639 Speaker 1: potato beetle, the Colorado potato beetle, which ladies and gentlemen, 45 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: if you don't know anything about the beetle, and we'll 46 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: get into some details on it, but it's pretty devastating 47 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: for potato crops. So this is like the German Irish 48 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: potato famine essentially. Yes, if you actually try and put 49 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: that in into the Irish potato famine always comes up, 50 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: which makes this difficult unless you know what to look for. 51 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: So here's what's going on is, after these planes go 52 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: by and all these farmers are reporting that there's Colorado 53 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: potato beetles all over their fields, the East German press 54 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: goes nuts with it. The politicians are making speeches. They 55 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: are accusing the US of having dropped all of these 56 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: potato beetles on their crops. And I'm guessing that this 57 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: propaganda campaign that came from it is that they're saying, well, 58 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: the Americans are trying to cut down our food supply 59 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: and therefore take us over. Those imperialists yeah, I'm sure 60 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,119 Speaker 1: the people of East Germany were really really scared about 61 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: the possibility that, you know, we spoot the Russians out. Uh. Well, 62 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: like I said, there was a giant propaganda campaign that 63 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: came up from this. Uh. There were posters, little leaflets, 64 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: bits on the radio speeches. As I said, they were 65 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: going crazy talking about this sudden infestation and how it 66 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: was the fault of the Americans. They actually nicknamed the 67 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: Colorado potato beetle I'm a coffer, which I understand translated 68 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,280 Speaker 1: is Yankee beetle. Is that correct? Yes, yes, that's correct. 69 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: So what happens is children are at the end of 70 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: their school days not allowed to just go home. They 71 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 1: actually have to go out to the fields and go 72 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,800 Speaker 1: through the crops and try and pick up as many 73 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: potato beetles as possible. That's the real tragedy from this, right, 74 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: is we're losing homework time. Yeah, yeah, that's that's exactly 75 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: what I was thrilled. It was the long game of Americans, right, 76 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: we were trying to make the Germans stupid by like 77 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: just taking out all of the homework time for you. Yeah, 78 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: there are accounts that these children, some didn't really care 79 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: some believed it. Girls evidently were really squeamish about touching 80 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: these beetles, and from the accounts, they would get twenty 81 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: beetles in afternoon each and then put them into glass 82 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 1: bottles and they'd be shipped off to be destroyed. I 83 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: read one account. It was an interview with a boy 84 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 1: who had been going out to the fields and he said, yeah, 85 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: I don't really believe that the Americans are dropping these, 86 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: but you know you have to pick them off anyway, 87 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: said so I got to do it. Yeah. I was like, 88 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,039 Speaker 1: you know, if you're living a country that doesn't have 89 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: any pesticides to speak of, you know, and you've got 90 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 1: to do something if you want to eat yea, yeah, yeah, 91 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: kept having your crops destroyed. No, no, because you've gotta 92 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:01,359 Speaker 1: you gotta understand. The potato evidently was a main crop 93 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:05,159 Speaker 1: for the German people. That was a main food source, 94 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: especially right after World War two. Exactly Again, you gotta 95 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: remember what what the era is. There's you know, things 96 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,920 Speaker 1: have been destroyed. Kind of hard time Twitter a lot 97 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: of people are times you're trying to get back on 98 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: your feet. You you grow whatever food you can, and 99 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: potatoes grow and they are hearty. They are a hearty 100 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 1: little thing and at them too. That one might be 101 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: one reason why there was such a scarcity potatoes, because 102 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: there's a quote here from somebody who recalls sharing a 103 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: single potato between herself and her mom and dad for breakfast. 104 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: So it probably wasn't just a potato beetles. Probably was 105 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: a Soviet carting away half the potato crop to make 106 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: parka back. Yeah. Maybe. Well what comes out of this 107 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: is that nearly half of the crops for in nineteen 108 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: fifty were destroyed in East Germany by the Colorado potato beetle. Yeah. 109 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: That that's a huge reduction in available food crops, which 110 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: is not a good thing, especially if it's a staple. Yes, yeah, 111 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 1: it's it's the main it's one of those main staples. Uh. So, 112 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: like I said, in the beginning, the Germans were blaming 113 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: the US for dropping the beetles on them. The US, 114 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: of course was saying, no, we didn't do it. It 115 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: wasn't us. Uh. And we're going to get into the 116 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: theories about what's going on, and you know, why is 117 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: this invasive species suddenly there It actually had been in 118 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: the year before. Yes, yeah, And we're gonna go there. 119 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: But I do want to talk about the beetle a 120 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 1: little bit because, okay, we hear about the beetle, you 121 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: don't really have a lot of context. So I just 122 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: want to give some background on this particular little bug. So, 123 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:55,679 Speaker 1: the Colorado potato beetle is very prolific. A female can 124 00:07:55,800 --> 00:08:03,239 Speaker 1: lay about eight hundred eggs in no, yes, insect birth 125 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: things freak me out as a woman. Um, So, their 126 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: eggs are only about a millimeter, they're really small. They 127 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: lay them in I guess bunches of twenty to thirty 128 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: at a time on the bottom of leaves, so they're 129 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: not easy to spot because if you've ever seen a 130 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: potato leaf, they have lots. They're just covered in them. 131 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: So you can imagine every one of those covered in 132 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: eggs on the bottom. That's a lot of leaves to 133 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 1: turn over. And basically what happens is they hatch and 134 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: those hatchlings immediately begin to eat the leaves. They do 135 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: what's called skeletonizing, where they basically eat all of the 136 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: leafy matter and you just get left with the veins 137 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 1: of the leaf. That reminds me about every other shrub 138 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: in my yard. And then eventually they go on to it. 139 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: Through their life cycle, they pupate, they turn into a larva, 140 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:01,439 Speaker 1: which goes underground out and then they come back up 141 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: and they're an adult, at which point they're eating again, 142 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: and they're eating the leaves again and laying eggs and 143 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: laying eggs. And the hard part about the larva is 144 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:15,440 Speaker 1: they will do what's called dia pause I believe it's 145 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: how you pronounce it, which basically means if the conditions 146 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,680 Speaker 1: aren't right, they'll just stay essentially in hibernation in the 147 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: ground and then wait till it's nice to come out again. 148 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: That's the worst. So you're thinking it's a cold snap. Yeah, 149 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:31,559 Speaker 1: they're all gonna go away. No, they just come right back. 150 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:34,680 Speaker 1: I feel like mosquitoes do that too. Yeah. But anyway, 151 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:39,079 Speaker 1: the Colorado potato petle can go through up to three 152 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: generations in a season, So that is a lot of 153 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: little bugs. Yeah. Well, I certainly think that if it's 154 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 1: possible that we rounded them all up from over here 155 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 1: and dump them over there just to get rid of them. 156 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: Uh yeah, well that could be. Yeah. Well so that's 157 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:00,079 Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's the multiplication of those is just 158 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: like it's amazing, it's astounding, especially if you don't have 159 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:06,439 Speaker 1: anything that's really eating them. No natural predators in that area, 160 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: no pesticides. It's the best you can do with school 161 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,720 Speaker 1: aged kids picking off the beetles. They can see, you know, 162 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: you think of you know, you drop eight hundred right, 163 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: and each you know, four hundred of those are females, 164 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: and they each lay eight hundred eggs every what month? Essentially, 165 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: I can't do that math in my head, but I mean, 166 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: you know, easily millions really really soon. Yeah, And they're 167 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 1: very recognizable. They they're a very distinct little beetle. They 168 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: they're I believe also referred to as the ten striped 169 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:43,480 Speaker 1: beetle because they have they're kind of yellowish orange and 170 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:47,079 Speaker 1: they have ten brown stripes across the Okay, actually, yeah, 171 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: I know what you're talking about. Got a decent size 172 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:52,560 Speaker 1: about all. Excuse me, AI, Yeah, they've got a little 173 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:55,680 Speaker 1: bug at all. They've got some size to them. Um. 174 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: And here's just here's a couple of facts that we 175 00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:00,920 Speaker 1: talked about. How many they can the eggs. The female 176 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: will lay a single larva and again this is just 177 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:07,439 Speaker 1: hammering the point home on how much they can devour, 178 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: will eat forty square centimeters of a leaf of leaf 179 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 1: in a day's okay, that's a lot of area. Yeah, 180 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: And the other hard part about the beetle is it 181 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: is extremely resistant to insecticides, meaning that they're they're very 182 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:31,400 Speaker 1: good at adapting. So for a couple of generations or 183 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: a couple of years, you might wipe them out with 184 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:36,240 Speaker 1: one poison, but then they're gonna they're gonna adapt to it, 185 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: and suddenly you gotta find something else. Do they only 186 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 1: eat the one the potato plant, the one kind of 187 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: potato plant. No, they will eat potatoes, cucumbers, there's something 188 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 1: else that I can't think of at the moment. They 189 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: do several crops, but their favorite is potato. So it's 190 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 1: not like you could just rip out this one breed 191 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:55,960 Speaker 1: of potato and plant a different kind. It's yeah, you 192 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:58,200 Speaker 1: think about it, it's not the potatoes are eating leaves, 193 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:01,559 Speaker 1: So yeah, it would be pretty hard to switch plants 194 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: like that. Yeah, but I think I think they actually 195 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 1: had some success with DDT, and then unfortunately a DDT 196 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 1: resistance strand of the beetle turned up. Yeahs as it 197 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: always does that way. Yeah, So let's go ahead and 198 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: let's hop into some theories how the beetle got there 199 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,840 Speaker 1: or what the deal is. So we will go ahead 200 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: and take the bull by the horns and we will 201 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 1: take on the popular theory, which is that the US 202 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: did it. The potato beetle is known to have made 203 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 1: its way into Germany in the past. I believe it 204 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:41,000 Speaker 1: was in the late eighteen hundreds. There was a outbreak, 205 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:44,720 Speaker 1: but it was contained. They were all destroyed. But the 206 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: potato beetle was in England. They were known to be 207 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 1: in parts of France, so it wasn't as if it 208 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,839 Speaker 1: had never been on the European continent. But if we're 209 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: gonna go ahead and say that the U s did it, 210 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 1: here is some of the facts. We're saying the US 211 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,600 Speaker 1: intentionally did it. Yes, that that it was an intentionally 212 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 1: essentially biological warfare is what we're looking at. But we're 213 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:14,320 Speaker 1: gonna say this is an early biological warfare program. Uh So, 214 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:19,320 Speaker 1: some things that did come up is that in that 215 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 1: region of the world, the potato beetle normally makes its 216 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:28,520 Speaker 1: first appearance mid July about that these fully grown adults 217 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:32,640 Speaker 1: were appearing in May, in mid to late May, so 218 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 1: that's a full two months early. There also were no 219 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: signs of larva. So it was just suddenly we have 220 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 1: a bunch of adults scrambling around, which if they were 221 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: going to go through their life cycle, you would think 222 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:49,080 Speaker 1: there would have been signs of larva in the area. 223 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:52,600 Speaker 1: Don't the larva bury themselves? Well, the larva of first 224 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 1: eat the plants and then dig down and heighten the 225 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,960 Speaker 1: soil to emerge as an adult. So theoretically there should 226 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: have been some larga of the signs. Yeah, but there 227 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:05,120 Speaker 1: were none. Well about that when the larva emerged from 228 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: the soil that they changed into beetles. At this point, yes, 229 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: they go through four stages. The larva, I believe is 230 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,439 Speaker 1: the second stage, so there's egg larva. There's a third 231 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 1: stage where they don't eat pupa pupais, yes, and the 232 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: pupa and then a pupage, and then there's the fourth stage, 233 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: which is adulthood. There are some places though at that time, 234 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: the potato beetles were showing up where they shouldn't have Well, 235 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: don't they always show uphere they shouldn't be. Yeah, let's see. 236 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: So in sweek out the beetles were found in the 237 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 1: square in front of the rail station, which doesn't have 238 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: any potatoes. Well, maybe the Americans put them on a train, 239 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: maybe at a near a damn in Sosa. They were 240 00:14:55,760 --> 00:15:00,880 Speaker 1: discovered in bathtubs inside of houses. The you're kind of 241 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 1: weird places for a beetle that normally would go after 242 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:06,800 Speaker 1: a plant to appear. Yeah, but it's also a weird 243 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: place to get air dropped into. This is very train 244 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: air dropping into. Yeah, there's that. And also, you know, 245 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 1: bugs are kind of stupid that way, you know, they 246 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: just show up in the darkness places. I mean it's like, uh, 247 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: you know, a lot of a lot of this stuff 248 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: got introduced to Europe to just shipments of food from 249 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 1: like America Center and then and then between European countries 250 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: and stuff. So if if they're infesting a shipment of 251 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 1: food that's being shipped by rail, it wouldn't be that 252 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: unusual to see one in front of a rail station. 253 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: That's very plausible, absolutely, And that's the first thing I 254 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: thought when I saw the rail station. But then at 255 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: this damn, it seemed a little weird that they're crawling 256 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,240 Speaker 1: around on the firewood in the house and the tub. 257 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: But then again, they might have been a swarm of 258 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 1: them that just moved into the area. It's hard to 259 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 1: tell a lot of comcrete facts. The railroad tracks might 260 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 1: run right past the house and the damn. I mean, 261 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: here's here's another thing that came up, and I found 262 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: this in one place, so I can't say how reliable 263 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: this is. But there is information that says that a 264 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 1: leaked report from an American investigative committee was discussing the 265 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 1: bad tactics and insufficient preparation of the toll as an 266 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 1: entire potato beetle campaign, and they were criticizing the fact 267 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: that the spreading of the beatles over the German Democratic 268 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 1: Republic had not followed the distribution plan. Okay, this is 269 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: supposedly an official leaked report from an American investigative committee. 270 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: From what, I don't know. That's the hard part. I 271 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,920 Speaker 1: couldn't find it anywhere else. Everything I looked for when 272 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: it didn't surface anywhere else, So I don't know how 273 00:16:53,800 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 1: strong that claim is. Another bit in the Americans did 274 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:05,640 Speaker 1: it theory intentionally? Did it? Is? There is information out 275 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:09,919 Speaker 1: there about a chemical which is referred to at the 276 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: time as E eight three eight, which was a new 277 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:19,679 Speaker 1: pesticide which was being marketed to take care of the 278 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,720 Speaker 1: potato bile. So it makes sense according to this theory 279 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,440 Speaker 1: that what you do is, if you want to get 280 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:28,480 Speaker 1: the German people under your thumb, and you want to 281 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:31,639 Speaker 1: make them depend on this pesticide and have to purchase 282 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:35,200 Speaker 1: it from you, go ahead and introduced the pest. Then 283 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,160 Speaker 1: they have no choice but to turn around and buy 284 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 1: the product from you to protect their fields and the crops. 285 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:48,640 Speaker 1: I didn't mean, yeah, well, no, there there was giant 286 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:54,159 Speaker 1: campaigns of pesticides being put on the fields. I've watched 287 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,159 Speaker 1: some of the old propaganda films and they are driving 288 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: up and down with tractors and guys using gas and 289 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 1: helping into the ground and spraying it everywhere. What they're 290 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:06,720 Speaker 1: spraying I have no idea because it doesn't say obviously 291 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:09,440 Speaker 1: it's a three minute propaganda movie. It probably made the 292 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: potatoes really healthy too. Yeah, I guess that might have 293 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 1: been the trick, right, You introduced the Beatles to kill 294 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:22,720 Speaker 1: off half the supply, and then you get the Germans 295 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: to poison the rest. You're just done so so in 296 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:31,920 Speaker 1: other way said under the heading of the Americans done it. 297 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,080 Speaker 1: There's one the American government done it, and another one 298 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 1: is that Western capitalist companies did it. Yeah, Essentially, I'm 299 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:41,920 Speaker 1: lumping them all under the Americans, whether it's the American 300 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 1: government or American companies or collaborations. I'm kind of just 301 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: putting it all into that umbrella. You can kind of 302 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: assume that, you know, at that point in time, a 303 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 1: big enough American corporation could say, Hey, the US government, 304 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:59,120 Speaker 1: I have this idea, you're gonna that you're gonna want it. 305 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: Then it could just be like there at that point. Yeah, 306 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:07,640 Speaker 1: which is easily conceivable because it did happen, and there's 307 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 1: all kinds of antitrust things that came out in the 308 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 1: in that era, so very easily could have happened. But 309 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:15,880 Speaker 1: another thing about it is is if you really want 310 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:19,040 Speaker 1: to push your chemical, your chemical, and you really want 311 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 1: to make some money, you probably want to do it 312 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:23,439 Speaker 1: to a bunch of farmers in the country that actually 313 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 1: has some money. And East Germany really didn't have any money, No, 314 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 1: it really did. But the biggest hole in the whole 315 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:33,919 Speaker 1: idea that American warplanes dumped all these beetles is like 316 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: these farmers that discovered all these beetles suddenly in their fields, 317 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:41,160 Speaker 1: wouldn't they have also found thousands of tiny little parachutes. Yeah, 318 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 1: because after all, you can't just dumped the beat. They'll say, 319 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:50,320 Speaker 1: well the plot up to their desks. You are amazing, 320 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:55,400 Speaker 1: You're absolutely amazing. That's that's the best mental image I've 321 00:19:55,400 --> 00:20:02,080 Speaker 1: had all day. Okay, we're are you here? On that note, 322 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 1: which is that the Germans did it to themselves? Yeah, 323 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: and and this is the most obvious thing because they're 324 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:11,560 Speaker 1: the communist countries. I mean, you don't really need to 325 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 1: do any work to get them to have like crop 326 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: failures and famines. They just kind of do it to themselves. 327 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: I guess that. I yeah, it makes sense to me. 328 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:23,200 Speaker 1: Well here's here's there's there's actually some documentation on why 329 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:25,679 Speaker 1: this could very well be. And I kind of I 330 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:27,640 Speaker 1: kind of fall in the same campus, Joe. I kind 331 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: of think that part of the problem was that they 332 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: did it themselves. But yeah, I think you know, you 333 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:35,639 Speaker 1: you are in a place where you know your people 334 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:39,320 Speaker 1: kind of hate a place like the United States, but 335 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,879 Speaker 1: don't totally hate them yet. So maybe you self sabotage 336 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: a little bit and say, look at what these horrible 337 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: Americans are doing to us, or more likely and more likely, 338 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:52,000 Speaker 1: the sabotage them selves to share incompetence. Let's holl back 339 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,120 Speaker 1: the clock. Though, let's roll back the clock ten years. 340 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: This theory, we have to step back in time even farther, 341 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: so we're gonna go to nineteen forty. Germany has invaded France, 342 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: so they taken over. They're investigating anything that they think 343 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: is important in terms of industry, capital, you name it. Research. 344 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:15,240 Speaker 1: They want to find out what it is so that 345 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 1: they have an idea of what all their allies are 346 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: up to. Well, the German military was investigating the le 347 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 1: Bouche research facilities. During that investigation, going through all their paperwork, 348 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: they found paperwork that was linking intentions of the French 349 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,399 Speaker 1: and the English to go in together and basically dump 350 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: potato beetles on Germany to slow down their war effort. 351 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:46,960 Speaker 1: If you think about it, you've got a giant war machine, 352 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,119 Speaker 1: you need tons of tons of food. That's not a 353 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,119 Speaker 1: bad it's not a bad idea, no, no, So obviously 354 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:56,879 Speaker 1: the Germans freak out a little bit. They're they're not 355 00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:58,879 Speaker 1: happy about this because this is a problem. So they 356 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,000 Speaker 1: need to make sure we okay what's going to happen here. 357 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: As they keep going through the records and they invade 358 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:09,640 Speaker 1: more and more France. They keep finding more stuff from 359 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 1: this same research facility because they had taken the records 360 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:20,080 Speaker 1: elsewhere for safekeeping. Absolutely correct um, and those records gave 361 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:24,119 Speaker 1: the Germans a pretty clear picture of how a plan 362 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: to drop the beetle on them could take place. Incomes 363 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:36,120 Speaker 1: Professor h. Clue, who was a bit of an esteemed researcher, 364 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:41,439 Speaker 1: and he somehow managed to get himself in with the 365 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: military and get himself in charge of a secret program 366 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:50,119 Speaker 1: to look into potato beetles. That seems like a thing 367 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,560 Speaker 1: that wasn't so hard at the time. I imagine it wasn't. 368 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: Like I said. We've got the professor here, and he 369 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:02,560 Speaker 1: and other people obviously in charge are monitoring reports of 370 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:07,639 Speaker 1: their secret agents. So we've got secret agents involved. And 371 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:09,879 Speaker 1: one of their secret agents, who happened to be in 372 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:15,080 Speaker 1: England sends back a report. Uh, and it's dated April thirtieth, 373 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 1: nineteen forty two, and it says that the English have 374 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 1: received from the Americans a cargo of fifteen thousand potato 375 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:30,680 Speaker 1: beatles plus an unknown number of Texas ticks. Surprisingly, the 376 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:37,960 Speaker 1: Texas ticks just disappear. Nobody hears from them again. But 377 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:41,920 Speaker 1: this puts them in a full fledged panic and they 378 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: start work because they've got to get up to speed. 379 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 1: And in nineteen forty two they the Germans established the 380 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: Potato Beetle Defense Service to that in German, Joe, are 381 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 1: you able to say that whatever copper out there, the 382 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 1: deans to Littleffvertines, I think his house pronounced okay, And 383 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: they also went ahead and they set up the Potato 384 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:17,439 Speaker 1: Beetle Research Institute. Can you give this in the taffer 385 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: for schoons used to yeah, part of my cheesy accent. Yeah, 386 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:28,680 Speaker 1: you know, I think you know, just there's a little 387 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:31,960 Speaker 1: side here. It's it's uh. It's actually pretty well known 388 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 1: that the British h Intel, British smifi've actually controlled just 389 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:38,359 Speaker 1: about all of Germany's agents, if not a percent of 390 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 1: them in World War Two. You guys, what they would 391 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:44,120 Speaker 1: do is they would instead of compartmentalizing between agents, they 392 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,560 Speaker 1: sent an agent over there and they say, hey, get 393 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: in touch with get in touch with agents so and so, 394 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,840 Speaker 1: you know Frau or whatever the guy's name isn't or France, 395 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,720 Speaker 1: and get in touch with France and uh, and he'll 396 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:57,640 Speaker 1: help you. He'll help you get set up and everything 397 00:24:57,680 --> 00:24:59,920 Speaker 1: like that, and you know, he'll give you some handy, 398 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,080 Speaker 1: handy tips on how to get along in England and everything, 399 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 1: so you can touch with Fronts, and Fronts had already 400 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: been caught and turned by the Brits and so and 401 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:10,439 Speaker 1: so they kept rounding up agents like this, and they 402 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: essentially control the entire German intelligence network inside of England. 403 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:16,919 Speaker 1: So it's very possible that this report was a complete 404 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 1: total this information. Yes, yes, yeah, I was gonna say. 405 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 1: So what we're saying here is that the English were like, 406 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 1: all right, what's the most outrageous thing we can try 407 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:27,320 Speaker 1: and convince the Germans of? Right now? Well, you know, 408 00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 1: I mean one of the things you do is, you know, 409 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: you try to get them to waste resources at all 410 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 1: possible to get them there, like, you know, instead of 411 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:36,240 Speaker 1: it's going to worry about stuff that you're not even 412 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,920 Speaker 1: remotely pursuing, you know, and so that they won't depend 413 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:40,840 Speaker 1: themselves against the stuff that you actually are pursuing, and 414 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 1: just get them to waste their time and to waste resources. 415 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 1: Is perfect example of that, because here's what happened. So 416 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 1: the Potato Beetle Research Institute and Defense Service, both of them, 417 00:25:54,240 --> 00:26:00,160 Speaker 1: got together and in October nineteen they took forty those 418 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: and live potato beetles and they via a plane released 419 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: them over a field in spires that I say that spire. 420 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:15,600 Speaker 1: The beatles were painted so that they were easier to see, 421 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,679 Speaker 1: so that the troops in the field could find them. Unfortunately, 422 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:26,920 Speaker 1: they camouflage. They managed to recover one hundred beatles. They 423 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,640 Speaker 1: did it again with fourteen thousand beetles this time, and 424 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:36,720 Speaker 1: they only got fifty seven of them back. They then went, okay, 425 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,439 Speaker 1: well maybe we should stop using the real thing, and 426 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: they started using fake wooden beetles, and they didn't do 427 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:48,400 Speaker 1: any better. They were covering the same number of them 428 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:53,000 Speaker 1: in the field, just inanimate painted beetles. They couldn't find 429 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:55,679 Speaker 1: the little wooden pieces that they just dropped that were painted, 430 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: and they could only find fifty some odd out of 431 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: food shot back, kind of shot themselves in the foot there. Yeah, 432 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:05,159 Speaker 1: I know, you know, actually the little wouldn't beatles. It 433 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,160 Speaker 1: might be that the living beatles tried to mate with them, 434 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:09,480 Speaker 1: and so and so we might have actually interrupted the 435 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:15,480 Speaker 1: breeding side. Yeah, you might know, you don't so that 436 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:17,840 Speaker 1: that's what the Germans did. Why would they Why did 437 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 1: they release these beetles exactly what's the point They were 438 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: planning on turning the tides and using them against the British. 439 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:27,960 Speaker 1: Their idea was, well, we'll go ahead and if you 440 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: want to do it to us, we're going to do 441 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 1: it to you, and we'll just spread them all over England, 442 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,840 Speaker 1: which obviously they couldn't gauge how well it worked. But 443 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:38,959 Speaker 1: they still reported in nine or excuse me, in forty 444 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:43,399 Speaker 1: four to the High Command that they were ready to 445 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,600 Speaker 1: put out any an operation of a massive potato beetle 446 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: infestation and all they needed was to have the word 447 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,200 Speaker 1: and they would drop them. Obviously they were because even 448 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:57,199 Speaker 1: they couldn't find them. Obviously they knew that like the 449 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 1: English people weren't going to be find their beat Yeah. 450 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 1: The problem they have with getting them in there, it's like, 451 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:04,199 Speaker 1: how are they going to get them over there? They 452 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:08,200 Speaker 1: would have to like blitz Creek for a couple of hours. 453 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:11,639 Speaker 1: They could survived. It's pretty good at shooting the bombers, 454 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:13,480 Speaker 1: I mean most of their I mean, so that may 455 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:15,600 Speaker 1: be possible. So they shoot down a bomber and the 456 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:25,440 Speaker 1: bomber crashes and the right yes, okay, well that that 457 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,160 Speaker 1: is the end of the Germans did it themselves. We've 458 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,640 Speaker 1: got so you're saying, is that these ones that they 459 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: released because this happened. Well to me, it seems like, okay, well, 460 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 1: if you've received released, we're in these two accounts fifty 461 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:45,120 Speaker 1: five basically fifty thousand beetles onto your own soil. Chances 462 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:47,880 Speaker 1: are they're going to get a foothold and they're gonna 463 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,400 Speaker 1: start spreading. And if it's during the war, it may 464 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:54,800 Speaker 1: not be noticed. And right after the war, people really 465 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:57,400 Speaker 1: aren't reporting what's going on. So if a crop fails, 466 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:01,000 Speaker 1: it fails. I guess the other question is is that, um, 467 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:04,440 Speaker 1: you said that they do that like a little hibernation 468 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,760 Speaker 1: thing if the weather isn't right or whatever. So I 469 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: guess the other question is what what kind of weather 470 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,720 Speaker 1: was happening then, because if they dropped all those beetles right, 471 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:16,720 Speaker 1: people would have noticed those beetles. And then if they 472 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:18,800 Speaker 1: had all the larva, and the larva were in their 473 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 1: little like pause period because the conditions weren't good for 474 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 1: you know, I don't know how long they can survive, 475 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 1: but you know, if they could survive for you know, 476 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,160 Speaker 1: eight years or whatever, which I don't I don't know 477 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:32,320 Speaker 1: that they survived that long, but I imagine there would 478 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:36,760 Speaker 1: be enough of them around that it's still foody. They 479 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:40,520 Speaker 1: would just go through their regular life cycle, just like always. 480 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,000 Speaker 1: So to say, But let's move on to theory number three, 481 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:47,479 Speaker 1: which is a very simple one. The Germans didn't have 482 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:51,400 Speaker 1: enough pesticides and they weren't using them. It's a very 483 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:56,480 Speaker 1: very simple theory that post war, you're broke, you have 484 00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: no money, nobody's giving you much aid in terms of 485 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,800 Speaker 1: ad cultural supplies. So you do what you can and 486 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: that's all you can do. And if you aren't spreading 487 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: insecticides on your fields on a regular basis to keep 488 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:15,000 Speaker 1: down just all manner of pest, go figure Suddenly they 489 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 1: just bounce right back and take over. Yeah, yeah, you know, 490 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:20,760 Speaker 1: I want to think about it. I mean that something 491 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: like a factory that that would produce the sexicides would 492 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: be a pretty popular wartime target for Yeah, and so 493 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,040 Speaker 1: if they had any pesticide factories at all, that it 494 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:36,960 Speaker 1: was probably pretty inadequate supply. Well, and that's exactly it. 495 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 1: So it makes sense that they could have just already 496 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 1: been there and normally we're controlled with whatever pesticides were used. 497 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 1: But let's move on to our our last theory here, 498 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:52,000 Speaker 1: which is just another case. So they accidentally got spread 499 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:55,680 Speaker 1: there by people, because we do this all the time, 500 00:30:56,240 --> 00:31:00,640 Speaker 1: these things everywhere. Like I said before, the bell had 501 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:05,720 Speaker 1: made it to German soil in the late eighteen eighties 502 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:10,280 Speaker 1: and it had been controlled. According to again a couple 503 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:14,360 Speaker 1: of different sites, there are reports that at a US 504 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:21,080 Speaker 1: military base in Bordeaux, the Colorado potato beetle began to 505 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:24,800 Speaker 1: infect the area. I'm guessing because as you said earlier, Joe, 506 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 1: they came in on food stuffs and then just got 507 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 1: loose and got a foothold, and according to these reports, 508 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: they then spread. Uh. During World War Two they went 509 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:42,840 Speaker 1: to Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain, which all kind of 510 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: a right near Germany. So it makes sense that they're 511 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:49,719 Speaker 1: naturally would have just progressed into that country because they 512 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: don't really care where the border is. All they care 513 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: about is where the food is. I was gonna ask 514 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:57,800 Speaker 1: if there's any kind of record of big wind storms 515 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:01,600 Speaker 1: or anything like that happened around this time. If the 516 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:05,040 Speaker 1: you know, the Beatles were just trying to fly to 517 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:08,000 Speaker 1: another field or something and got blown by a big 518 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:11,080 Speaker 1: gust of wind, kind of like the Wizard of Oz. Yeah, 519 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: like we're not in Kansas anymore, We're in Spain anymore. 520 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: He sucks. I don't know if you know, because they do. 521 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:23,600 Speaker 1: I assume they fly. They can fly, so I don't 522 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:26,480 Speaker 1: know how they travel from one field to another. I 523 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,280 Speaker 1: would assume they fly, they would fly. And if they 524 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:31,600 Speaker 1: don't know how far they travel or anything like that. 525 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:35,320 Speaker 1: But you know, that could help explain why the people 526 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:39,240 Speaker 1: weren't seeing signs of larva or eggs or anything like that, 527 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:43,040 Speaker 1: just full form beetles. I think we've talked about another 528 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 1: stories in the past about there's a giant windstorm and 529 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 1: everything up and carts at fifty or a hundred miles 530 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:53,360 Speaker 1: and then just drops it all. Well, the other thing 531 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:57,640 Speaker 1: is that you know that's recalled the Germans. Thousands of 532 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 1: these things onto a field and we're able to find 533 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:02,840 Speaker 1: any of them, which means these things could be like 534 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 1: spreading all throughout your your fields and your whole region, 535 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:10,280 Speaker 1: and until that it reached a certain you would not 536 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,280 Speaker 1: even notice. And so they apparably these little guys are 537 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 1: hard to see. You have been painted. Yeah, so that 538 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,080 Speaker 1: I mean, that's exactly right. So it's it's one of 539 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,920 Speaker 1: those stories that there's all kinds of ways. I personally 540 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:24,280 Speaker 1: think that there's no one theory that's right. I don't 541 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:27,640 Speaker 1: think that the U S didn't intentionally, yeah, I don't 542 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,520 Speaker 1: think the Germans did it all on their own. I 543 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:33,959 Speaker 1: think that it's everybody involved in this story is probably 544 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,720 Speaker 1: a little guilty. Yeah, but we don't know exactly what 545 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:39,360 Speaker 1: cost it. Yeah. I mean, if you're gonna look for 546 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 1: like historical precedent, usually you know, governments that are incompetence, 547 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 1: you know, and they have things like you know, crop 548 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 1: failures in famine, they want to blame somebody else. Of course, 549 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:54,560 Speaker 1: these Germans want to stay yeah. Yeah, So so that's 550 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:56,960 Speaker 1: kind of my thing. And yeah, and I think you 551 00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,800 Speaker 1: were you were saying before when we were talking about 552 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:04,040 Speaker 1: this previously before we started recording, is that Berlin is 553 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:07,440 Speaker 1: is in East Germany, right, So there's going to be 554 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:11,359 Speaker 1: airplanes that are from the US the time, all the time. 555 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:15,040 Speaker 1: So it's not as if this was an uncommon thing 556 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:18,239 Speaker 1: to have US planes going overhead. I mean, I'm sure 557 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:22,040 Speaker 1: that American and British and French planes were flying from 558 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,760 Speaker 1: all points of the compass, or at least from the west, 559 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: because West Germany kind of in semi encircles East Germany, 560 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:32,720 Speaker 1: or did it's not not anymore. And then with Berlin 561 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:34,040 Speaker 1: right here in the smack in the middle, so you 562 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:37,200 Speaker 1: could have planes approaching from the southwest and northwest the 563 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:40,960 Speaker 1: west and didn't go up for another ten years. Other 564 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:43,240 Speaker 1: could be planes that were coming from the other direction 565 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:46,280 Speaker 1: to before it became a no fly zone. Yeah, and so, 566 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,080 Speaker 1: uh and so. And I don't really see the motive 567 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:51,080 Speaker 1: right right, to be honest with you, for us to 568 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,120 Speaker 1: do that, because especially especially given that this is post war, 569 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:58,080 Speaker 1: it wasn't definitively established that that Germany was going to 570 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:00,719 Speaker 1: be sort of semi permanently divided this point in time. 571 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,640 Speaker 1: It was still a state of tension between the Soviets 572 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:06,680 Speaker 1: and the Allies and forces, and it's still it still 573 00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:10,560 Speaker 1: hadn't really crystallized into the forum that I finally took 574 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:13,279 Speaker 1: with the building of the Wall ten years later, and 575 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:15,480 Speaker 1: and then many many more years of oppression in Germany 576 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:17,840 Speaker 1: and all that that, and but it wasn't set in stone. 577 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:21,560 Speaker 1: As of nineteen fifty and plus, Europe was still recovering 578 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,000 Speaker 1: from the war, and so the idea of deliberately and 579 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:26,520 Speaker 1: there was already been a lot of food shortages and 580 00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:29,960 Speaker 1: famines in Europe because of the war, and so the 581 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:31,719 Speaker 1: idea that we would want to go out there and 582 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:35,359 Speaker 1: just you know, make things worse, well it doesn't make 583 00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:37,400 Speaker 1: it less. Kind of we're kind of trying to like, 584 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,200 Speaker 1: you know, get the continent to recover, you know. So 585 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:42,560 Speaker 1: that's one of yet another reason why I think it 586 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:45,959 Speaker 1: was probably just it happened, and these Germans just didn't 587 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:49,000 Speaker 1: want to shoulder any of the blame themselves, so funny 588 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,880 Speaker 1: to figure at the ax. Indeed, well, that having been said, 589 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:56,840 Speaker 1: that's the end of our theories, ladies and gentlemen. As always, 590 00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:59,040 Speaker 1: we're gonna go ahead and put up some of the 591 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:01,319 Speaker 1: links to this story on our website, so if you 592 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:03,279 Speaker 1: want to check them out, you're more than welcome to 593 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:08,920 Speaker 1: That website is Thinking Sideways podcast dot com. We're always 594 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:12,560 Speaker 1: looking to hear from our listeners, So if you've got 595 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:14,760 Speaker 1: some thoughts on the story that you want to share, 596 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:18,640 Speaker 1: or you disagree with something that we said, let us 597 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,360 Speaker 1: know if you are, if you are a East German 598 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:24,160 Speaker 1: potato beetle, we want to hear from it. Yes, indeed, 599 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,240 Speaker 1: you can always go ahead and send us an email. 600 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:32,279 Speaker 1: That email address is Thinking Sideways podcast at gmail dot com. 601 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:36,040 Speaker 1: We actually have some listener mail we do. Yeah, actually, 602 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:38,840 Speaker 1: well we get thousands a week that did want of 603 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:41,440 Speaker 1: them stand out? Yeah, this one was really great. Um. 604 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:44,040 Speaker 1: I liked it a lot, so I thought i'd share 605 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:47,560 Speaker 1: it with our listeners. So it's from a woman by 606 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:52,000 Speaker 1: the name of Stephanie Stephaniely Stephanie um and it just says, Hello, 607 00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:54,879 Speaker 1: I came across your show recently after about a year 608 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:57,760 Speaker 1: of hoping a podcast like hers would pop up somewhere 609 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:00,600 Speaker 1: on the internet. I like your whole vibe of presenting 610 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:04,880 Speaker 1: known information about mysteries accurately and trying to make educated 611 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 1: guesses about what happened. I also end up cracking up 612 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:09,680 Speaker 1: a lot during your shows. And then she gives us 613 00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:12,560 Speaker 1: some suggestions of shows that's definitely want to assure you 614 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:16,480 Speaker 1: we're definitely going to take on in the future. I 615 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:19,839 Speaker 1: don't know about near future, but I remember looking at 616 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:22,680 Speaker 1: those recently when the ones that she had suggested some 617 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:25,839 Speaker 1: good suggestions. Yeah, so we're we love to hear from 618 00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:30,400 Speaker 1: you guys about how much you love us. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Well, 619 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:32,520 Speaker 1: I'm just glad somebody else is laughing at our jokes. 620 00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:36,120 Speaker 1: Obviously we're not that funny, but at least we think 621 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:40,600 Speaker 1: we're again we're hilarious. Yea, pull somebody anyway, that's what 622 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:43,759 Speaker 1: that's what the story I is and uh, we'll get 623 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:46,279 Speaker 1: right on that. Are cool? Well email us side. What 624 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:49,400 Speaker 1: else do our listeners need to know? Well, they can 625 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:52,279 Speaker 1: always listen to our show. That's that's a real key 626 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:59,120 Speaker 1: to listener. Our website always has the podcast on it 627 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:02,120 Speaker 1: and you always stream it right through there. We're also 628 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:05,640 Speaker 1: on iTunes so you can download or if you want, 629 00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:07,680 Speaker 1: we are also on Stitcher, so if you want to 630 00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:10,440 Speaker 1: use your mobile phone and go ahead and stream it 631 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:13,000 Speaker 1: right there another option for you. We always make it 632 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:16,200 Speaker 1: available if you do iTunes or Stitcher. Please feel free 633 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:19,520 Speaker 1: to leave us a rating or a comment our review. 634 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:22,960 Speaker 1: I mean us like good. I'm not going to say 635 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:26,160 Speaker 1: leave us a good review, but you like us, leave 636 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:28,880 Speaker 1: a review. We like to hear from your phone. H 637 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:32,040 Speaker 1: So that having been said, uh, I think I think 638 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:34,320 Speaker 1: it's time to roll this one up. So thank you 639 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:36,640 Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen, and look forward to talk to you 640 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:48,680 Speaker 1: next week.