Operation Ghost-Fox

The Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) was a US intelligence agency formed during WWI. It preceded the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.). It was formed with the purpose of coordinating espionage activities behind enemy lines. And all of the people with leadership positions in it had questionable sanity at best.

Here's an excellent example. So when the US was battling Japan, some OSS agents heard of a Japanese superstition surrounding fox spirits with shape-shifting abilities. So in reaction to the news, the OSS planned to release a bunch of glow in the dark foxes into Japan in hopes of... scaring them or something? But alas, sources revealed that the "spirit fox" folklore was fake. So the OSS, realizing the stupidity of the operation in the first place, abandoned the whole thin- Ha! No this is the OSS we're talking about, instead of abandonment, they moved on to developing their furry super weapon.

"Get our scientists working on shape-shifting foxes right away."

The OSS tested their assault of the coast of New York by dumping a bunch of foxes that had been dipped in phosphorus into the ocean. Predictably, all of the foxes swam in the wrong direction and promptly drowned. 

Tax dollars at work.

At that moment, someone realized that the whole project was incredibly silly. So the OSS scrapped the whole project, and moved on to bigger and better things. Things like shipping hundreds of barrels of yellow dye to Cambodia in order to dye one of the largest rivers in the world, only later to find that the dye didn't work. 

In my opinion the OSS' ideas were less based on whether or
not their idea would be effective, and more on whether or
not their idea would be something a cartoon supervillian would attempt. 

The "Free" French Army

Back in World War II, Germany obliterated the French government early on in the war. Not wanting his country to go down without a fight, Gen. de Gaulle went abroad and formed an army of resistance fighters from French territories in Africa.

Not only did de Gaule's rag tag army consist of native Africans, it also included Arabs, Tahitians, and French officers.

Anyway, the dubbed "Free French Army" went on to do incredibly well in the war, something not usually affiliated with the French at the time. They carved a bloody path all the way to Paris, where they were ready to liberate the capitol united with British and American allies. That is, until the allies said "Yea, this victory is kind of a whites only type of thing."

"Please enjoy this $5 Bed Bath and Beyond gift card for your troubles."

De Gaulle had to quickly replace anyone in his army who had failed the melanin test with more easily-sunburnable persons or else he could not take part in the liberation. This of course, was difficult because this was his problem in the first place. He ended up dressing a bunch of Spanish soldiers as French ones, and hoped that no one would care at that point.

Meanwhile, the Africans were deported back to Africa. They at least got to enjoy the benefits of having served... well until 1959, when the French Government inexplicably cut off all of their military pensions and attempted to erase their entire evolvement in the war.

But hey, it just goes to show that all we need is love to get along.
And Nazis to fight. 

The Overtoun Death Bridge

 

   

 The Overtoun House can be found near the small Scottish village of Milton. The house itself isn't that special. No, the arched bridge that spans over the Overtoun burn is what's really interesting. Since the 60's, over 600 have been reported to have jumped to their death from the bridge.

And absolutely zero humans have died jumping off of it.

Worst trick ever

Just to clarify, yes, no humans have every jumped off the bridge. However, over 600 dogs have leaped to their death. For no apparent reason.

Many theories exist that try to explain this extremely bizarre occurrence. Some speculate that particularly pungent rodents drive the dogs over the bridge, while some think it's nothing more than a very particular string of random coincidences.

And to make things stranger  (as if they weren't already strange enough), it has been observed that several dogs that survived their jump climbed back up and hurled themselves off again. For no discernible reason whatsoever.

Moral of the story? Dogs are probably more depressed than we
think that they are.