1 00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:04,680 Speaker 1: We're in New York City almost sixty years ago. Amazingly, 2 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:08,160 Speaker 1: while the city is loaded with commuters and tourists, it's 3 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:12,639 Speaker 1: also the backdrop for a secret military experiment. In nineteen 4 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: sixty six, the US Army carried out this covert operation 5 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: testing biological weapons on the unsuspecting public, and it all 6 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: took place in the city's subway system. I'm Patty Steele. 7 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: You and I are guinea pigs. Next on the backstory. 8 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: We're back with the backstory. Testing biological and bacteriological weapons 9 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,279 Speaker 1: on the public was nothing new in post World War 10 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: Two America. The US was obsessed with staying ahead at 11 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,520 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union, whether it was in space, arms development, 12 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: or something a little more sinister, biological warfare. That obsession 13 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: and fear led to some questionable decisions because they were 14 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: laser focused on understanding how biological agents might spread in 15 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,919 Speaker 1: an enemy attack. I know it sounds like a James 16 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: Bond movie, right, but it's real. Take Operation Big Buzz 17 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty five, when the government dropped three hundred 18 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: thousand yellow fever mosquitoes over Georgia to see if they'd 19 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: survive the drop and begin biting unsuspecting folks on the ground. 20 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: In another case, a Navy ship sprayed a bacteria into 21 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: the air that wound up spreading inland for thirty miles 22 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: off of San Francisco Bay and sickened a lot of people. 23 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:37,600 Speaker 1: In another a nineteen fifty three mercury with an extended 24 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 1: tailpipe drove eighty miles through New York City tunnels and 25 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: turnpikes in nineteen fifty six, spewing out an unknown aerosolized bacteria. 26 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: So imagine you live in New York City in nineteen 27 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: sixty six, when it was developing like crazy, huge numbers 28 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: of people moving in giant skyscrapers, tons of traffic, and 29 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: a jam packed transit system with subways you could barely 30 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: stuff yourself into, let alone find a seat and take 31 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,839 Speaker 1: a breath. In fact, that breath you want to take 32 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: when you do find a seat is exactly what we're 33 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,919 Speaker 1: talking about. The Cold War with Russia was in full 34 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: swing in the nineteen sixties, and the US government was 35 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: constantly freaking out about the possibility of covert attacks on 36 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: the public and also trying to figure out how to 37 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: carry out their own secret attacks on the enemy. In 38 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: June of nineteen sixty six, a six day experiment gets 39 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: under way that doesn't take place in a lab. They 40 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: need real world data, so instead they do it in 41 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: one of the most packed places in the US, the 42 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: New York City subway system. It was called cleverly the 43 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: New York Subway Test. Okay, a small team of Army 44 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: scientists are dressed in plain clothes so they blend in. 45 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: They get on the Seventh Avenue subway line in Manhattan. 46 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: Their mission release a biological agent into the subway system 47 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,240 Speaker 1: and then document how it disperses. Now, in this case, 48 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: they're using a non infectious bacterium that simulates the release 49 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: of super poisonous anthrax with spores that spread the same 50 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: way anthrax does. They want to understand how easily and 51 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: how far a pathogen can spread in a big city. 52 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: The experiment was meant to not only understand how to 53 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: protect Americans from a biological or chemical attack, but also 54 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: how to weaponize these agents for use in war. Here's 55 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: how they did it. Scientists put light bulbs filled with 56 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: bacterial spores inside briefcases. Then, as the subway trains packed 57 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 1: with commuters sped down the tracks, they quietly dropped the 58 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: bulbs on the tracks, releasing the bacteria into the air. 59 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: The train's ventilation system, combined with the movement of the 60 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: trains and passengers, did all the work dispersing the bacteria 61 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: throughout the subway cars and stations. But it went beyond that. 62 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: The bacteria did didn't just stick around the immediate area 63 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: where it was released. The ventilation system and the air 64 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: currents generated by the trains carried the spores throughout the 65 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: entire subway system, reaching stations miles away from the original 66 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 1: release point. Scientists estimated the bacteria spread at least ten 67 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: miles across tracks, affecting a huge number of subway lines 68 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: and certainly millions of people. And once again, nobody riding 69 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: the subway that day had any idea what they were 70 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:35,239 Speaker 1: exposed to. The experiment went on for days. They'd released 71 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: the bacteria at different locations and watch how far and 72 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 1: how quickly it traveled and how effectively it spread. In 73 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: their eyes, it was a huge success. They felt they 74 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: had proved that biological agents could be easily dispersed in 75 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: the subway system, affecting once again, possibly millions of people. 76 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,599 Speaker 1: But what about the ethics of their little experiment. The 77 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: public was used with no consent, no w warnings, nothing, 78 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: And by the way, the bacteria they used thought to 79 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: be harmless, turned out to be dangerous for people with 80 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: weakened immune systems. But no follow up studies were ever 81 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,040 Speaker 1: done because the whole operation remained secret for years, and 82 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 1: by the time it was released, all the documents had 83 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: been destroyed. It all came to light in the nineteen 84 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: seventies after a series of investigative reports, including an in 85 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 1: depth one by the Church of Scientology, as well as 86 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: from Senate hearings. That's when it all became public. We 87 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: found out that the Army had conducted hundreds of similar tests, 88 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: exposing millions of Americans unknowingly to possibly harmful biological weapons. 89 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: Folks were horrified to learn that they had been used 90 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: as guinea pigs. The government defended its actions, claiming the 91 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: tests were necessary to protect the country from possible biological warfare. 92 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 1: In the aftermath, President Richard Nixon shut down the testing 93 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: and the use of biological weapons altogether and said the 94 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: military would concentrate on defensive measures like immunization and other 95 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: safety measures. What was the results of all these secret 96 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: tests being made public? Well, it was definitely part of 97 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: what led folks to begin to distrust the government. In addition, 98 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: it made us all aware of just how vulnerable we 99 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: can be. Hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele. 100 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:36,799 Speaker 1: I would love it if you would subscribe or follow 101 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: for free to get new episodes delivered automatically and of course, 102 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,159 Speaker 1: as alies, feel free to DM me if you have 103 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's 104 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. 105 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:56,600 Speaker 1: The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks, the Elvis 106 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,799 Speaker 1: Duran Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer Doug Fraser, 107 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday 108 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with 109 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty 110 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening 111 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: to the Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history 112 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: you didn't know you needed to know.