I believe people who created fakes in WWII were not allowed to discuss it until 1970. What they did was considered secret for that long.

In the Balkans, they did something simpler.  Open the door and power on a microwave oven for $200.  Then the Americans would launch a  $100,000 Hellfire missile at it.
 

Last edited by tw (3/28/2024 9:54 am)

I saw a show where they flew over islands, scanning with LIDAR (or something) and found giant Nazi military bases, completely camouflaged, then abandoned, and subsequently being buried under decades of jungle growth.

Sneaky Saddam really got us with that one.

griff wrote:

Sneaky Saddam really got us with that one.

That was never his purpose.  His purpose was clearly delineated in the old Cellar.

Saddam feared a more powerful Iranian military. So he told his generals that other generals had WMDs.  So that rumors could spread into Iran.  So that Iran would not attack Iraq.  Then all iraqi generals said Iraq had WMDs.  All part of deceiving Iranians.

But then American extremists had a problem.  Their incompetence was why Saddam was still there.  They needed any excuse to remove Saddam.  Who stood as a trophy to their incompetence during Desert Storm.

Every claim that Saddam had WMDs was invented / promoted by American (anti-American) extremists.  ALL (every one) American intelligence agencies were befuddled by where Cheney, et al were coming up with facts. No American intelligence agencies could find those WMDs.  Not one.

Iraqi generals were promoting Saddam's WMD myths.  So it must be true.  American extremists never bother to learn facts.  Once they have a feeling, that alone is sufficient.  Also called 'adults thinking like a child'. Knows it must be true only because emotions say so.

The con works on people who know but forget to first learn facts.  Vietnam was another classic example.  "Americans don't do nation building" was another lie that created the American defeat there.  All justified only by emotions and contradicted facts.

Saddam only wanted to deceive Iranians.  American extremists needed any excuse to increase the national debt by 10%.  Everyone, at this point, should know what was accurately described that long ago in the old Cellar.
 

Chances are if you find yourself too close to another aircraft it's above or below you. Seems to me making a hard right bank rolling the ship would extend the danger zone from the blades up and down. I'm sure they put a lot of thought into why standardizing that move was the best option but I don't understand the logic.

During the last Anglo-German misunderstanding dummy airfields were constructed all over south and east England and were stocked with wooden decoy aircraft.
Legend has it that the Luftwaffe raided one such airfield and dropped wooden bombs on it.
I have a book about the subject called 'Fields of Deception'.
Unfortunately, for a book about conspicuity, I can't for the life of me find the damned thing.

 

griff wrote:

https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Fields-Deception-Britains-Bombing-Decoys-World/12618529644/bd
It can be found on the internet but at a price.
 

Thanks, Griff.

Pausing only to tie a ball of string to the door handle, I entered my ‘library’ more accurately known as ‘the spare room with all the books’.
Despite my best efforts I still didn’t manage to find the book in question but I did recall that I had a similar book about the ‘Starfish sites’ of WW2.
They were also decoys but mimicked nearby towns and were set fire to in order to direct bombing away from the real target.
I forget the title but I’m sure if I find one, I’ll find the other.

If all else fails, it’s off to abebooks!

Well done! Is the series all on the WW2 home front?

I'm reading Masters of the Air about the 8th Air Force right now. I knew we'd taken losses but this is horrific.

Ah success, flushed Carruthers out of hibernation. That's a good thing... very good thing.