Inside The Pentagon’s Bizarre Plan For A ‘Gay Bomb’ Meant To Turn Soldiers On Each Other
In the 1990s, the United States Air Force reportedly explored one of its most bizarre and controversial military concepts: the creation of a so-called "gay bomb" intended to make enemy soldiers se$ually attracted to one another.
The proposal, believed to have originated at the Wright Laboratory in 1994, was part of a wider weapons development program that, perhaps unsurprisingly, was eventually abandoned.
According to documents obtained by the Sunshine Project, an organization opposed to biological weapons, the concept was indeed being considered seriously at the time. The files were uncovered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
The aim of the weapon was to disrupt enemy units by causing soldiers to become irresistibly attracted to one another, ultimately weakening cohesion and combat effectiveness.
The proposal even included a request for $7.5 million in research funding to pursue the idea further.
"One distasteful but non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homose$ual behaviour," the document stated.
The concept has since been widely ridiculed. Aaron Belkin, director of the Michael Palm Center at the University of California, said, "The idea that you could submit someone to some aerosol spray and change their se$ual behaviour is ludicrous."
The Pentagon did not explicitly deny the existence of the idea, instead stating, "The Department of Defense is committed to identifying, researching and developing non-lethal weapons that will support our men and women in uniform."
Other strange proposals listed in the documents included ideas for bombs that could induce bad breath, cause flatulence, or attract swarms of insects.
"The idea that you could submit someone to some aerosol spray and change their se$ual behaviour is ludicrous."
Getty Stock PhotoIn 2005, Captain Dan McSweeney of the Pentagon's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate addressed the unusual proposal, noting that the Department of Defense frequently receives a wide range of submissions.
"None of the systems described in that [1994] proposal have been developed," he told the BBC.He added, "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."The proposal was obtained by the Sunshine Project
Getty Stock PhotoInterestingly, the scientists involved in the so-called "gay bomb" concept were recognized in 2007 with an IG Nobel Prize, a satirical award that honors quirky, unconventional, or downright absurd scientific achievements.
The IG Nobel Prizes are known for spotlighting research that "first makes you laugh, then makes you think." The awards aim to celebrate imaginative ideas that challenge traditional thinking, even when those ideas seem outrageous or impractical.
Founded in 1991 by Marc Abrahams, editor and co-founder of the Annals of Improbable Research, the IG Nobel Prizes were originally intended to highlight work that "cannot, or should not, be reproduced." Over time, they’ve become a global event, drawing attention to the strange and surprising corners of science and innovation.
The "gay bomb" proposal has since earned its place in the annals of bizarre military history, standing out as one of the most outlandish and controversial ideas ever to emerge from a weapons research program. While never developed or deployed, the concept continues to capture public imagination and serve as a cautionary example of how unconventional thinking in defense can sometimes veer into the surreal.
