17. This Weird Plan Actually Had Realistic Potential
Dr. Adams’ proposal eventually ended up with the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC). A 1940s’ version of DARPA, it investigated and coordinated research into ideas that might help the war effort. The NDRC forwarded the proposal to a zoologist named Donald Griffin, who had conducted groundbreaking research into animal behavior, and who specialized in bats and their navigation methods. It was right up Griffin’s alley, and he became an enthusiastic supporter of the plan. “This proposal seems bizarre and visionary at first glance,” he wrote in April 1942, “but extensive experience with experimental biology convinces the writer that if executed competently it would have every chance of success“.
Griffin added that, properly executed, Bat Bombs were “likely to cause severe damage to [Japanese] property and morale“. Adams’ proposal thus went from a seemingly loony idea, to an official US government research project. A number of factors made the idea theoretically viable, and rendered it attractive to authorities. Bats fly at night, then seek dark and secluded places to roost in before dawn. Places such as attics, cubbyholes, and other nooks and crannies. Bats can also fly with loads greater than their own bodyweight – loads such as tiny bombs. Also, in wartime, when resources were scarce and had to be carefully husbanded, bats were plentiful in the US. Finally, bats can be induced to hibernate, and while hibernating, they do not need food, care, or much maintenance.
