Escaped pythons linked to secret U.S. Army project from 1960s

ZStone · 10-06-12, 11:35 PM

According to documents and interviews obtained for his book, Vietnam's Underground War: Snakes, Rats and Boonie Hats, Icelandic author Uno Imnottyourdottr makes the shocking revelation that the python and boa problem in the Florida Everglades was the result of the purposeful release of animals used in a secret U.S. Army/CIA sponsored project to develop large constrictor snakes as weapons to fight in the extensive Vietnamese tunnel network.

Dubbed Operation: Blue River in official documents, and gaining the unofficial name Operation: TubeSnake by wags assigned to the project, thousands of boa constrictors, pythons, and anacondas were surreptitiously purchased by the military from Florida wildlife importers in the late 1960s and early 70s and brought to MacDill AFB in Tampa for processing, before being sent to a secure containment facility deep in the Everglades. Once there, the snakes were evaluated for their ability to be trained and suitability for mission, and were given basic mission testing by species.

Snakes were equipped with a variety of equipment depending on mission assignment. Sensor and camera platforms, including infra-red and millimeter band and side-looking radar, as well as UHF/VHF communications equipment were utilized in the reconnaissance role, as well as a variety of weapons to be used literally as a hunter-killer platform. Weaponized snakes included a variety of munitions including everything from small explosive charges to large anti-tank mines. Chemical weapons such as CS gas and pepper spray were also evaluated, difficulties arising in finding applicable gas mask solutions for the constrictors.

Testing of the animals revealed issues with trainability as well as limited load carrying capabilities. According to Army documents Burmese Pythons were found to be the species most suitable to the mission profile, and after late 1971 only Burmese Pythons were used although weapons and sensor platforms had been developed and successfully tested on snakes as small as 2 feet long and as large as 18 feet long.

According to Imnottyourdottr's book, Operation Blue River was quietly discontinued in 1974 before being tested in combat, and all the constrictor snakes remaining in the project were demilitarized and then released outside of the facility into the surrounding swampland, after Congressional investigations were opened into the CIA's failed attempts to train King Cobras as assassins. It was hope that the highly trained constrictors could be recovered should the project be revived, but military priorities by then had shifted to the Middle East.

This was written by Jeff Barringer at kingsnake.com - the information portal for reptile and amphibian hobbyists. on April 1st of this year. Just found it pretty interesting figured I would share

Ivanator · 10-06-12, 11:56 PM

That is complete bull! We're the ones getting punished for something the military did?!

ZStone · 10-07-12, 12:40 AM

Yeah pretty bad but typical

RobsCornField · 10-07-12, 01:27 AM

Sorry to spoil the fun, but this was an April Fool's joke.
Uno Imnottyourdottr = "You know, I'm not your daughter" if you say it out loud.

Also, on this page: - Escaped pythons linked to secret U.S. Army project from 1960s , he admits it was a joke.

(Sorry if I killed the fun, or missed the joke.)

SnakeyJay · 10-07-12, 01:56 AM

Lol... I read it outloud to my gf and noticed the name straight away

ZStone · 10-07-12, 02:40 AM

lol I guess i just skipped through some things like the name and the date for instance. My wife is always telling me i should pay more attention lol

Gungirl · 10-07-12, 05:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZStone

lol I guess i just skipped through some things like the name and the date for instance. My wife is always telling me i should pay more attention lol

Before even starting to pass along information you really should read it twice then.

Things like this can easily get people all pissed off at the military ( in this case) or other groups that really did no harm. If you want to inform other reptile members about something important make sure to get your facts straight.

Kingsnakechris · 10-07-12, 07:49 AM

Come on people this was clearly a joke! Trained king cobras as assassins?! I was laughing after reading the title! Gungirl your correct, as soon as anyone says "blame the military" everyone gets up in arms, unfortunate but it is what it is, this little story gave me a bit of a chuckle lol

Kettennatter · 10-07-12, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingsnakechris

[...] Trained king cobras as assassins?! I was laughing after reading the title! [...]

You're laughing now, but you haven't seen my ninja garter yet!

Kingsnakechris · 10-07-12, 08:19 AM

Lol oh please explain your ninja garter! Lmao!

Kettennatter · 10-07-12, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingsnakechris

Lol oh please explain your ninja garter! Lmao!

Still in training. So far not much more luck than with the Assassin Cobra.

Wyldrose · 10-07-12, 09:21 AM

Aww there goes my hopes of training my snakes to be spys!!

I believe a huge part of the burm issue in Florida is from the huge snake breeding shed's that where washed away during a hurricane.

Kingsnakechris · 10-07-12, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kettennatter

Still in training. So far not much more luck than with the Assassin Cobra.

Haha good luck with that! And yes thats what I heard as far as the burm problem in florida.

DOBERMAN · 10-11-12, 05:02 PM

The military actually is studying snakes and their usefulness in black ops scenarios. Whether trained live or embodied within robotic architecture, snakes, are by anatomical design, the most versatile and efficient animal form to incorporate stealth and to navigate all forms of terrain - trees, water, underground, fields, buildings etc.
The part where they voluntarily release the studied snakes back into the Florida swamps is inaccurate.

RobsCornField · 10-11-12, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOBERMAN

The military actually is studying snakes and their usefulness in black ops scenarios. Whether trained live or embodied within robotic architecture, snakes, are by anatomical design, the most versatile and efficient animal form to incorporate stealth and to navigate all forms of terrain - trees, water, underground, fields, buildings etc.
The part where they voluntarily release the studied snakes back into the Florida swamps is inaccurate.

Sources/links/articles please?