Real Weapons That Were Too Insane to Exist (pics inside)

1. The Bat Bomb

The US military strapped tiny incendiary bombs to thousands of bats and dropped them over Japanese cities during WWII testing. It worked too well. A group of bats escaped during a test run and roosted under a fuel tank at their own airbase. The base burned down.

The project was only cancelled because the atomic bomb became the priority.

Real photos of the project exist and are included in this article.

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2. The N*zi Space Mirror

Germany had a plan to build a giant mirror in orbit and focus sunlight into a beam powerful enough to burn entire cities from space. Engineers estimated it would take 50 to 100 years to build.

They planned to start anyway. The war ended first.

Real concept drawings of the design exist and are included in this article.

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3. The Doomsday Machine That Still Works

The Soviet Union built a system called Dead Hand. If it detects a nuclear strike and cannot reach Soviet leadership, it launches every nuclear missile automatically. No human required. It was activated in 1985. Russia confirmed in 2011 it is still running.

There is a machine somewhere that is authorised to end the world on its own.

Real declassified photos of the system exist and are included in this article.

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4. The G*y Bomb

In 1994 the US military submitted an official proposal for a chemical weapon that would make enemy soldiers overwhelmingly attracted to each other, creating what the document called s*xual distractions that would stop them from fighting.

The requested budget was 7.5 million dollars. It went through official channels. It was reviewed by real people.

The declassified documents are real and photos of them are included in this article.

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5. The Aircraft Carrier Made of Ice

Britain was losing too many ships to build steel carriers fast enough. So they planned to build one out of ice mixed with sawdust, which turned out to be nearly as hard as concrete. They built a prototype on a secret lake in Canada. It worked.

The project was cancelled when the war turned around. The prototype was left on the lake to melt on its own. It took three summers.

Real photos of the prototype exist and are included in this article.

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If you enjoyed this, check out our other articles:

Things From War History That Sound Totally Made Up (But Actually Happened) - Part 1

Things From War History That Sound Totally Made Up (But Actually Happened) - Part2

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All projects listed are historically documented. May 2026.