We previously discussed dolphins and how they have been used by governments, but the conspiracies didn't stop there.
Sharks have also been the subject of secret government research and weaponization.
The US government got busy again from 1958 to 1971.
This time?
The top secret "Project Headgear".
As the name implies, a "headgear" was developed to attach to the sharks and deliver electrical signals to try and control them.
This was discovered in a classified document that outlined research carried out by three laboratories, "Lerner", "Mote", and "Scripps Institution of Oceanography".
According to Undark.org, Mary Roach was able to get ahold of a copy of this "Project Headgear Final Report" via Navy mandatory declassification review after failed attempts at acquiring the information and being told that the information was still "classified".
I was unable to acquire an official copy of the report myself to paste here, but here is a summary of what was included:
Project Headgear was indeed an attempt to turn sharks into bomb-delivery systems. They weren't used as "torpedos", but as carrying devices. Carry the bomb close enough to the target and then detonate it.
The shark’s headgear would be programmed in advance with a preset course. The equipment could sense compass headings and generate a corrective signal when the shark strayed off course.
Think of it as one of those dog shock collars. "Corrective" mainly meant to shock it to correct it's action.
A 5-to 25-volt shock to one side or another of the shark would be delivered to redirect it.
To get the creature to swim more to the right, the electrode implanted on its left side delivered the shock. The shark would then swim away from the apparent source of the unpleasantness, thereby correcting its course and cutting off the current. Negative government reinforcement at it's finest.
Why sharks, and not the intelligent dolphins?
According to the report, the sharks are stealthy. No happy squeaks or sonar noises. Sharks don't leap out of the water and it's undetectable on radar since it doesn't have a swim bladder and therefore can't see a difference in density in the water, keeping it invisible.
What happens when the mission fails or the shark dies? It doesn't have a swim bladder so it sinks to the depths of the ocean forever concealing it was ever there.
Shark-torpedo? What shark-torpedo? I disavow all knowledge of such a thing.
Plus, the intelligence of dolphins was seen a liability. It was quoted:
“Man can intellectually dominate a shark — something he finds much harder to do with a porpoise.”
You could not trust it to follow orders. To strap a bomb to a headstrong marine mammal and set it loose in the sea was asking for trouble, for tragedy and demotion and uncomfortable press conferences.
Sharks are dumb and disposable.
"Sadist" Snodgrass, developer of the control box, went through many iterations of the design.
The headgear was failing to take into account the natural side-to-side yawing of a shark’s head as it swims. The fish was getting zapped while maintaining a steady course throwing off it's ability to swim.
The 4th and final headgear system was developed in 1967, but also failed. They had perfected the design but the sharks didn't cooperate.
If the shock was too weak, the shark ignored it. If it was strong enough to elicit a response, it was the wrong response.
The sharks weren't able to carry the payloads properly either and usually strayed off course after about 30 minutes.
“We have serious reservations concerning the suitability of a shark as a vehicle for command guidance or for transporting a payload any distance,” reads the glum conclusion of the Final Report, dated June 16, 1971.
So the shark torpedo mind control device "supposedly" failed.
But that's 13 years of research. Research that remained classified. What else is this research being used for? With our advancements in neuroscience and physiology I have no doubt machine mind control is being implemented in other animals. We will report on other animals that this is being used on.
Until then, be wary this summer. You should swim away from sharks anyway, but the shark coming towards you could also be a shark torpedo.
Don't go boom. Or chomp.
I am Snickers. I am truth.
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