World War II's strangest plan: US spies wanted to use radioactive foxes against Japan but then an experiment went completely wrong

Wartime strategies are generally known for being highly practical but during World War II, American spies had once considered using radioactive foxes to scare Japan. Their plan was to coat the animals with glow-in-the-dark paint and releasing them near Japanese communities, hoping people would mistake them for supernatural creatures. But when intelligence officers tested whether the foxes could swim to shore, they discovered a problem that threatened the entire operation.

Known as Operation Fantasia, the scheme was developed by the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the wartime intelligence agency that preceded the CIA. According to Smithsonian magazine, the project was among several unconventional ideas explored by American intelligence officials during the war.

Why American spies wanted glowing foxes

Ed Salinger, an OSS psychological warfare strategist who had previously run an import-export business in Tokyo, proposed the idea in 1943. His experience in Japan had introduced him to the country's language, art and folklore.


Salinger believed the US could put down Japanese morale by exploiting beliefs surrounding kitsune, fox-shaped supernatural beings in Japanese folklore. He thought glowing foxes appearing unexpectedly in villages would frighten soldiers and civilians.

In his proposal, Salinger argued that Japanese people were susceptible to beliefs in evil spirits. However, historian Vince Houghton has criticised the plan as an example of the racism and disregard for Japanese culture prevalent among sections of American military and intelligence leadership.

Dangerous experiment with radioactive paint

The OSS initially explored alternatives, including fox-shaped balloons, whistles imitating fox calls and artificial fox odours but all of these ideas were eventually abandoned as impractical.

The agency then returned to using live animals coated with luminous paint containing radium, supplied by the United States Radium Corporation. The substance's health risks were already known, with exposure linked to severe illnesses among women who painted watch dials with it.

To test whether the paint would stick to fur, the OSS enlisted Harry Nimphius, a veterinarian at New York's Central Park Zoo. A raccoon was used for the experiment, and its fur retained the paint after several days.

The team subsequently released 30 glowing foxes in Washington, D.C.'s Rock Creek Park. The strange animals startled visitors, and the National Park Police received reports from frightened people. The test suggested that the glowing creatures could cause alarm.

Foxes survived the swim, but...

The next challenge was getting the animals to Japan so the OSS considered dropping them into the sea and letting them swim to shore, but they needed to establish whether the foxes could survive the journey.

Intelligence personnel took captured foxes by boat into Chesapeake Bay and threw them into the water. The animals successfully swam towards land, but the experiment exposed a major flaw that most of the luminous paint washed off during the swim. The foxes then licked away the remaining coating.

Without the glow, the animals could not produce the intended effect. Salinger explored other possibilities, including painting minks, muskrats, raccoons and coyotes. He also proposed a stuffed fox with a human skull attached to its head, suspended from a balloon or kite.

Why Operation Fantasia was abandoned

Stanley Lovell, head of the OSS research and development branch, had recommended abandoning the operation as early as September 1943. The scheme's practical problems and questionable logic made it difficult to justify.

Ultimately, none of Operation Fantasia's proposals progressed beyond planning and experiments. The radioactive foxes were never deployed against Japan, but the weird war-time plan is an example of how an unconventional idea can fall apart when faced with the realities of war.