Gay bomb

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This article is about the chemical weapon. For the controversial Afghanistan War photograph, see fag bomb.

The "Halitosis bomb" and "Gay bomb" are informal names for two theoretical non-lethal chemical weapons, which a United States Air Force research laboratory speculated about producing.

In 1994 the Wright Laboratory in Ohio, a predecessor to today's United States Air Force Research Laboratory, produced a three-page proposal on a variety of possible nonlethal chemical weapons, which was later obtained—complete with marginal jottings and typos—by the Sunshine Project through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Contents

[edit] Leaked documents

In both of the documents, the possibility was canvassed that a strong aphrodisiac could be dropped on enemy troops, ideally one which would also cause "homosexual behavior". The documents described the aphrodisiac weapon as "distasteful but completely non-lethal". The "New Discoveries Needed" section of one of the documents implicitly acknowledges that no such chemicals are actually known. The reports also include many other off-beat ideas, such as spraying enemy troops with bee pheromones and then hiding numerous beehives in the combat area, and a chemical weapon that would give the enemy bad breath.

[edit] Body odors

Body odor remote-engineering, such as halitosis and hyperhidrosis, was another possibility discussed. How these would be produced would again be by a non-lethal chemical weapon -- possibly one that would affect the hormonal and digestive systems. Diabetes which is also another frequently reported ailment, can of course contribute to this goal. It appears that a 'heavy sweating bomb', 'flatulence bomb' and 'halitosis bomb' were also considered by a committee at the time. The plan was to make an enemy so smelly they could be quite literally sniffed out of hiding by their opponents. It was also considered fairly damaging to the enemy's morale as well.

[edit] Ig Nobel Prize awards

Wright Laboratory won the 2007 Ig Nobel Peace Prize for "instigating research & development on a chemical weapon—the so-called 'gay bomb' / 'poof bomb' —that will make enemy soldiers become sexually irresistible to each other."[1] However, Air Force personnel contacted were not willing to attend the award ceremony at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre to accept the award in person.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Winners of the Ig Nobel Prize". Improbable Research. 2007. http://www.improb.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig2007. Retrieved on 2007-10-18. 
  • Michael Smith, “The Gay bomb", The Telegraph, 15/01/2005.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_bomb"
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