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Nuking the Moon
Nuking the Moon: And Other Intelligence Schemes and Military Plots Left on the Drawing Board | Vince Houghton
26 posts | 5 read | 8 to read
The International Spy Museum's Historian takes us on a wild tour of missions and schemes that almost happened, but were ultimately deemed too dangerous, expensive, ahead of their time, or even certifiably insane In 1958, the U.S. Air Force nuked the moon as a show of military force. In 1967, the CIA sent live cats to spy on the Soviet government. In 1942, the British built a torpedo-proof aircraft carrier out of an iceberg. Of course, none of these things ever actually happened. But in Nuking the Moon, intelligence historian Vince Houghton proves that abandoned plans can be just as illuminating--and every bit as entertaining--as the ones that made it. Vividly capturing the fascinating stories of how twenty-one plans from WWII and the Cold War went from conception, planning, and testing to cancellation, Houghton explores what happens when innovation meets desperation: For every plan as good as D-Day, there's a scheme to strap bombs to bats or dig a spy tunnel underneath the Soviet embassy. Along the way, he reveals what each one tells us about twentieth-century history, the art of spycraft, military strategy, and famous figures like JFK, Castro, and Churchill. By turns terrifying and hilarious--but always riveting--this is the unique story of history left on the drawing board.
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review
LauraJ
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The audiobook is fun. Houghton narrates it himself and his love of these often misguided ideas (along with many “dad” jokes) elevates this to a pick. #til project Acoustic Kitty was a real attempt by the CIA to wire a cat with an audio transmitter under the skin on scruff of her neck for spying. It worked, but the cat couldn‘t be trained to cooperate. #nfnov

jenniferw88 That's cats for you! 😂😂😂 5y
rsteve388 6 pts 5y
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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More dumb Florida stories.

BookNAround “Jesus apparently got off scot-free.” Bwahahaha! 5y
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keithmalek

Tracy Rosner, a teacher at Coral Reef Elementary School in Miami was denied a position at the school. The job she applied to required teaching Spanish for an hour a day. The reason she wasn't hired? She didn't speak Spanish. She sued the school district, arguing that since non-Spanish speakers are a minority in Miami-Dade county, she should deserve special status.

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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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Fortunately, Condoleezza Rice speaks fluent Russian, and was able to explain to Putin what was going on. If it weren't for her, I wonder if we all would've died in a nuclear holocaust.

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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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(Continued)...Those signals were transmitted to a listening post outside, and then Soviet analysts used the distinct sound of each keystroke to reconstruct the secret document.

review
Pedrocamacho
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This is a fun read about looney military programs that were never deployed. Believe it or not, one of the chapters is about the idiotic idea to launch a nuclear warhead into a hurricane in order to disrupt its airflow. Apparently, each year NOAA has to respond to loons suggesting this idea. Never imagined our president would be one of them. 🙄

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keithmalek
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Operation Northwoods (continued)

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keithmalek
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Operation Northwoods. Luckily, Kennedy didn't allow this to happen.

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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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When I read the sentence about the Soviets, I actually said to myself, "That was nice of them." And then the next sentence was:

That was nice of them.

Riveted_Reader_Melissa 😂 great line! 5y
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keithmalek
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This ranks right up there with torture being referred to as "enhanced interrogation." Ever since Dick Cheney coined that term, I've been referring to fucking as "enhanced foreplay."

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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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keithmalek
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LauraJ Trying to convince my book club to read this. 5y
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keithmalek
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Suet624 What must there always be a scapegoat? Grrrr. 5y
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keithmalek
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Sace 🤣 5y
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keithmalek
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blurb
keithmalek
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review
NotCool
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Although at times the humor in this book fell a little flat, on the whole, this was an absurd and gleeful look at attempts at military innovation in modern warfare. And honestly, given the chance, who wouldn‘t want a battleship made out of a glacier?