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The Pentagon’s Plan to Fight Zombies and Other Unusual Military Schemes

Khalid Elhassan August 7, 2021 36 min

The US military has a plan to deal with zombies. AMC Studios

A Bengal tiger's roars were used in a psychological warfare plan to terrify the Viet Cong — A Bengal tiger’s roars were used in a psychological warfare plan to terrify the Viet Cong. New York Times

10. The Addition of Tigers to Ghosts

Most VC and NVA troops who heard Operation Wandering Soul’s sounds simply got ticked off and shot at the speakers, so the plan was not exactly effective on all listeners. However, the recordings did have an impact on at least some enemy personnel. In February 1970, for example, a patrol swept an area following the eerie broadcasts, and caught a trio of “trembling VC insurgents“. On the other hand, the recordings could backfire at times, demoralizing not only the Viet Cong but also “terrifying friendly South Vietnamese troops and civilians alike“.

Overall, the feedback from Wandering Soul was promising. That led the operation’s implementers, the US Army’s 6^th Psy-Op Battalion, to seek opportunities to expand on their repertoire whenever possible, to tailor the recordings to local conditions. One such opportunity presented itself when a South Vietnamese allied army unit spread a rumor that a ravenous tiger was on the loose, and attacking North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops in the vicinity. So the 6^th Psy-Op taped a tiger’s growls at the Bangkok Zoo, then amplified and blasted the recording near an enemy-controlled mountain. It reportedly frightened 150 VC and NVA into fleeing their positions.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.