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for Morning Brew right now! The CIA- the world's second-most feared intelligence
agency, first place naturally goes to the Russian FSB. But what the CIA lacks in technique versus
its Russian competition, it more than makes up for in sheer crazy. Get ready to learn about the craziest CIA
covert operations. 10. Spying Is For The Birds- Literally
It's the height of the Cold War, east versus west, democracy versus stalinism. With nuclear weapons aimed at each other's
throats, the US and Soviet Union are in a struggle for the very fate of the world itself. In this high stakes, winner-take-all, zero-sum
game, the United States unveils its newest weapon- a pigeon. Well, not just one pigeon, but thousands of
them, all released in eastern europe with the hopes they'll drop sensors that will help
the US learn where the Soviet Union is conducting chemical weapon tests. Pigeons were even trained to fly cameras over
facilities, with surprisingly good quality images being returned. But pigeons are far from the only birds enlisted
to defeat the Reds, and ravens too are put to task fighting for freedom and the American
way. These specially clever animals are trained
to drop off listening devices on window sills that are otherwise inaccessible, and in at
least one operation a red laser beam was used to guide a raven to a target, drop off the
bug, and then return to its handler with the use of a special lamp. Sadly that particular operation yielded no
usable intelligence, as the bug failed to work properly, but the CIA would go on to
successfully use birds in many still-classified operations. With the ability to fly loads up to 40 grams,
there's little doubt that in today's age of smart, miniaturized electronics, birds are
once more on the front lines of the CIA's covert wars. But the CIA’s next crazy operation truly
takes things out of this world... 9. Flying Saucers From... The Earth? In the 1950s flying saucers were all the rage,
and it seemed like everybody was seeing one every other day. With events like Roswell and the real-life
flying saucer invasion of Washington though, we can hardly blame boomers for being afraid
of aliens from outer space or south of the border. During the height of flying saucer mania,
the CIA and the Air Force both got an idea- what if there was something to flying saucers? If alien flying saucers could cross the void
of space, surely they would do a pretty good job of flying around the earth, right? With generous funding from the federal government's
black budget, the CIA and Air Force began collaborating on a flying saucer shaped vehicle
that could fly spy missions deep in the Soviet union and shoot down bombers- after all, what
better cover for a secret CIA vehicle than making it look like an alien is piloting it? Turns out there's a reason UFOs are claimed
to use all sorts of science fiction technology like magnetic levitation or even ESP- because
without it they fly about as well as a drunk frisbee. After an unknown number of years in testing,
the flying saucer program was finally canceled in 1961, as the design was deemed completely
uncontrollable at high speeds and aerodynamically unstable. The CIA is meant to protect Americans, but
the next crazy covert operation made the CIA an enemy of the American people…
8. Operation Blame-The-Cubans
It's 1962, and the Soviets have done the unthinkable- cooperate with Cuba to place Soviet military
forces literally next-door to America... you know, sort of the way that the US had placed
nuclear missiles in Turkey and on the Soviet Union's doorstep. Something had to be done about Cuban/Soviet
cooperation before the relationship got too chummy, and that something was an invasion. Only one problem: how to justify an invasion
of a tiny country that had absolutely nothing to do with the US? No worries, because the CIA quickly came to
the rescue. Proposed to President John F. Kennedy, who
immediately rejected the idea and fired more than a few of the CIA's top brass, Operation
Northwoods was a convoluted plan to, in essence, carry out terrorist attacks all across the
US, and blame them on Cuban operatives. Plans included assassinations, the bombing
of a restaurant in Washington D.C., riots, and other acts of terrorism. Basically, the CIA was seeking permission
to go all Grand Theft Auto on the US and then blame it on the Cubans. Thankfully Kennedy immediately shot down the
proposal, and along with it the careers of several CIA personnel. Who says the CIA doesn’t have a heart though? The next CIA operation was all about turning
former enemies into close new friends... 7. Operation Paperclip
After long years of fighting Nazi Germany, one thing was clear- Nazis were terrible,
but they were pretty brilliant about coming up with ways to kill people. With the freeze of the Cold War setting in,
the United States desperately needed some of that good old fashioned Nazi murder know-how
for itself. Barely one year after the end of hostilities,
US President authorized Operation Paperclip, handled by the Office of Strategic Services
and predecessor to the CIA. The goal of Paper Clip was simple: lure or
threaten former Nazi scientists into making the move to the United States and working
for America. With the other option being getting swept
up by Soviet KGB agents and forced to make missiles in Siberia, it wasn't exactly a hard
sell getting Nazi scientists to make the move out to sunny California. The project remains one of the most controversial
aspects of the post-World War II period, as many Nazi scientists who should have rightly
been tried as war criminals were instead granted a free pass to live a very comfortable life
in the US in exchange for their genius. One man in particular, Wernher von Braun,
helped establish the American space program and masterminded the Apollo missions- but
received lifelong criticism for his role in developing V2 rockets to be used on civilians
in Britain. The next CIA crazy covert operation is one
they don’t want you learning about, so feel free to shut this video off now… no, really,
Uncle Sam would thank you. 6. Let The CIA Do Your Thinking For You
The Cold War was a terrifying time for the world, with the US and Soviet Union locked
in a bid for global supremacy. There was just one problem: why should an
auto plant worker from Detroit, or a farmer from the Russian Urals care? What stake did the average Soviet or American
citizen really have in the world's greatest international penis measuring contest to date? Turns out the average joe on either side of
the Iron Curtain had little stake in the posturing between east and west, but the CIA and KGB
were here to fix that. Operation Mockingbird was a still little understood
operation undertaken by the CIA to convince Americans that Russians were bad. While the full extent of the CIA's reach is
still not known, a former investigation in the 1970s revealed 50 journalists at the country's
most influential newspapers all had secret links to the CIA, and were compensated to
run CIA approved articles. The program was eventually shut down for,
ironically, mirroring the exact same press manipulation and intimidation tactics that
the Soviets used and freedom-loving, apple pie eating Americans were supposed to abhor. Still, rumors persist to this day that the
program never really ended, with QAnon believers now claiming that every headline they don't
like is part of Operation Mockingbird. Like survival challenges, pooping in the woods,
and learning to fight like a guerilla fighter? Well then the Cold War era CIA sure had a
job for you… 5. The CIA Created The Original Doomsday Preppers
During the Cold War nothing kept the CIA awake at night more than the thought of Soviet tanks
steamrolling the free countries of Western Europe. The paranoia of a Soviet invasion was so high
that the CIA and US military, along with NATO members, cooperated in the creation of a top
secret counter-invasion force. Codenamed Operation Gladio, members of NATO
set about creating secret armies, personnel from all walks of life who would remain behind
in case of Soviet invasion and engage in a guerilla war of resistance. The plan was simple- without using nuclear
weapons to stop them, Soviet armies would easily reach all the way to France before
the US could transfer the bulk of its forces to Europe. Rather than fight a certain-to-be-lost battle,
nations all over the border with the Soviet bloc would fight retreating actions, while
leaving behind large amounts of clandestine forces. Once the Soviets swept past them, these secret
armies would rise up to wreak havoc on Soviet supply and communication lines, grinding the
Soviet advance to a halt. Operation Gladio was so secret that even some
of the highest ranking members of government and military in the nations these secret armies
were staged in had no idea of their existence. It would only be at the end of the Cold War
that the secret of these ghost armies would finally be revealed. Ironically, the world would also learn that
despite all the paranoia, the Soviet Union didn't have a single plan to ever preemptively
invade Western Europe, and was in fact just as terrified as the West that NATO would invade
it first. The next crazy CIA covert operation was definitely
the cat’s meow… 4. Eavesdropping Kitties
The internet loves cats, this is fact. Turns out, the CIA also loves cats- or at
least used to. Operation Acoustic Kitty may have sounded
like a traditional code name meant to throw off anyone who learned its name as to its
true nature, but for once, this codename was spot on. Gathering intelligence was of utmost importance
during the Cold War, and the best way to do that was to eavesdrop on people. Problem is, trained spies are pretty good
at realizing they're being listened to, and technology to help detect bugs and even long-range
listening devices was getting better and better every passing year. Enter the humble kitty cat. At some point, a CIA R&D specialist with way
too much time on their hands got the brilliant idea of using cats to spy on people. After all, cats are pretty innocuous, and
unless you're suffering from crippling mental illness, you're not likely to think your cat
is spying on you. To accomplish the task of creating spy kitties,
the CIA surgically implanted microphones onto cats, with a wire leading to a transmitter
implanted on the cat's tail. Unsurprisingly, the plan met with little success,
as training the cats and getting them to do what they were told to do proved entirely
too difficult even for a global spy agency like the CIA. Literally any cat owner could've told them
that though and saved the US government millions of dollars. Also the first test cat was apparently run
over in its first field trial, just seconds after being released- though the CIA continues
to deny said kitty was actually killed. Let’s face it, when the Cold War started
the Soviet Union didn’t just have the better spy agency, they had better technology- but
the CIA was determined to change that… 3. 'Borrowing' A Soviet Satellite
In the 1960s it was clear that the Soviets were winning the space race, with America
coming in at a distant second. The Soviets didn't just trumpet their accomplishments
in space though, they decided to rub it in America's face by putting their Lunik satellite
on a world tour. As the first spacecraft to approach the moon
and return, it represented the state of the art at the time, and the cutting edge of human
exploration. While the Lunik was on tour, the CIA decided
it would 'borrow' the spacecraft for a night, and take the entire thing apart bolt by bolt
to learn everything it could about Soviet space engineering. The truck carrying the satellite was intercepted
and the driver 'encouraged' to take the night off at a local hotel, under CIA guard. Meanwhile, CIA agents and American engineers
went to work on the Lunik. Over the course of the night they photographed
every square inch of the spacecraft, though sadly, most of the electronics were missing. The next morning the original driver was returned
and compensated for his silence. The next crazy CIA covert operation was perhaps,
their most infamous- even if it was a complete failure… 2. Operation Kill Castro
There's perhaps few rivalries in history more famous than that of the CIA and Fidel Castro. For years the CIA did its best to kill him,
and yet Castro would go on to die peacefully at a ripe old age, having outlived many of
the agents who's job had been to end his life. Known as Operation Mongoose, for almost three
years the CIA tried everything in its power to kill Castro, floating such insane ideas
as exploding sea shells, diving suits laced with poisonous fungus, and of course, exploding
cigars. The intensity of the CIA's attempts to kill
Castro actually ended up leading to the creation of his own cigar company, to ensure the safety
and security of Castro's beloved cigars. Plot after plot was either attempted or brainstormed
and rejected as impractical. One attempt to poison his shoes as he left
them out for cleaning by hotel staff was canceled at the last minute because Castro was at the
time visiting the UN, and it was believed it would make the US look bad if Castro bit
the dust as he was attending a peaceful international assembly. Another plot involved training a former lover
to assassinate him in private, and after months of preparation and training by the CIA, the
lover was sent back to Cuba and managed to spend the night with him... only to fall back
in love with him and admit to the entire plot. The true length and breadth of the insanity
that the CIA explored in their attempt to kill Castro may never be known, but the plots
that are public knowledge hint at a legacy of incredibly inventive assassination attempts,
which all failed or were impractical in hilarious ways. Our number one crazy CIA covert operation
is one who’s terrible legacy will never, ever truly be known… 1. MK-Ultra
At last we have it, the single most insane CIA operation ever attempted- that we know
of anyways. Known as MK-Ultra, the CIA's attempt to develop
psychic powers is legendary, and without a doubt the most bat-shit crazy waste of taxpayer
money in US history. Officially running for twenty years, MK-Ultra
sought every way conceivable to control a subject's mind. Nothing was out of the question, and no idea
was too insane to try. Claims by self-proclaimed psychics and mentalists
were explored, their techniques analyzed and scrutinized. Chemists toiled for years to create cocktails
of chemicals capable of controlling a person's mind. Even zombie drugs used by voodoo practitioners
were explored. Nothing was off limits during the age of MK-Ultra,
though one drug in particular drew a great deal of attention: LSD. The CIA explored every possible use of LSD
for the purpose of making enemy spies compliant, and willing to give up their secrets. It was no secret that the agency would routinely
expose its own agents to LSD in a bid to examine its effects, once even dosing an entire office
party celebrating a birthday. The full range and extent of MK-Ultra may
never be known, as when the rest of the government started getting wind of the insanity the CIA
was engaged in, not to mention the dubious moral nature of many of its experiments, the
CIA immediately began destroying records. To this day nobody knows just how far the
CIA took their mind-control experiments- or what success they may have found- but the
legacy of MK-Ultra is a murky one indeed, with many deaths and broken lives blamed on
the CIA's secret experiments. Now go check out insane ways the US tried
to take out Castro, or click this other video instead!
CSI writers. not an actual government agency.