‘Project Acoustic Kitty’ CIA implanted microphones into CATS to spy on Soviets
THE Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) implanted microphones into CATS in a bid to turn them into covert listening devices, shocking documents reveal.
During the height of the Cold War the CIA devised ‘Project Acoustic Kitty’ to try and get secrets from the Soviets.
Unclassified documents reveal the unlucky felines were cut open and stuffed with electronic hardware.
Costing an eye-watering £10million, developed over five years in the 1960s, a CIA insider described the project as “gruesome”.
Vets are said to have operated for an hour to fit the feline with shopping equipment.
The feline’s tail was fitted with a wire to act as an antenna, with it travelling up its spine connecting a a microphone implanted into it ear while a battery was stitched into the chest.
The intelligence agency thought cats were the ideal targets to spy on their Soviet enemies, as they move around relatively unnoticed and sit on window sill snap dark benches, possibly near officials.
But their first trial run ended horribly, after their modified cat immediately ran into traffic and was squashed by a car.
CIA insider Victor Maarcheti said: “They took it out to a park and put him out of the van, and a taxi comes and runs him over.
“There they were, sitting in the van with all those dials, and the cat was dead."
And he described the procedure, saying: “They slit the cat open, put batteries in him, wired him up.
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They made a monstrosity
“The tail was used as an antenna. They made a monstrosity. They tested him and tested him.
“They found he would walk off the job when he got hungry, so they put another wire in to override that.
“They made a monstrosity. They tested him and tested him.”
After the fateful trial the scheme was never rolled out for use in the field, but the project’s existence was revealed in 2001 when the CIA declassified documents.
The document did sate that: “The work done on this problem over the years reflects great credit on the personnel who guided it”.
The bizarre operation has been re-visited as ties between the US and Russia mimicked the Cold War, with hostile posturing from both sides resulting in a souring in relations.