in 1955 and 1965, the u.s. army blew radioactive dust over poor black neighborhoods in st. louis to test its effect in case of nuclear war, and lied about the tests until 1994. the dust caused deaths and cases of cancer for decades.

the u.s. army (and likely all of the other armed services) have tested a number of bizarre weapons through the years - some successful, some not. some of those that worked but that you might not be familiar with are a device that allows them to pipe sounds (voices, for example) directly into someone's head from some distance away - sounds that only they can hear.

(if you like that, you'll love the telepathic ray gun, microwave guns, and fever lasers.)

the pentagon maintains an office in hollywood that works to 'encourage films which flatter the u.s. army, win support for its actions on the battlefield, and encourage more soldiers to sign up', according to its ranking officer.

during the 1950's and 1960's, the u.s. army sprayed zinc cadmium sulfide laced with radioactive particles on thousands of people in st. louis and corpus christi. no one was told. the army just wanted to see what would happen. in corpus christi, the spray was delivered via planes. in st. louis, station wagons and sprayers mounted on buildings were used.

you know that scene at the end of the first indiana jones movie, where you see a crate that contains the ark of the covenant being moved into a huge warehouse with a countless number of other crates? turns out that such a place actually exists. it's owned by the army, and is in fort belvoir, virginia. in addition to weapons and artifacts from every u.s. war, it also contains 16,000 pieces of art that have never been seen by the public.