The story of a cat spy: how the CIA threw millions of dollars into the wind

The history of intelligence knows a lot of roads and awkward failures. One such story occurred in the 1960s and is called “Acoustic Kitty”.

It was a real program for training a cat and turning her into a super spy. Unfortunately, every inveterate catman is aware that these animals are very masterful and much worse trained than dogs. But the CIA refused to understand this. Cats rarely listen to anyone, so the spy initiative almost immediately started problems.

In the midst of the Cold War, the CIA tried to come up with all sorts of options to keep an eye on Soviet representatives in Washington.

The idea was this: they decided to use a cat to listen to private conversations of diplomats, scouts and other representatives who, as it seemed to the Americans, were related to the Kremlin.

The cat, "stuffed" with radio transmitters and microphones, was supposed to be where our diplomats liked to walk: lie next to them on benches in the park, jump onto the windowsill of the embassy. Apparently, representatives of the CIA believed that our agents love cats so much that they are ready to share any state secrets with them.

Those who know the nature of cats well will not even give 10 rubles in a dispute that this animal will live by other people's rules. The CIA budget was decent, so they had the opportunity to invest 10 million in a failed experiment. These costs were spent on creating special equipment, implanting it into a cat, and paying veterinarians and trainers who promised to train a small creature to work.

All this "technology" was introduced under the skin of the animal. Details of the operation were described in a book by former CIA officer Victor Marchetti. Here's how he spoke of what was happening: "Veterinarians opened the cat, implanted special batteries under the skin of the animal, connected them, the tail was used as an antenna and transmitting device. It was no longer a cat, but Frankenstein." Microphones were implanted in the ears, and a radio transmitter was implanted in the base of the skull.

For the most part, cats behave instinctively. Especially when hungry. Even spy cats deserve their lunch break. To defeat instincts, the experimenters stuffed the animal with even more wires. As if this could make him more docile. They tried to defeat the cat's hunger with the help of mechanisms, but nothing came of it. When a cat wanted to eat or saw prey, she threw all the secret operations.

The day came when the spy cat was sent on a mission.

CIA agents dropped her off in a park, planning to eavesdrop on a conversation between two men on a bench. The persons accompanying the cat were accommodated nearby in a special van without identification marks. As soon as the animal felt that it was free, then, forgetting about all the tasks and devices, it rushed to the roadway, where it was hit by a taxi passing by. 10 million dollars flew into the pipe in a few seconds.

As Victor Marchetti recalled in his book, they, together with their comrades, were stunned in the van and did not know how to report this to the authorities.

True, another CIA officer, former director of the Technical Service Office, Robert Wallace, after the publication of Marchetti's book and criticisms of environmentalists, claimed that the cat lived a long and happy life, never died under the wheels of a taxi. And the project was closed due to the fact that it is very expensive and these animals are really difficult to train.

The cat, as you know, has nine lives, and she is not ready to spend any of them on espionage.