when was the ghost army declassified
Mysterious Universe is a property of 8th Kind Pty Ltd, including bat bombs, pigeon guided missiles, and bomb laying dogs. Rick Beyer, who wrote a whole book on the unit entitled The Ghost Army of World War II, says of the unique unit: The mission of the Ghost Army, which was officially called the 23rd Headquarters Troops, was to basically pretend to be other, much larger Army units, to fool the Germans about the location and size of those units. Put together in 1944, the U.S. Army unit was called the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, and their mission was simple. It’s likely that most of the world never heard of some of the truly unique heroes of World War II. Topies include Gulf of Tonkin, Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), U.S.S. The Ghost Army of World War II: How One Top-Secret Unit Deceived the Enemy with Inflatable Tanks, Sound Effects, and Other Audacious Fakery. With … However, ... You'd never expect to see the CIA taking a page from Ghost Hunters, but declassified papers definitely show otherwise. And Arthur Singer. Abu Ghraib's "ghost detainees" The practice of ghosting first achieved widespread attention in 2005 when the Washington Post broke a story suggesting that the U.S. Army and the CIA were detaining "unlawful enemy combatants" at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq with little or no due process. During the Cold War, the American army base in Thule, Greenland, was patrolled continuously by planes armed with nuclear missiles. They're now better known, though, as the "Ghost Army" -- a troop of soldiers that doubled, in Europe's theater, as a troupe of actors. The Ghosters' role was, in some sense, to cause chaos and confusion. The Wisconsin Dogman Phenomenon: How Did it All Began? The mission was still top secret. (Part of the effectiveness of the Ghost Army came from the fact that it would employ real tanks and artillery pieces along with the fake ones, to make the dummies in the distance seem to blend in with the others.) '", A Ghost Army halftrack with a speaker mounted on the back for "sonic deception" (National Archives), A 93-pound inflatable tank, of the kind used by the Ghost Army (National Archives), A "rubber convoy," deliberately ill-camouflaged (Rick Beyer via, Soldiers in the Ghost Army check a dummy L-4 inflatable plane. A number of other publications picked up on the story, ... former director of research at the US Combined Arms Center, the official history was briefly declassified, and then re-classified again. And rubber airplanes. To carry out their ruse, the unit, also called the “Ghost Army,” had an elaborate bag of tricks. In early May of 1944, just before D-Day, the Ghost Army landed in the UK near Stratford upon Avon, and quickly began their secretive work starting in Normandy, and working throughout France and the Rhine Valley, often operating dangerously close to the front lines. I think their legacy is in lives saved. According to the Ghost Army Legacy Project, it was Sept. 14, 1944, when they were summoned to coordinates along the Moselle River. These were tense times, in which they were often up against a seemingly unstoppable enemy, so on some occasions the Allies were forced to get creative. Yet one of the oddest was the time the U.S. built an army of inflatable tanks, special effects and actors to battle the enemy in truly clever ways. "I used to refer to us," one of its soldiers says, "as 'the Cecil B. DeMille warriors. The Ghost Army. Paul Beban sets out to expose the truth, gaining access to a modern-day US government initiative to create the superhuman army of the future. There are numerous weird schemes that were thought up or carried out by Allied forces over the years of the war, including bat bombs, pigeon guided missiles, and bomb laying dogs, as well as using cadavers as spies, and even parachuting dog soldiers. Story Declassified WHEN I CAME ACROSS THE STORY of this remarkable army decep - tion unit eight years ago, I was immediately captivated. After one of the planes went down, the public believed every bomb therein had been accounted for. The Ghost Army joined Allied forces in the siege of Brest, ... Anderson never even told her about his service in the Ghost Army until after the project was declassified 14 years ago. Director Rick Beyer sees the antics of the unit as a sign, in part, of how much we still have to learn about World War II. This was a unit in which creativity was prized, and to this end rather than enlisted soldiers, they focused on recruiting artists, architects, actors, set designers, and engineers, all handpicked from places like art schools and advertising agencies, and among their ranks were also real Army personnel pulled from the ranks of 406th Combat Engineers (which handled security), the 603rd Camouflage Engineers, the 3132 Signal Service Company Special, and the Signal Company Special as support. It is all a very wild ride in the history of World War II, already populated by weird tales from both sides of the conflict, and an off-beat historical oddity. Perhaps their most famous feat was in March of 1945, when the unit simulated two infantry divisions of 40,000 men just south of a planned American attack across the Rhine river tricking the Germans into thinking that was where the attack would come from even as the 30th and 79th infantry units snuck across the Rhine with almost no resistance. Many of those performances -- "illusions," the men appropriately preferred to call them -- took place within a few hundred yards of the front lines. But it all got declassified by the Pentagon in the mid-1990s. These props -- "advanced technology" as advanced technology -- were amazingly effective, doing what all good theater props will: setting a believable scene. How 'Ghost Army' helped foil the Nazis: Amazing pictures show inflatable tanks and huge speakers playing audio of non-existent machinery that … (Wikipedia) The members of the 23rd were hand chosen for their unique non-combat-related skills, as this mission would take abilities not usually prized in soldiers. So they had all sorts of tricks up their sleeve. These fake vehicles and weapons were so meticulously designed and looked so realistic, with even tread marks being created for the fake tanks, that from a distance or from the air they appeared as indistinguishable from the real thing. For decades the exploits of this creative band of brave men were forgotten and swept away until 1996, when the government declassified the project, although some of it remains top secret. Using declassified government documents, inside sources and daring determination, ... gaining access to a modern-day US government initiative to create the superhuman army of the future. Declassified in 1996, the Ghost Army is now being considered for a Congressional Gold Medal, one of the highest civilian honors available. They had sound tricks so they could make it sound like columns of trucks and soldiers and tanks were moving in at night. And they relied on what the Ghost Army termed, awesomely, "atmosphere" -- creating the overall impression of an omnipresent military force. A Super Bowl Ad That the Biden Presidency Made Possible, The Absurd Logic of Internet Recipe Hacks, within a few hundred yards of the front lines, a team from the unit's 3132 Signal Service Company Special traveled to Fort Knox, is estimated to have saved tens of thousands of soldiers' lives. (Rick Beyer/Hatcher Graduate Library) The Ghost Army's story was a matter of military secrecy until its declassification in 1996. And radio codes. ... whose mission was not declassified … As World War II blazed across the earth and the juggernaut that was the Axis forces laid waste to vast swaths of Europe, many of the Allied countries began to try and think outside of the box. The FBI began one of the largest counterintelligence investigations in history to neutralize the threat of the Russian sleeper agents. Show Me The Proof The Ghost Army: Operation Bettembourg It was all an extremely sophisticated and elaborate ruse, and after being mobilized at Camp Pine, New York, the unit shipped off to Europe in order to see if any of this was going to work. The Army called it V2K technology, and yes, they’ve used it in the past. The ‘Ghost Army’ was kept secret even from allied soldiers on the ground, and its existence only become known when some military files were declassified in the 1990s. But they were a particular kind of soldier, serving in a particular kind of unit: Blass and his brothers in arms were recruited from art schools and ad agencies. All of which went to serve the Allies' ultimate illusion: that their military force was bigger and more powerful than it actually was. To bolster the visual illusions the 603rd created, there was a unit charged with creating auditory illusions, or sonic deception, as they preferred to call it. And speakers that blared pre-recorded soundtracks into the forests of France. It is all a very wild ride in the history of World War II, already populated by weird tales from both sides of the conflict, and an off-beat historical oddity. (National Archives via PBS), Members of the 23rd lift a "tank." with its deceptions, and to have been instrumental in several Allied victories in Europe. They were being called in to complement Gen. George Patton 's Third Army and reinforce a 25-mile stretch of Allied front line that was lightly held and presenting a massive weak spot. Although most of the members of the Ghost Army have passed away, their courageous acts no doubt saved tens of thousands of lives while giving new meaning to "the art of warfare.” The Ghosters mimicked, as well, departing operators' idiosyncratic methods of sending Morse Code -- creating the illusion, for Axis armies, that the Allied unit was in the vicinity when in fact it had already departed the area. All of this was given an added layer of realism through giant speakers that would blare out recordings of the sounds of a large infantry unit or an airfield, which could then be remixed and changed on the fly to fit the particular situation. And elaborate costumes. Blass and his cohort were members of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, an elite force whose specialty was "tactical deception." Copyright © Mysterious Universe. Monday. They pretended to be members of fellow units (units that were actually deployed elsewhere) by sewing divisional patches onto their uniforms and painting other units' insignias onto their vehicles. Before these men embarked on the artistic careers they would become known for, they served together during World War II. Ghost Army Insignia circa 1944. It would not be declassified for good until 1986. And I think that legacy is summed up by what one soldier said, which was: “If one mother or one new bride was spared the agony of having to put a gold star in their front window, that’s what the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops was all about. Probably they saved thousands of lives by fooling the enemy about where a battle would take place and giving American soldiers an extra advantage. They had inflatable tanks, trucks and artillery to fool enemy air reconnaissance. The 1100-man unit was given a unique mission within the Allied Army: to impersonate other Allied Army units to deceive the enemy. Many of the men involved would go on to successful careers in the art world, such as the famous fashion icon Bill Blass, photographer Art Kane, and artist Ellsworth Kelly. The Ghost Army was a United States Army tactical deception unit during World War II officially known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. Digital Archive "The Digital Archive contains once-secret documents from governments all across the globe, uncovering new sources and providing … Beyer says of their ultimate impact on the war: I don’t think the Ghost Army won World War II single-handed. I think we would’ve won pretty much the same way without them. They were dispatched to spend time at French cafes near the war's front to spread gossip among the spies who might be there -- to, as one Ghoster put it, "order some omelets and talk loose." They were going to be a mobile, multimedia, tactical deception unit that would attempt to deceive, mislead, intimidate, and trick the enemy using various deceptive techniques to impersonate real troops to draw enemy fire, scare troops away, and obfuscate real troop movements. It accomplished all that by, among much else, taking "the art of war" wonderfully literally. That top-secret unit was also known as the "Ghost Army." They wore fake uniforms with fake insignias, and their equipment was not real weaponry, but rather inflatable tanks, fake artillery and aircraft, an idea that the Americans had gotten from the British in 1942, when they had successfully used a similar tactic in the battle of El Alamein under the code name “Operation Bertram.” The inflatable toys they had in their arsenal included tanks, cannons, jeeps, trucks, and airplanes, all filled with air through the use of special compressors and which with training could all be set up within a few hours. They were soldiers whose most effective weapon was artistry. From June 1944 to March 1945 it staged 20 battlefield deceptions, … For decades the exploits of this creative band of brave men were forgotten and swept away until 1996, when the government declassified the project, although some of it remains top secret. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 10-11. Rumors of a secret US military program to develop supersoldiers with psychic powers exploded in the 1970s. Declassified documents revealed that one nuclear bomb was in fact never found. But their mission was kept secret from their family and friends for decades. The Ghost Army's sonic illusions, in this case, were so convincing that they fooled Axis Sally, the radio propagandist, into reporting that an entire Allied division was preparing for battle in a spot that actually contained, at the time, no troops at all. The unsung heroes of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and the 3133rd Signal Company Special saved thousands of lives and helped win the war, but their efforts were kept secret for fifty years and have yet to be officially recognized. General Declassification and Transparency Documents declassified by the National Security Agency/Central Security Service. (The unit was the brain child, one report has it, of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) The 23rd were, essentially, the Trojan Horse builders of World War II. It was a secret Anderson Wilson from Slidell kept until 1996, when the mission was declassified. Tags Bizarre historical oddities modern mysteries war mysteries World War II. The unit's Signal Company Special also created what it called "Spoof Radio," in which its actors impersonated the radio operators from real units. In the theater, they then "mixed" those sounds to match the atmosphere they wanted to create, playing their faux soundtracks with powerful amplifiers and speakers that were mounted on halftracks -- a combination so effective that the sounds could be heard up to 15 miles away. Its members put their theatrical skills to use, engaging in "playacting," designing "soundscapes," and creating "set-dressing." The Allies saved thousands of lives by embracing the artistry of war. Or they would impersonate generals, create mock headquarters, move phantom troops. Bernard Bluestein and Seymour Nussenbaum, veterans of the Ghost Army of World War II look back on their battles in combat and in art. They even went as far as to drive real trucks amongst the fake ones with just two soldiers sitting in the rear to simulate the effect that it was full of men, and real artillery and vehicles were interspersed amongst the fake ones for added realism. By the middle of September 1944 the Allied drive east across France towards the German border had almost reached the end of its tether. Messina’s revelations led to the first telling of the Ghost Army tale on August 29, 1944. The Ghost Army, today, is estimated to have saved tens of thousands of soldiers' lives with its deceptions, and to have been instrumental in several Allied victories in Europe. According to the article, the CIA asked military intelligence officials to let them house ghost … Thanks to Congressman Mike Rogers, this documentary offers unprecedented access to the secret world of espionage. They were sought for their acting skills. Pueblo, and more. 1994. Some actors in the Ghost Army would also play the parts of Allied generals, dressing up as the officers and visiting towns where enemy spies would be likely to see them. Jupiter May Be Responsible For Killing the Dinosaurs, Mysterious Lifeforms Discovered Underneath Antarctica Ice, The Strange Case of the Berkshires UFO Incident, Strange Paranormal Mysteries at Canada’s Bell Island, The Mysterious Otherwordly Sphere of Florida. The Ghost Army, some 1,100 men in all, ended up staging more than twenty battlefield deceptions between 1944 and 1945, starting in Normandy two weeks after D-Day and ending in the Rhine River Valley. 1996 | The activities of the Ghost Army remained a closely guarded secret until their official history was declassified in 1996 Vow of secrecy The Ghost Army continued to distort reality as the Allies advanced into Germany. Some actors in the Ghost Army would also play the parts of Allied generals, dressing up as the officers and visiting towns where enemy spies would be likely to see them. "It's a great example," he told Smithsonian magazine, "of how many fantastic, amazing, sort of mind-bending stories there still are 70 years later coming out of WWII. The unit would make it look and sound like tanks were moving in formation, like encampments were being built. The Ghost Army's story was a matter of military secrecy until its declassification in 1996. Except that their wooden horses took the form of inflatable tanks. The American XX Corps They had fake radio. All of this had the ultimate goal of making the fake force seem like a formidable real one, and to make the unit, which only had 1,100 men, seem much larger than it really was. There is a lot of artwork that was done by members of the Ghost Army both during and after the War. But, this fascinating story of battlefield deception is told in a documentary now streaming on Netflix. With help from engineers at Bell Labs, a team from the unit's 3132 Signal Service Company Special traveled to Fort Knox to record sounds of armored and infantry units onto wire recorders (the predecessors to tape recorders) that were cutting-edge at the time. So was Ellsworth Kelly. The ‘Ghost Army’ was kept secret even from allied soldiers on the ground, and its existence only become known when some military files were declassified in the 1990s. By the end of the war the Ghost Army would engage in 22 different missions to varying degrees of success, in the process losing some of their men but saving perhaps tens of thousands of lives through their various displays of brilliant trickery. In 1996, the Ghost Army was officially declassified, and these photographers, painters, and fashion designers were finally revealed as true American heroes. It accomplished all that by, among much else, taking "the art of war" wonderfully literally. Schmidly, D. J. The 1,100 members of the troop were made up of artists, illustrators, sound specialists, and radio experts. The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops “Ghost Army” activities are now declassified. (Rick Beyer/Hatcher Graduate Library). GHOST ARMY 8 AMER ICA IN WWII JUNE 2013 JUNE 2013 AMER ICA IN WWII 9 mounted to deceive the Germans about where the June 1944 D- ... the unit that would become known as the Ghost Army. Now, though, it's the subject of a documentary, the straightforwardly titled Ghost Army. The Ghost Army was also able to use these props to set up convincing-looking camps, which made it seem as if thousands of Allied troops were on the ground, whereas in reality there were none. And although their heroics helped, in part, win the war against the Nazis, the soldiers of the Ghost Army were forbidden from telling the stories of their top-secret work until their accounts were finally declassified in 1996. The Ghost Army was officially known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. And Art Kane. Over the course of the war, the Ghost Army took part in 20 major deceptions and saved an estimated 10,000 to 30,0000 lives. ", It's hard to imagine a more mind-bending story, though, than the Ghost Army's tale of military magic. Feb 8. Bill Blass was one of them. From the landing at Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge, the work of 23rd Headquarters Special Troops was shrouded in secrecy. And they played it not just with the help of visual trickery, but also with what they called "sonic deception." The Army would dispatch a few of its members to drive canvas-covered trucks -- sometimes as few as two of those trucks -- in looping convoys that would create the impression (sorry, the "illusion") of an entire infantry unit being transported. Get the MegaPack collection now for this great price. The Ghost Army is a breezy, mostly oral and visual history, ... as it was top secret during the war, and only gradually declassified in the decades after. They were selected for their creativity. The unit even went as far as to create fake radio transmissions that mimicked real operators from real units and gave bogus information, as well as utilize special effects such as smoke and light flashes to complete the illusion. After the war, the survivors of the entire 23rd Headquarters Special Troops were sworn to secrecy, their bag of tricks hidden away, and the whole operation was labelled as classified. Soldiers in the Ghost Army were Potemkin villages, personified. The Ghost Army journeyed from New York to England on May 2, 1944, alongside many American troops crossing the Atlantic ahead of the Normandy invasion. The Operation Ghost Stories was the investigation on the sleeper agents. It staged a series of, basically, "traveling shows": elaborate plays designed to intimidate and/or confuse the Axis. From a few months after D-Day, when they landed in France, until the end of the war, they put on a "traveling road show" utilizing inflatable tanks, sound trucks, fake radio transmissions, scripts and pretence… And they also had “special effects,” so they set up phony headquarters, they wore patches of the units they were impersonating, so that all of these messages would tell the enemy who might be listening in on the radio, watching, or having their spies there, who said the 75th Infantry Division was there, when in fact it was somewhere else 10 miles away. The rubber army used its dramatic streak to its advantage. Declassified Documents All documents courtesy of Jack Masey Artwork All artwork courtesy of Rick Beyer. As Jack Masey, who was recruited into the Ghost Army at age 18, remembered: "We were told we were going to be using inflatable equipment to try and fool the Germans into thinking that we were a real army, when we were in effect, I suppose, a rubber army.". The Ghost Army used inflatable tanks, sound effects, and imagination to fool the Germans on the battlefields of Europe.
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