1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: to the show Ridiculous Historians. Think so much for tuning in. 3 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: My name is Ben, and I got to tell you 4 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: something's bugging me. My name is Noel the big buzz Brown. 5 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:40,479 Speaker 1: Is that what they call you? Or they? Oh no, 6 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: they call me they you know, the Royal Day, Good 7 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: editorial Day. We're also we're also joined by our super producer, 8 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: Casey the Big itch Pegram. How's it going, Casey scratching 9 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: away over here? And I guess it sounds like it's 10 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: that summertime in Georgia. Man. And you know, when you 11 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 1: realize too part of this story is the government actually 12 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: dumping more mosquitoes into Georgia. That's when you realize how 13 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: truly callous and cruel the American government can be. Yeah, 14 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: I'll take the name Ben dropkick Bowling. And it is true. 15 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: The thing that specifically bugging me today is just the 16 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: heat walking to work. But we are talking about bugs. 17 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,479 Speaker 1: We're talking about entomology, we're talking about warfare. We're talking 18 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:36,400 Speaker 1: about bug wars. Pretty cool, yeah, literal bug wars, right, So, nol, 19 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:38,679 Speaker 1: what's this? What? What what are you talking about? People? 20 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: We are dropping mosquitoes into Georgia. That's one of them. Um. 21 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: That was Operation Big Buzz, which in the nineteen fifties 22 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: the Army um put more than three hundred thousand uninfected 23 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: mosquitoes into bombs and then dropped them onto the unsuspecting 24 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: population of Savannah, Georgia. And this was a test for 25 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: something that the government was working on in a much 26 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: larger scale, Uh, the weaponization of insects. We'll get into 27 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: the specifics of each of these operations, but for now, Ben, 28 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: what the hell is the weaponization of insects. Let's let's 29 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: let's backtrack a little bit. Sure, it's a form of 30 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: biological warfare. You know, it's something that a lot of 31 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: engineers have said before in the past. People can make 32 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: things that are pretty good in terms of technology, but 33 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: when it comes to the natural results of evolution, Mother 34 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: nature tends to make pretty great stuff. So why would 35 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 1: we go back and try to build tiny, tiny machines 36 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: and weapons of our own when we could just use 37 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: the existing creatures insects. Yeah, we know that various versions 38 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: of weaponizing animals have gone varying ways. Dolphins, Um, that 39 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 1: the tiny bat bombs, You know that on Japan. The 40 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: idea that the bats would deploy into eaves of homes 41 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: and then these inside darry devices would go off and 42 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: then burn down Japan. UM, that didn't work out so well. 43 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: This story that we're talking about today, the weaponization of insects, 44 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: has had varying degrees of success in various different cultures, 45 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: not not only ours. UM. But here's the thing. So 46 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: the turn of the twentieth century, UM, human beings in 47 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: general started figuring out that insects carried diseases. The term 48 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: is vectors. They were vectors for diseases. Uh. There is 49 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: a professor at the University of Wyoming who explained it 50 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: as such in the Casper Star Tribune, a gentleman by 51 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: the name of Jeff Lockwood. He says, quote, the Japanese, French, Germans, English, 52 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: and the United States all had entomological disease programs active 53 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: during the Golden years of nineteen thirty to nineteen seventy, 54 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: and that includes a Japanese World War two program. Uh. 55 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: The name of that program was Unit seven thirty one. 56 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: Unit seven thirty one was the Japanese governments World War 57 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: two analog to the horrific human experimentation that took place 58 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: under the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. So Unit seven 59 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: thirty one is a very very dark thing. It's not ridiculous, UH, 60 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: but do be aware that it exists. Essentially, Unit seven 61 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: thirty one engaged in tremendously horrific, unethical human experimentation. UH. 62 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 1: There are sickening stories that are all true and that 63 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: are worse than fiction. UH. You can you can learn 64 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: more about these evil science experiments. I do not use 65 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,839 Speaker 1: the word evil lightly. By searching online, there of course 66 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: numbers of books here. They were doing stuff like studying 67 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: hypothermia by submerging people's limbs and water until the armor 68 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 1: leg is frozen solid and ice formed over it, and 69 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:54,279 Speaker 1: then striking them with canes. They were essentially vivisecting people, 70 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: conducting surgery on them while they were alive, starving them, 71 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: burning them, infecting them with very diseases. And part of 72 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: it was their weaponization of insects, wherein they sprayed fleas 73 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,720 Speaker 1: from low flying airplanes and these fleas were infected with 74 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: cholera UM and according to the Boston Globe and another 75 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: piece that Lockwood contributed to, UH, these deaths could have 76 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:26,360 Speaker 1: exceeded that of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Combined those bombings 77 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: um at least four hundred and forty thousand Chinese were 78 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:35,039 Speaker 1: killed using these plague infected uh fleas. This is a 79 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: that that number comes from an international symposium of historians 80 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 1: and two thousand two, so relatively speaking, it's it's pretty recent. 81 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:49,040 Speaker 1: And think about that number, four hundred and forty thousand people. Japan, 82 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: we should say as well, is the only country in 83 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: history that has verifiably used bugs in war. Other countries 84 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: have experimented with spoiler alert, one of them being the 85 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: good old US of A. In fact, we experimented with 86 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,359 Speaker 1: this not once, but multiple times in a very short 87 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: time span in the nineteen fifties, right, because we said 88 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: there's a golden age from the nineteen thirties to the 89 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:20,279 Speaker 1: seventies in the US. We had not one, but three 90 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 1: huge operations weaponizing insects in the mid nineteen fifties and 91 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 1: it's fascinating stuff. The first one where Casey Pegram took 92 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: his his nickname for today is Operation Big Itch, which 93 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 1: also used fleas. Right, it's a page from the Japanese 94 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:39,799 Speaker 1: government there. Yes, and we have thanks to the lovely 95 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: folks of the Smoking Gun have a document that catalogs 96 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: several of these programs, one of which has been entirely redacted, 97 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: But we do have a little bit of information about 98 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: that one from some other sources. But according to section 99 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,160 Speaker 1: one of a document called the History of Infield Testing 100 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 1: in the US, Operation Big Itch took place in nineteen 101 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,800 Speaker 1: fifty four was a series of trials of tests that 102 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: were conducted using fleas loaded into E fourteen munitions with 103 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: what's described as cardboard and sponge inserts um. The idea 104 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: was that the bugs would be dropped from altitudes of 105 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: between three hundred and five and six ms over a 106 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 1: testing area called the dug Way Proving Ground in Utah. 107 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: The idea was to investigate uh the viability of the 108 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 1: munitions used here and how um effective they would be 109 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: in disseminating what's referred to very scientifically as these arthropod vectors. 110 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: Right exactly, this specifically was the tropical rat flee or 111 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: zeno scilla chopis. The logic here is pretty sound, right. 112 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: The waves of death, known collectively as the Black Plague, 113 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: came from fleas. They're very very good for transmitting diseases quickly. 114 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: Big Itch showed a lot of promise, but it also 115 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 1: had had some problems. So they were loaded into these 116 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: munitions dropped from the air. As you said, up to 117 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: what six They used a couple of different bombs, the 118 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: E fourteen bomb and the E twenty three bomb, which 119 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: they could cluster into a kind of a vultron arrangement 120 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: called the eight six cluster bomb or the E seventy seven. 121 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: Without getting two in the weeds on these abbreviations and numbers, 122 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 1: just know that the E four team was designed to 123 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 1: hold one hundred thousand fleas, and they E twenty three 124 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: was designed to hold two hundred thousand fleas. The three 125 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: was the worst performer. Over half of the bombs failed. 126 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: They didn't meet their expectations. Uh, they malfunctioned during this 127 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: is the worst part. They malfunctioned during testing and the plane. Yeah, 128 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: and the fleas were released into the aircraft where they 129 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: attacked the pilot, the bombardier, and an observer. So what 130 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: was just sitting there, you know as a by standard. 131 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,840 Speaker 1: So they I'm at and you're you're about to launch 132 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: a bomb of fleas and the bomb goes off in 133 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: the plane. That's exactly what happens, and this by the way, 134 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: it comes from a great book called Weapons of Mass 135 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 1: Destruction and Encyclopedia of Worldwide Policy, Technology, and History by 136 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:20,319 Speaker 1: James J. Wurtz. Next, we have Operation Big Buzz, which 137 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: was in nineteen fifty five, and this was an experiment 138 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 1: that with the Georgia centric one that we mentioned earlier 139 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: in the show. UM. It was a field test that 140 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: was trying to figure out the I don't know the 141 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:37,320 Speaker 1: viability again of actually breeding and then um housing and 142 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: then loading up into bombs uh and ultimately you know, 143 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: scattering these across the land. Uh. Yellow fever infected mosquitoes. Yeah. Yeah, 144 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: over three hundred thousand rows. And it gets even crazier 145 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: than that, right. So they they did these tests in Savannah, Georgia, 146 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: where they released three hundred and thirty thousand A. D. S. 147 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: Egypti mosquitoes, which are known vectors for yellow fever. And 148 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: they did this by dropping them on Georgia parks all 149 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: throughout Savannah, UM, and they were kind of released out 150 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: into suburbs as well. And the idea was that they 151 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: would see how many reports came in of citizens being 152 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: bitten and they would kind of be able to tell 153 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: how effective this was as a means of dispersing this disease. 154 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: Not the best methodology. When's the last time you contacted 155 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: the government because of mosquito attack? Two these mosquitoes, by 156 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: the way, thankfully we're not actually infected with yellow fever 157 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: for the purposes of this test. But it's pretty insane 158 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,200 Speaker 1: to think that they said, Okay, let's just drop this 159 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: off and see what happened. See who is so concerned 160 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,680 Speaker 1: about mosquitoes that they call us. They were also dropping 161 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 1: these them the same bombs in the Big Itch, the 162 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: E fourteen bombs, so they clearly thought that there was 163 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: some promise for this. In total, I think it was 164 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: one million female mosquitoes they bred for the testing, at 165 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 1: least according to Public Health Issues Disaster Preparedness. That's a 166 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:24,079 Speaker 1: that's a real very sexy acronym. Yeah, super creative. Oh 167 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: that would be fittip. Now that is pretty cool sounding Philip. 168 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 1: That comes from John Marr and Lloyd Novic over at Philip. 169 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: I think that's why I like acronym so much, because 170 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:38,199 Speaker 1: the sound of the acronym is usually infinitely more fascinating 171 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 1: and intriguing than when you actually name out the individual words. 172 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: A little easier to remember too, because it's anemonic. So 173 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:50,080 Speaker 1: what happened with the what happened with the the yellow 174 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: fever run through or rehearsal there in Savannah? Well, what 175 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:56,880 Speaker 1: I mean it was annoying, right, I mean it was 176 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: literally like you know, Georgia and Savannah in particular is 177 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 1: a swampy kind of breeding ground for mosquitoes. Anyway, can 178 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: you imagine just unleashing that on your own people. I mean, 179 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 1: sure they weren't infected with the actual disease, right, but 180 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: they were still essentially doing military tests on their own citizens, right. 181 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 1: And there was even more subterfuge because we found that 182 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: government officials disguised themselves as healthcare professionals to monitor the population. 183 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: So that's how they were getting just to clarify, that's 184 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:33,199 Speaker 1: how they were intending to get feedback. That's pretty gross, man, 185 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: It's definitely unethical. And with the with the results there, 186 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:42,679 Speaker 1: would would we say that that was a success, because 187 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: the idea to get was they would they would drop 188 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: them and the test was going to be whether the 189 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:50,080 Speaker 1: mosquitoes could survive the drop and then seek food on 190 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 1: the ground, right, seek blood. Yeah, what they determined was 191 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: the female mosquitoes actively sought blood meals from humans and 192 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: guinea pigs, which is what were described as in the 193 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 1: report um and that some of the mosquitoes were collected 194 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:07,120 Speaker 1: as far as four tenths of a mile from the 195 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:10,840 Speaker 1: target release site. So yes, it was absolutely effective. They 196 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: could get into homes. You know, they would. I mean, 197 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 1: if they were infected with this deadly disease, it would 198 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 1: have been an absolute blood bath, no pun intended or 199 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 1: maybe pun intended, what do I know? Yeah, I mean 200 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: absolutely this This seems ridiculous now, but it had enormous 201 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:31,960 Speaker 1: potential for destruction, so much so that after releasing these 202 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 1: eighties at GIP time mosquitoes, the US government said, I 203 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:40,200 Speaker 1: really think we're onto something. Okay, maybe big. It was 204 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 1: just a good starting point for us, and the Big 205 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,640 Speaker 1: Buzz showed some promise. So hey, guys, it's ninety six, 206 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,600 Speaker 1: we're living in the future. Let's do this one more time. 207 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:54,160 Speaker 1: What do you say for old time's sake? Fun? That's 208 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,200 Speaker 1: what I say. So that gives us the one of 209 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: the more shadowy operations. Uh No, and as Operation drop Kick, 210 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:03,599 Speaker 1: which I believe which I believe was your nom de 211 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: plume in this episode, right, Yeah. I have a very 212 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: lazy fighting style. I just sort of put my foot 213 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,679 Speaker 1: up and then it drops. Yeah, exactly. It's very effective 214 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: on shooes. Yeah, it's kind of an m M A style. Yeah. Um. 215 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: So this was kind of similar to these other operations, 216 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: but had some pretty important distinction. Uh, this took place 217 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 1: in ninety six when, um, this is the Chemical Core, 218 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: isn't that right? Isn't that with this operation Y which 219 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: is an organization I was not familiar with. Tell us 220 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: a little bit about Chemical Core, Ben sure. The Chemical 221 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: Core is the branch of the U. S Army. The 222 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: official stories, they specifically work on defense against nuclear weapons, 223 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 1: chemical biological weapons. You'll hear people say that for most 224 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: of its history, the Chemical Core was actually tasked with 225 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: delivering these weapons instead of defending against them. And you'll 226 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 1: hear that because it's true. It's actually so. They conducted 227 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: Operation drop Kick, Um, when they released six hundred thousand 228 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 1: uninfected mosquitoes onto a bombing range in Avon Park, Florida. Yes, 229 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: that's right. And their methodology was improving. They were able 230 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 1: to track these mosquitoes a little bit better. They were 231 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:23,040 Speaker 1: able to come up with an estimate of how many 232 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: injured houses and bit people. And they also found that 233 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 1: they could deliver them through a couple of different devices 234 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: or methods. In this case, they were released from helicopters, right, 235 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: and people in Avon Park still, some of them remembered this, 236 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,800 Speaker 1: you know, they were old enough to be conscious of 237 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 1: these things happening. And they reported that mosquitoes weren't the 238 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: only things released. There is a Avon Park resident named 239 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: Beatrice Peterson who wasn't aware of the mosquito releases because 240 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 1: they're already mosquitoes in Florida, but she did recall that 241 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,240 Speaker 1: a ton of screw worm flies were released in the 242 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 1: mid to late nineteen fifties when she was fourteen, I think, yeah. 243 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: And she describes them as being dropped from little boxes 244 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 1: out of these helicopters, and then they'd see them at school, um, 245 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:15,720 Speaker 1: and the boxes would open up and the flies would 246 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: be dispersed. Uh. And here's the thing. Avon Park in 247 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 1: Florida was a prominently black neighborhood and prominantly lower income 248 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:27,960 Speaker 1: and a lot of folks actually got sick because of this, 249 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,240 Speaker 1: and I believe a handful actually died. Yeah, And we 250 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: shouldn't skip over that because it is true that in 251 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: many of the illegal experiments that the US conducted domestically, 252 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: they focused on marginalized communities because they thought they could 253 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:45,920 Speaker 1: get away with it. They were at the very least 254 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 1: be less legal trouble or less possibility. So the big 255 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: question is what would have happened if these insects were 256 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 1: carrying disease. The answers is clearly a public health disaster 257 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 1: would have been possible, would have been in cards, you know, 258 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:05,200 Speaker 1: a yellow fever outbreak. So they found that in theory, 259 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 1: unlike the bat bomb where the cyborg cat, which are 260 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,160 Speaker 1: both real things, this weaponization of insects had some sand 261 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: to it, it could actually work. And although the three 262 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: experiments we outlined occurred in the nineteen fifties, that doesn't 263 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 1: mean that the U. S. Army called it quits. We 264 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: have evidence that shows they were interested in it even 265 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: more recently. Right, Yeah, we have some documentation that shows 266 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:34,120 Speaker 1: that up until as recently as the nineteen eighties eighty one. 267 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: In fact, there's a report um on Entomological Warfare that 268 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: piggybacks off of the research that was done at that 269 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: dug Way Proving Ground in Utah, and the study actually 270 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:49,520 Speaker 1: looks more at how we could defend ourselves against attacks 271 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:53,320 Speaker 1: being done on US soil UM by infected mosquitoes with 272 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:57,200 Speaker 1: yellow fever. And according to the report UM it noted 273 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:02,160 Speaker 1: that U S Intelligence Informa SHIN indicated that Warsaw Pact 274 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: nations have attempted to develop this capability UM and it 275 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:10,640 Speaker 1: also looks at cost estimates of what the fallout from 276 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:14,159 Speaker 1: these kinds of attacks might be. So this isn't necessarily 277 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: looking at doing the research and developing these techniques ourselves, 278 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,120 Speaker 1: but more guarding against it in the case of attacks 279 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: from other nations outside of America. Right, and this leads 280 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:29,399 Speaker 1: us into a bit of conspiratorial speculation here. We've heard 281 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,199 Speaker 1: of the zeka virus, right, Remember that was in the 282 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:34,920 Speaker 1: news a lot. So the zekea virus is a disease 283 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: transmitted primarily by these mosquitoes that we mentioned earlier. Symptoms 284 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:45,119 Speaker 1: can be mild and include fever, rash, conjuncti vitus, muscle 285 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 1: joint pain, malaise, a headache. It's twenty nineteen, man, I 286 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:52,920 Speaker 1: feel like most people have malaise of some sort nowadays, 287 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 1: but it can it can pose great dangers. It can 288 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 1: be particularly dangerous to unborn children. It can cause infants 289 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 1: to be born with a number of delatorious conditions. But 290 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:11,240 Speaker 1: some people will tell you that the Zeka virus is 291 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 1: an offshoot of the U. S. Armies e w OR 292 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 1: Entomological warfare program, because in the nineteen thirties, this mosquito 293 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:21,720 Speaker 1: atis and gypti was found in every country in South 294 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:25,359 Speaker 1: and Central America, throughout the Caribbean, and even here in 295 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:29,159 Speaker 1: the southeastern United States. And then it came with you know, 296 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: it came with all the diseases that this creature usually carries, 297 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: yellow fever, dane fever, also called breakbone, and now zeka. 298 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 1: So people were working to eradicate this troublesome creature, which 299 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 1: was occurring naturally. It's not like Peru was bombing Brazil 300 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,359 Speaker 1: with these or something. In nineteen fifty eight, Brazil successfully 301 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:52,959 Speaker 1: eradicated the mosquito and was working to eradicate it not 302 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: just from its own country, but from the rest of 303 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:58,600 Speaker 1: the hemisphere. This was gonna be where the culmination of 304 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: decades of WOR. And unfortunately, even while the US was 305 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:09,080 Speaker 1: funding eradication efforts in South America, it was still secretly 306 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: raising colonies of millions of these mosquitoes to use as weapons. 307 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:15,960 Speaker 1: So it was kind of shooting ourselves in the foot, 308 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: robbing Peter to pay Paul. It seems like a get 309 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:20,199 Speaker 1: out of hand really quickly. And a lot of this 310 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: research really makes me think, is the US responsible for 311 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 1: how many mosquitoes ended up? Like in the South, they 312 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,280 Speaker 1: had mosquitoes already naturally occurred. Now I know that, but 313 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:34,200 Speaker 1: I'm just saying, like, when you dump that many more 314 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,639 Speaker 1: on top of it already thriving population, it's not gonna 315 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: double down on that great time to be a bird. 316 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:43,439 Speaker 1: Because I was just thinking, like, already in this summer 317 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,199 Speaker 1: here in Atlanta, I'm already covered in mosquito bites and 318 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 1: I haven't even spend that much time outside. So they 319 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: definitely are able to infiltrate homes and get inside and 320 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 1: you know, get at those uh, those blood bags that 321 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 1: are human beings. I hear you can modify your diet. 322 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: I don't know if that's true such that mosquitoes won't 323 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:04,640 Speaker 1: find you tasty. Yeah, yeah, you will. Hear people say 324 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:06,639 Speaker 1: that there are a couple of different what they call 325 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,480 Speaker 1: mosquito repellent foods, garlic and onions, and that's not a 326 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:15,360 Speaker 1: problem apple, cider, vinegar, lemon, grass, chili, peppers, grapefruit, which 327 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,200 Speaker 1: I am not going to eat. Not a grapefruit. No, 328 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: hate it, hate it, not even like in a little cocktail, 329 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: like a little grapefruit vodka. Grapefruit is an injustice that 330 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:27,639 Speaker 1: shall not stand interesting. I used to not like it. 331 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:29,399 Speaker 1: Either of the ruby red I find a little bit 332 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,919 Speaker 1: more palatable than the regular old I think it was 333 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,240 Speaker 1: because when I was in when I was in boy 334 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:38,479 Speaker 1: Scouts one summer in the middle of nowhere, we were 335 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:40,480 Speaker 1: stranded in a place where the only thing to drink 336 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:45,359 Speaker 1: was water or this rancid grapefruit juice. So that was 337 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,159 Speaker 1: my first six Yeah, I just can't do it. I 338 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 1: fully support everyone who enjoys grapefruit, just don't make me participate. 339 00:21:53,760 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 1: It's fine to each of them. I also heard a 340 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,160 Speaker 1: thing about mosquitoes that if you flick them off before 341 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:05,640 Speaker 1: they fully had a chance to do their dirty work, 342 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 1: it itches more because there's some kind of antibody or 343 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:13,639 Speaker 1: something they inject into the bite after they finished that 344 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: makes it like less itchy, kind of like the little 345 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,160 Speaker 1: cheese that you get if you donate blood. Exactly. It's 346 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:22,880 Speaker 1: just like that. I'm not even gonna bother confirming whether 347 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 1: this is true. I just choose to believe it is true. 348 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: But we definitely know it is true. Is there is 349 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:28,879 Speaker 1: a precedent for this kind of research, and we alluded 350 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,840 Speaker 1: to it earlier in the show. But in nine Heinrich 351 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: himmler Um was ordered to create a research station, a 352 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 1: laboratory that was based out of the concentration camp at 353 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: Dakao under the command of the Nazi s S and 354 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 1: that was to focus on studying diseases with the goal 355 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,840 Speaker 1: of protecting the Germans. But some new reports from the 356 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,720 Speaker 1: University of Tubing in an ecologist by the name of 357 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 1: Klaus Reinhardt, indicate that they were actually working on offensive 358 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:03,919 Speaker 1: biological of warfare programs as well. Yeah, just like the 359 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 1: US Chemical Core, you know, and they say it's for 360 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:11,200 Speaker 1: defense or research, but it turns out the potential for 361 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: weaponizing this stuff is just too promising. Yeah. So under 362 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: the Geneva Protocol, Hitler wasn't allowed to use chemical or 363 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: biological weapons during World War Two. But you know, like 364 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 1: we say, we can on paper say, yeah, of course, 365 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 1: we're going to follow the rules of engagement, but behind 366 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,480 Speaker 1: closed doors, he had folks working around the clock to 367 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: uh study the same thing that we're talking about in 368 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:40,159 Speaker 1: the United States, weaponization of mosquitoes and fleas, right, And 369 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,719 Speaker 1: as Klaus Reinhardt points out, reading through the details of 370 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 1: the research seems to indicate that there was a another 371 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:55,959 Speaker 1: research program, a classified project code named dormouse or can 372 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,400 Speaker 1: you give it a shot? In German? How about sieben 373 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,760 Speaker 1: Schaffhle because it's got the umlaut over the a, so 374 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:05,880 Speaker 1: that makes it an a sound. I'm glad you're here. 375 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: We found this in a Smithsonian article. This title is 376 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:13,320 Speaker 1: Golden Nazi scientists wanted to use mosquitoes to send diseases 377 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: behind enemy lines, and that's by Colin Schultz, and it 378 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: goes through this research material that we discussed, and it's 379 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: some of the wording in these documents is what indicates 380 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 1: there may have been a parallel program. So we don't 381 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:29,439 Speaker 1: necessarily know this for a fact or have confirmation, but 382 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,399 Speaker 1: there is some indication. Again, according to Reinhardt, the wording, 383 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:37,879 Speaker 1: he says, um in the German documents suggests that, uh, 384 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:43,560 Speaker 1: they knew that there was a planned release of mosquitoes. Yeah, exactly. 385 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:49,600 Speaker 1: So there's a report dated in September of September twenty three, 386 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,640 Speaker 1: And in this report they have some what we call 387 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,240 Speaker 1: weasel words. They got some wiggle room. They say they're 388 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: carrying out research quote, in order to clarify the question 389 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,639 Speaker 1: whether an artificial mass infection of the malaria parasite onto 390 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: humans is possible and how one can counter in action 391 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: that aims at such mass infection. So the idea here is, 392 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 1: ultimately we're learning how to protect ourselves against weaponized bugs, 393 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: and the way we're going to do that is to 394 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:25,000 Speaker 1: weaponize some bugs and infect a ton of people with malaria. 395 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: And then a pretty uh solid cover story is that 396 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: they were doing this research to prevent plague outbreaks in 397 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:35,840 Speaker 1: the concentration camps with already weakened uh you know, prisoners 398 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:38,520 Speaker 1: of war that were used basically as slave labor um. 399 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:42,440 Speaker 1: So that was an important quality of this research as well. Right, 400 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: they were entirely concerned with the slave labor aspect. It's 401 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:49,800 Speaker 1: not like they were working on people's quality of life. 402 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 1: And I gotta say, you know, I'm surprised that this 403 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,800 Speaker 1: kind of thing has not been more widely reported or 404 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:01,439 Speaker 1: has not happened more often, because it's clearly unethical. But 405 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 1: it would have to be effective. You know, the mosquitoes 406 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,159 Speaker 1: just get in everywhere, the ubiquitous. Well, we know it 407 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,399 Speaker 1: is effective from the way the Japanese used it on 408 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,719 Speaker 1: the Chinese with those insane numbers of casualties. I think 409 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:14,720 Speaker 1: we said in the neighborhood of half a million, Yeah, 410 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:18,720 Speaker 1: four hundred forty thousand. So I guess knock Wood, Thank 411 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: our lucky stars. This hasn't been used more because it 412 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,439 Speaker 1: just sounds like an absolute terror. I mean, even the 413 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:27,000 Speaker 1: testing in Savannah. Can you imagine having that many bitey 414 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 1: mosquitoes dropped on you during the heat of summer and 415 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, like, where are these clouds of 416 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:36,680 Speaker 1: you know, insects coming from? It sounds like a biblical plague. Yeah, 417 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:40,359 Speaker 1: and Savannah already has an atomic bomb resting in the 418 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: water off the coast. Yeah. Man, they can't get a break. 419 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:44,960 Speaker 1: They can't get a break. I have to ask I 420 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:46,800 Speaker 1: have to ask you guys. Okay, So, no, you have 421 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 1: what they in the South call sweet blood. Yeah right, 422 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: because mosquitoes bite you love me, casey, what about you? 423 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:57,920 Speaker 1: Are bugs a fan of your blood? Unfortunately? Yes they are. Wow. Well, 424 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:02,240 Speaker 1: maybe maybe you guys should incorporate some garlic onions, but 425 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: I eat a lot of garlic and fruit to rub 426 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:08,480 Speaker 1: it on my actual body. Or yes, while intoning uh 427 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,960 Speaker 1: intoning the phrase bugs, bugs go away, drink my blood 428 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,399 Speaker 1: another day. I'll remember that for next time. And you, folks, 429 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,719 Speaker 1: for next time, remember to check us out on Facebook. 430 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,520 Speaker 1: Our group is called the Ridiculous Historians. You can be 431 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:24,800 Speaker 1: a member. All you gotta do is invoke my name, 432 00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 1: Casey's name, Ben's name, all three, or just make a 433 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,240 Speaker 1: funny joke that makes us laugh. Yeah, give me a 434 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:34,320 Speaker 1: T shirt idea too, that's if it's a good T shirt. Wow, 435 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:37,400 Speaker 1: that sounds harsh. I promise if you if you send 436 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: a good T shirt idea, or even one that we 437 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:42,880 Speaker 1: don't end up using, that's not grounds for rejection. And 438 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,000 Speaker 1: those sweet T shirt ideas may or may not end 439 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:47,360 Speaker 1: up in our t public store t public dot com 440 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:49,960 Speaker 1: slash Ridiculous History, where you can buy all kinds of 441 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,480 Speaker 1: ridiculous swag, including the brand new Casey on the Case 442 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,960 Speaker 1: childhood Modeling photo T shirt that to me looks like 443 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: some kind of cool indie rock like Dinosaur Junior Sonic 444 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: Youth shirt. I am actually I've got one packed in 445 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,439 Speaker 1: my bag for my upcoming trip and I plan to 446 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 1: rocket all over New York City. They did a fantastic 447 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: job with that when also also Casey, by the way, 448 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: huge thanks again for letting us do that. I know 449 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,119 Speaker 1: I bugged you for a while. No I love how 450 00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:22,399 Speaker 1: it turned out. So all's well well, So get you 451 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: to get you one of those shirts. If you don't 452 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:26,280 Speaker 1: want to do that, which you should, you can check 453 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:29,520 Speaker 1: us out on Instagram. Me and Ben exist independently of 454 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,120 Speaker 1: the show. I am at how Now Noel Brown I post. 455 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:34,560 Speaker 1: You know my stories are fun. You can check me 456 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:36,479 Speaker 1: out hanging out with my kid eating a lot of 457 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:40,360 Speaker 1: fancy foods at different eateries around town in the United States. 458 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:43,000 Speaker 1: And Ben, you're on there too, aren't you. The rumors 459 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:46,480 Speaker 1: are true. You can find me on Instagram getting kicked 460 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 1: into and out of various countries. I am at Ben 461 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 1: Bowling there, and you can find me on Twitter hot 462 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: takes left and right. I am at Ben Bolling h 463 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 1: s W. We want to give a huge, huge thanks, 464 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 1: of course to you super produce Casey Pegram, to you 465 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: folks listening, and also to Alex Williams who composed our 466 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,760 Speaker 1: track Ye Gay Bluesier our research associate and friend Chris 467 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 1: frasciotis here in spirit is always Jonathan Strickland, the quist joh. 468 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:13,760 Speaker 1: I'm starting to warm up to his antics a little bit. 469 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: It is his birthday today, is we record HBD J 470 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: strick Yeah. I just walked by, shot him a little 471 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: finger gun and said, happy New Year, bro. I'll shoot 472 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 1: him a different finger when I walked by. Okay, I 473 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 1: feel like you might, but it will accompany birthday wishes. 474 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: So let us know. Let us know what you think 475 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 1: about these strange sorts of experiments, not just entomological warfare, 476 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: but also the use of animals and war in general. 477 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 1: We have never done what would be a lighthearted and 478 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 1: delightful episode on animals who got military ranks. No, that's 479 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 1: just adorable. Okay, we gotta do that. We gotta do 480 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,040 Speaker 1: that one. And if you want to send us those recommendations, 481 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: you can write to us at ridiculous at my heart 482 00:29:55,200 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 1: radio dot com. See you next time, folks. Yeah. For 483 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,360 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the I heart 484 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,280 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your 485 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: favorite shows.