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Topics: US News, Sex and Relationships
Lucy Devine
Back in the 1990s, the United States Air Force came up with the bizarre concept of creating a 'gay bomb' to make enemy soldiers sexually attracted to one another.
The plan, reportedly created by the Wright Laboratory in 1994, was part of a weapons development project that, unsurprisingly, ended up being scrapped.
However, in a document obtained by anti-biological weapons organization, the Sunshine Project, details about the bomb seemed to indicate that the proposal was being investigated at the time.
The idea was to create a weapon that would make the units of enemy soldiers 'break down' due to the fact they were all insanely attracted to each other.
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Furthermore, the proposal was requesting $7.5 million dollars for research.
Sunshine Project obtained the documents as a result of submitting a freedom of information request (FOI).
"One distasteful but non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behaviour," said the proposal.
The idea was described as 'ludicrous', with Aaron Belkin, director of the University of California's Michael Palm Centre explaining: "The idea that you could submit someone to some aerosol spray and change their sexual behaviour is ludicrous."
Meanwhile, the Pentagon apparently didn't deny the idea, explaining: "The department of defence is committed to identifying, researching and developing non-lethal weapons that will support our men and women in uniform."
Apparently, there were other odd ideas, such as bad breath bombs, flatulence bombs and those designed to attract certain insects.
However, in 2005, Captain Dan McSweeney of the Pentagon's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate said that apparently, the Department of Defense regularly receives proposals.
"None of the systems described in that [1994] proposal have been developed," he told the BBC.
"It's important to point out that only those proposals which are deemed appropriate, based on stringent human effects, legal, and international treaty reviews are considered for development or acquisition."
However, scientists behind the idea actually received the IG Nobel Prize back in 2007.
The satirical award celebrates unusual achievements and work that 'first makes you laugh, then makes you think'.
The awards were created in 1991 by Marc Abrahams, editor and co-founder of the Annals of Improbable Research. At the time, the awards were presented for ideas that 'cannot, or should not, be reproduced'.
The idea has since gone down as one of the weirdest and most bizarre proposals for weapons of war.