- [Narrator] Top secret. Are there any two more enticing words? Well, free pie comes close but I'm watching my figure. Anyway, war is big business and countless incredible
technological marvels have been devised on behalf of
this controversial industry. Understandably, the development of these game-changing
weapons has to be kept super hush hush. So from nuclear powered tanks to covert heart attack guns, here's some of the most unbelievable top secret military weapons revealed. (dramatic music) - Whoa.
(magical pinging) - [Narrator] Covert control. Oh, to be a fly on the wall when a US official demanded secretive research be carried out into telepathic ray guns. Wait. What? Yeah, you heard that correctly. A declassified US army report
from 1998 revealed that at one point the CIA was
considering utilizing a selection of energy weapons, capable
of disorienting targets creating artificial fevers
and even beaming voices into people's heads, seriously. And while some of these
insane weapons stayed purely conceptual, others
were actually tested. The wildest was something
akin to a telepathic ray gun. Essentially, when fired at someone, it could make them hear things that weren't audible to anybody else. Whoa, it worked using something
called the Fray Effect. Hear me out. It turns out that due to its dimensions, the human head is a good antenna for picking up microwave radiation. Because of this microwaves can induce a slight temperature change in certain parts of our
brain and auditory system. This change causes them to expand slightly becoming temporarily misshapen
and causing us to hear sounds like clicking and buzzing that technically aren't really there. Right. You can imagine the potential
the CIA would've seen this for, I don't know,
mind control or something. Fortunately, it seems that
despite successful testing the weapons were never
actually used in the field. Or have I just been
programmed to tell you that? Colossal Cannon. Throughout World War II allied and Access forces
decimated each other's cities with air raids. But as the war raged
on Germany wanted a new more effective way to strike
directly at the heart of London without the British
knowing what was coming. Their answer? Enormous 430 foot long
mega cannons called V3s. Damn. But hold on. How do you keep a project this big even remotely secret from the Brits? You construct the weapons
100 feet underground within a sprawling hidden
fortress of course. The Germans began installing
the ginormous guns in axis occupied northern France so they could be aimed perfectly across the channel at London. Yes, these guns were
devised to hit their target from up to 100 miles away. The massive barrels were fitted with pairs of explosive boosters which triggered when the
projectile was fired up, the chamber passed them
propelling it faster and further and there wasn't going to be just one or two of these monstrosities, oh no. 25 were commissioned to be built. As an extra precaution
German military referred to the project as Hochdruckpumpe
or high pressure pump, so any prying ears wouldn't know what they were talking about. London was doomed, surely. Well, it turns out, building
a huge underground fortress filled with 25 massive cannons
isn't so easy to keep secret. A special RAF surveillance
unit quickly noticed the suspicious operation,
and though they weren't sure what it was correctly
assumed it wasn't good news. So in November, 1943, British
forces dropped over 4,000 tons of aerial bombs onto the site. Despite all this firepower,
though, the attacks had little impact due to the strength of the underground structure. However, a redoubled effort
in 1944 fared much better. The second attempt used
special deep penetration bombs and ended up obliterating the
cannons causing the fortress to cave in and ultimately saving London. As it turns out, though, the guns might never have fired anyway. We now know that the V3 was
plagued with technical problems from day one and initial
tests weren't very promising. Whatever happened to that
famous German engineering? Spy 'N' Fly. From the end of World
War II through till 1991, the US and Russia were locked in a battle of conflicting
ideologies known as the Cold War though not a war in the
traditional sense, it was a time of great paranoia with both
sides constantly trying to develop new ways of
spying on one another. US manufacturer, Lockheed
Martin had a solution. The SR-71 Blackbird. Introduced in 1966 but in secret development
for years beforehand it's widely considered
one of the most advanced reconnaissance planes in existence. That unique angled shape
reflects enemy radar signals and a special paint covers the jet which absorbs any signals
that aren't bounced off making it tough for
enemy systems to detect. Outside of its stealth prowess though, the SR-71 had another stunning advantage. This spy plane was fast, very fast. Despite being built around 50 years ago it still holds the speed record for sustained flight
capable of hitting Mach 3.3. Put simply Mach speed is
when an object moves faster than the speed of sound. So Mach 3.3 is roughly 3.3
times faster than the speed at which sound waves travel
or about 2,100 miles per hour. Whoa, if this jet, black jet was under attack rather than
beginning evasive maneuvers it'd simply accelerate to
avoid enemy missiles, crazy. During the blackbird's
development in the 1960s, Lockheed needed a way
to transport the beast from its factory in California all the way to the test site in area 51 without revealing what they were moving. The solution? They set up a fake delivery company called Roadrunner International. Now that's what I call
commitment to a bit. Disguised CIA and Air
Force operatives covered the humongous cargo from prying eyes and drove it some 250 miles cross country and nobody was any the wiser. Sounds like something out
of a James Bond flick. But amazingly, it's all true
though it is a little strange that a truck this big
didn't draw any suspicion. These days it'd be all
over Twitter in an hour. My latest videos won't be though. They're staying right here. And if you wanna keep up to date with all my amazing content,
the solution's no secret . Hit those Like and Subscribe
buttons down below. All finished? Great stuff. Let's take another peek into these classified
files I stumbled across. The kiss of death. The Cold War era saw the
use of a huge variety of secret spy weaponry, many of which are so ingenious Inspector
Gadget would've been proud to wield them. Meet the lipstick gun known affectionately as the Kiss of Death. This little device looked like
an ordinary tube of lipstick but it was actually a
cleverly concealed firearm. When the lipstick's case was
swiveled in the right way, a single bullet would be
fired from the barrel. You only got one shot and it was wildly inaccurate
beyond a couple of feet away. But if a covert assassin got close enough to their target, it was more
than enough to do the trick. The makeup weapon was discovered in West Berlin at an
American checkpoint in 1965. It was confiscated from a Soviet spy, though we can't be sure
who they were intending to use it on. Now it's safely housed in the International Spy
Museum in Washington DC. Given the secretive nature of spy weapons there's no telling how
many were manufactured or how many were effectively used. You know what they say, though, if looks could kill. Saucer Speeders. Just like everybody else in the world I'm still waiting for my hover car. If things had gone a little differently, however, we may have already had them. Back in 1952 the Canadian government funded a project to create a vertical
takeoff saucer capable of flying at supersonic speeds. Meet the Avrocar. It could float by utilizing
an air cushion created by the exhaust of a
single jet powered rotor on the underside of the vehicle. So yes, this is a literal flying saucer, or at least it would've been. In 1958 the US took over the project after Canada deemed it
too expensive to continue. The Army wanted to use
it as a troop transport and the Air Force wanted to use it as a supersonic recon plane. Two test cars were eventually produced, but neither of them were
fit for either purpose. Far from being supersonic,
the saucers could barely hit 35 miles per hour. You know, about 22 times slower. On top of this they couldn't make it fly any higher than three feet off the ground before it
became completely unstable. Considering how expensive it was looking to carry on the US decided
to just pull the plug and cut their losses. Man, don't get me wrong,
the Avrocar was cool as hell but cool doesn't defend a nation. If it did, they'd just send
me to do all their dirty work. Mystery jets. And now from the studio that
brought you the SR-71 Blackbird it's the next step in bizarre sci-fi looking stealth planes. Secretly introduced to
the US Air Force in 1983. This is the F-117 Nighthawk and it used similar principles to the SR-71 to remain incognito. This time, however, its radar
reflective shape was so hot that experienced pilots didn't even believe it could get
airborne when they first saw it. They were wrong, of course although only capable of flying at a third of the speed
of Lockheed's SR-71, the Nighthawk was a very capable flyer designed not as a reconnaissance
plane, but an attack jet. As such, Nighthawk pilots
didn't participate in dog fights but instead targeted ground forces with surprise stealth attacks. The Nighthawk was kept so secret that when it was finally acknowledged by the US government in 1988,
it had already been flying for five years and it wouldn't be shown to the public for another
two years after that in 1990. Despite eventually being
phased out in favor of more modern craft, these
striking planes are still used for military training today and have a firm place in popular culture. The government shroud of
secrecy has also given rise to legends of other classified
aircraft like this one. The Aurora Black Triangle. Sightings of this mystery
jet began in the '80s and persisted until the early 2000s, despite the US government
denying it ever existed. According to rumor, it was
designed as a successor to the iconic Blackbird and could reach outrageous
speeds of Mach 6. The specifics of its
capabilities vary from source to source, though as is
often the case with hearsay. Given what we know about
how secret the Nighthawk was at the time, do you think that
something like the Aurora was or is being flown around
above us or is it just aliens? Let me know down below. Choo-Choo Pain. For all the ingenious breakthroughs made during the Second World War,
there were a fair few duds. Enter the Gustav Rail Cannon. This beastly behemoth was an enormous 155 foot long cannon
that weighed 1,490 tons and traveled along rail tracks in theory creating transportable
ordinance of immense power. The gun was covertly conceived by German arms manufacturer Krupp before the war had even
started to assist German forces with a potential invasion of France. The only thing was by the time they actually did invade France in
1940, the gun wasn't ready. Good start, right? It was ready, however, to be used in the German invasion of
Russia two years later. The only problem was it turned out to be a complete logistical nightmare. The cannon was to be transported to Crimea in May, 1942 for its first proper usage. Only to move it, the whole
thing needed to be dismantled, transported then rebuilt again, and that's a whole lot of heavy parts. It took thousands of soldiers
over a month to set it all up and build the tracks
required to move it from Germany to Crimea. Geez. So after all that, how did it go? Well, impressively, it worked. The colossal weapon was deployed
in the siege of Sevastopol and fired, devastating
seven ton shells at the city day in day out. Within a month Sevastopol lay in ruins. However, despite the gun's effectiveness it was the only time
it would ever be used. It was disassembled and moved near Linen Gro*** in
preparation for another attack. But the attack never went ahead. With no further use for it, the Germans destroyed
the cannon to prevent it from being captured
and reverse-engineered. Wow, what a massive waste. Get it? Because it was really big. You can have that one if you want. Atomic Heart. If you think of a futuristic
nuclear powered tank something like this
probably comes to mind. High tech, intimidating, and
frankly, pretty damn cool. Unfortunately, though,
this tank isn't real. It's just some nifty artwork
that's been doing the rounds on the internet. The real first draft of a futuristic nuclear power
tank was a lot different. See, after World War II ended everybody thought everything was going to be nuclear powered. Cars, homes, and of course weapons. So in the 1950s, US
automobile manufacturer, Chrysler, began designing an atomic tank. the Chrysler TV-8. It looks more like a bathtub
than a lethal machine. The idea was that everything
essential would be stored safely inside that weird fishbowl turret from the engine to the crew. Apparently, the strange shape
would help the tank cope with the effects of a nuclear blast. Right, I don't really see how, do you? More understandable is the fuel source. The low enriched uranium
that was to be used as fuel was a colossal 108,000 times more efficient than diesel. So whilst the traditional
gasoline tank would need to be frequently refueled,
the TV-8 could keep on rolling pretty much forever
or indeed keep on swimming. Yet the turret was designed
to be watertight and buoyant and the back of the tank was equipped with jets so it could propel
itself through the water. Cool. So why don't we see atomic tanks rolling through battlefields today? Well, ultimately, they
just weren't deemed to have any noticeable advantage
over conventional tanks. Sure, they could travel
for ages, but in battle most tanks are lost because of other tanks not because they run out of fuel. Plus, come on, this
thing is nuclear powered. If it did get destroyed, it'd
probably irradiate a huge part of the battlefield, creating
even more casualties. Yeah, no tanks. Wonder Weapons. As we know, the Second
World War didn't go so well for the German army. As the tide of battle
turned against Germany, its increasingly desperate
leadership scrambled to turn things around. One answer was the development of so-called Wonder
Weapons or Wunderwaffe. These weapons ranged from
a giant orbital space gun to stealth bombers and had
varying levels of success. As you might have guessed,
the space gun didn't make it off the drawing board, but
it was seriously considered. Though development was kept tightly under wraps from most of the weapons, the German propaganda
machine proudly showed some of them off to boost inhaling
domestic public's morale. One Wunderwaffe that saw actual use in the field was the STG-44 rifle. The first true assault rifle ever made and the inspiration for
both the AK-47 and M-16. But the STG is run of the mill compared to some of the wonder weapons that were rumored to be in production. The most iconic of these is
the Die Glocke or The Bell. What the hell was The Bell? Well, we don't really know other than it was apparently
big and bell-shaped. Okay then. Some say it was a UFO, others
an anti-gravity machine. Others still a time machine. Whatever the mysterious
machine was, it's rumored that the technology used to
create it was traded to the US after the War in exchange
for a captive German officer. Of course, there's absolutely
no evidence to back this up or that Die Glocke itself ever existed in the first place. If America really did
gain access to this tech, where are all the UFO cars or time machines on street corners? Still, their rumors had to come
from somewhere, didn't they? Spooky Spirit. As we've established stealthy
aircraft were all the rage during the Cold War, and in the early '80s secretive plans were well
underway for the B-2 Spirit, a US stealth bomber capable of dropping both conventional
and nuclear explosives. In other words, an absolute unit. So it would've been pretty big news if the Soviets had caught drift of it. Wouldn't you agree? Well, in 1984, Thomas Cavanaugh, an aerospace engineer who
was working on the bomber, saw an opportunity for big profit. See, Cavanaugh was going
through a tough divorce and was in a lot of debt. Needless to say, he
needed a cash injection. So in desperation, he managed to get in contact with some Soviet spies and offer over the
secrets of the B-2 Spirit. Unfortunately, for
crafty Cavanaugh, however the Soviet spies he was dealing with turned out to be
undercover FBI agents. Yikes. He was probably arrested
and imprisoned for 16 years. Damn. The B-2 itself wouldn't
even enter active service until 1997 when Cavanaugh was in his 12th year of imprisonment, and by that time the Cold
War was very much over. Because of that and the fact just one of these bad boys cost an
astronomical $1 billion to produce, only 21 planes were ever made. 1 billion? If I was president, we'd
be putting that money towards useful things like
Be Amazed merchandise. Gunny-Moon. Everyone knows about the
moon landing in 1969. It was the culmination
of an epic space race between the USA and Russia to essentially prove who
had the biggest rocket. But what if both sides
had reached the moon at the same time and
things had gotten tense? Well, the Pentagon had a
top secret plan for that Moon guns. No, I'm not kidding. A totally real branch of the US Army called
the Future Weapons Office spent the '50s and '60s
conceiving a series of weapons that could be
used to battle the communists for control of the moon. See, conventional guns wouldn't
be very useful in space. For one the extreme temperatures
could cause the firearms to either freeze up or explode. Secondly, recoil and
zero gravity could quite literally send a soldier flying
off backwards after firing. To remedy this, the space
shooters were conceived as gas powered or spring
loaded dart weapons that would work whatever the temperature and have minimal recoil, and
some of them were utterly wild. This is a handheld claymore rifle. The claymore at the end would detonate and fire shrapnel forward at foes. Then this so-called micro gun is some kind of pistol style dart gun. Finally, we've got this,
which, well, it looks more like a BB gun than anything,
capable of doing damage. Regardless, the wacky
concepts never made it out of the design phase,
which I'm just fine with. The moon doesn't need to be turned into a "Fortnite" arena, thanks. Ghost Ship. Cast your mind back a few minutes. Remember the Nighthawk jet? Well, after its massive success, Lockheed Martin set their sights on using the same stealth
tech on different things. Stealth toasters, stealth
toilets, stealth boats. Okay, only that last one though,
there could still be a gap in the market for a cover covert toaster. The goal was to apply
the stealth principles of the Nighthawk to a boat which
they called The Sea Shadow. This robotic looking ship
was manufactured in 1984 in complete secrecy. To keep the project under wraps, its entire construction took place inside a submersible barge in California. I mean, it'd be way too obvious
to have huge parts lugged down to the docks every day. Just look how a piece of one of the UK's dread knot
submarines was transported. It's not exactly subtle, is it? Anyway, for all the effort that was put into keeping the shadow a secret, after its testing phase it
mysteriously ceased development, and we don't really know why. Eventually in 2006, the US
Navy put the boat up for sale under one condition. The buyer couldn't actually
sail it, and it was only to be used for scrap. So unsurprisingly, it
didn't garner much interest. Man, and I was looking for a new location for my
super villain layer too. Cardiac Colt. Back in the 1970s, the US public's faith and their government was
at a historic low point. President Nixon had just been
found guilty of corruption and Congress had been forced to investigate America's
intelligence agencies. They found something utterly insane. A hit or two unknown CIA heart attack gun. Yep. This modified Colt M1911 was designed to silently fire darts made
from frozen water mixed with deadly shellfish toxin. Straight after penetrating
the victim's skin, the darts would melt, releasing the toxin within and shutting down the
victim's cardiovascular system. To an onlooker and indeed,
even post autopsy, it appeared to have been nothing more
than a natural heart attack. Shellfish toxin is
incredibly hard to detect, and with no bullet, there's
no way to trace something like this back to its source,
nobody to hold accountable. Ugh, whether the pistol was
actually ever used or not we just don't know. But my bet's on it was. The Ninja bomb. Next in the super wacky weapon catalog is the US Military's latest and
greatest, the R9X Missile. Also known as the Ninja Bomb. This thing is absolutely crazy. See, unlike most missiles the R9X doesn't actually,
you know, explode. So what the heck's the point? Get this. When the missile is about to make impact with its target, six massive
metal blades fold out of it like some enormous
angry Swiss army knife. The idea is that this unconventional
weapon will land directly on top of its target and get to work without any collateral damage
or unnecessary casualties. I get it. But man, that sounds horrific for the unfortunate sucker this thing has been programmed to hit and it's being utilized right now. As recently as August, 2022, president Joe Biden announced the removal of Al-Qaeda's number one
operative, and it turns out the then classified
R9X was responsible. It may sound like something
out of "Itchy And Scratchy" but it definitely seems effective. Effective and absolutely terrifying. Ragnarok. Buckle up, we've had attempts
to cause heart attacks, beam thoughts into people's
heads and wage war on the moon but none of those declassified
calamities compared to the one you're about to see. In 1967, a US scientist wrote to the CIA with a seemingly bonkers idea. What if we could control lightning? I'm totally serious. Rather than throw the letter
straight into the trash, the CIA genuinely considered the logistics of harnessing lightning
storms as deadly weapons. The core principle was very basic. Lightning is formed of electricity which is attracted to metal. So by unfurling long lines of
metal wire from an aircraft. the CIA hoped the wires
would attract lightning manipulating its path and sending it wherever the US commanded. Okay then. The best part? It'd be almost impossible to pen the blame for such an attack on anybody. In other words, it was
the perfect covert weapon. I mean, it'd have to be put
down to a freak accident, right? It wasn't me, it was Thor. (narrator laughs) But there were a few layering issues. First, you'd only be
able to utilize lightning if a lightning storm was about to happen which is one pretty huge if. Let's say the weather
was on your side though, even then your target would
need to be practically inside the storm for the plane
to successfully fly overhead, catch lightning on the wire and lead the electrified wire close enough to the target to shock them. Oh yeah, and there's also the little thing of flying a plane through
a storm in the first place. Man, forget it. You know, I'm beginning to
see why people just use guns. Well, I'd better stop revealing all these secrets to you now. I don't want the FBI on my tail again. Which of those super secret
weapons did you think was the most mind blowing? Let me know down in the comments below. and thanks for watching.
(mellow music)
