Abstract: The "halitosis bomb" and "gay bomb" are informal names for two theoretical non-lethal chemical weapons, which a United States Air Force research laboratory speculated about producing, which involved discharging female sex pheromones over enemy forces in order to make them sexually attracted to each other.
In 1994 the Wright Laboratory in Ohio, a predecessor to today's United States Air Force Research Laboratory, produced a three-page proposal on a variety of possible nonlethal chemical weapons, which was later obtained—complete with marginal jottings and typos—by the Sunshine Project through a Freedom of Information Act request.
In February, 2012 filmmaker and author Ryan Gielen released the only book on the subject, Love Bomb and the Pink Platoon, a satirical military adventure about a military experiment that goes horribly wrong and turns an entire platoon gay. The book opens with a warning from the United States Department of Defense stating there are sufficient safeguards in place to prevent a gay bomb from happening, though the author claims the book is based on a true story.
Some body spray advertisers claim that their products contain human sexual pheromones which act as an aphrodisiac. In the 1970s, "copulins" were patented as products which release human pheromones, based on research on rhesus monkeys. Subsequently, androstenone, axillary sweat, and "vomodors" have been claimed to act as human pheromones. Despite these claims, no pheromonal substance has ever been demonstrated to directly influence human behavior in a peer reviewed study.
To date, the single book on the subject is Love Bomb and the Pink Platoon, by Ryan Gielen. In it, a washed-up General is put in charge of a small platoon of misfits, and all are sent to a testing facility in the woods. The military experiment they volunteered for then goes horribly wrong and turns the entire platoon gay. The platoon is held for testing and eventually sent on a suicide mission in a foreign war zone, and must use their newfound gayness to survive. The book is a satirical farce in the vein of Dr. Strangelove, 1984, or The Magic Christian.
In both of the documents, the possibility was canvassed that a strong aphrodisiac could be dropped on enemy troops, ideally one which would also cause "homosexual behavior". The documents described the aphrodisiac weapon as "distasteful but completely non-lethal". The "New Discoveries Needed" section of one of the documents implicitly acknowledges that no such chemicals are actually known. The reports also include many other off-beat ideas, such as spraying enemy troops with bee pheromones and then hiding numerous beehives in the combat area, and a chemical weapon that would give the enemy bad breath.
Body odor remote-engineering, such as halitosis and hyperhidrosis, was another possibility discussed. Again, these effects would be produced by a non-lethal chemical weapon—possibly one that would affect the hormonal and digestive systems. It appears that a 'heavy sweating bomb', 'flatulence bomb' and 'halitosis bomb' were also considered by a committee at the time. The plan was to make an enemy so smelly they could be quite literally sniffed out of hiding by their opponents. It was also considered fairly damaging to the enemy's morale.
Nobel Prize Awards
Wright Laboratory won the 2007 Ig Nobel Peace Prize for "instigating research & development on a chemical weapon—the so-called 'gay bomb' / 'poof bomb' —that will make enemy soldiers become sexually irresistible to each other." However, Air Force personnel contacted were not willing to attend the award ceremony at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre to accept the award in person (Wikipedia, 2012).
Abstract: Homokaasu (Finnish name, literally "gay gas") is a fictitious poisonous chemical substance, that is supposedly an odorless and invisible gas at room temperature. It originates in a story and a conspiracy theory apparently created by a single Finnish man, and is often the subject of running gags on Finnish Usenet newsgroups.
Homokaasu is supposedly used on specific people by secret agents of the Roman Catholic Church to gain a subliminal control of the victims. The substance is usually leaked into rooms and areas in which the victim spends time – the home, workplace and psychiatric wards, for example. It also may be mixed in foodstuffs and beverages to the same effect.
The concept of homokaasu was introduced to the public in a series of crank pamphlets distributed in Helsinki, Copenhagen and Los Angeles
in the 1980s. The reports themselves claim to have been written and
distributed by an alleged victim of the supposed operation. The reports
contemplate the motives, mentioning that the Roman Catholic Church might be attempting to convert the victims to homosexuality.
Regular exposure to homokaasu supposedly makes social interaction difficult for the victim. Regular exposure also has various health-related effects on the victim, such as deterioration of eyesight and hearing, diarrhoea and aches in various parts of the body. These symptoms supposedly disappear soon after the exposure has been discontinued.
In addition to the symptoms above, the victim is supposedly harassed in various ways. They experience for example constant re-occurrence of accidents and near-misses, and abnormal sexually charged encounters of various degrees.
The name (gay-gas) originates from the suppression of social interaction and the abnormal sexual encounters arranged in the operation.
Homokaasu is a widespread in-joke among Finnish net-users, and is the origin of the name of the Finland-based web community called "The Sect of Homokaasu." Moreover, there are recurring references to it on the web pages of known Finnish Internet personalities, notably Niilo Paasivirta.
The story itself was created by a seemingly paranoid person spreading tracts about homokaasu. Nevertheless, it is widely perceived as both hilarious and bizarrely original,[original research?] and it has persisted in Finnish Internet folklore. (Mikrobitti (11/2005): Oddball conspiracy theories include also a long-term favourite of the Finnish internet culture, the gay gas report that is circulating in the net for the 2nd decade. The absolutely reliable document reveals the hideous attempts of Vatican to convert the people of Finland to homosexuality by leaking gas into the air in houses and into the bubbles in soda.)
Coincidentally, a "gay bomb," conceptually reminiscent of homokaasu, was investigated by the US military.
An episode of the American television show "30 Rock" incorporates the "gay bomb" as part of the plot (Wikipedia, 2012).
Date: June 15, 2007
Abstract: The Pentagon once considered the creation of a hormone weapon that would turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals who'd rather make love than war, according to government documents.
The US air force's Wright Laboratory in Ohio had asked in 1994 for $US7.5 million to develop a bomb containing a powerful aphrodisiac chemical that would cause "homosexual behaviour" to affect "discipline and morale in enemy units".
The document, obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act, is now drawing scorn and ridicule on the web.
The Department of Defence played down the proposal, which was unearthed by the Sunshine Project, an organisation based in Texas and Germany that monitors research and development of biological weapons.
"The DoD never 'investigated' such a concept, rather one individual provided a short concept paper with a wide variety of examples that was rejected," military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Brian Maka said.
Lt-Col Maka pointed out the idea was one of several proposals for non-lethal weapons, including a chemical product that would make enemies highly sensitive to sunlight, or another that would make bees particularly aggressive and prone to attack humans.
But Edward Hammond, of the Sunshine Project, insists the Pentagon is not being truthful. "These statements are untrue. The proposal was not rejected out of hand. It has received further consideration," he said on the group's web page.
Mr Hammond says the concept was included in a promotional CD-ROM on non-lethal weapons in 2000 and was submitted to the National Academies of Science the following year.
Bloggers are now having a field day with the love weapon.
"If we have a spare gay bomb, why not drop one in the mountains of Afghanistan," asked one blogger, who described himself as a black homosexual living in Washington.
"The idiot who came up with the idea really should be bitchslapped and forced to listen to Judy Garland records for the rest of his life," Ed Brayton wrote on the Huffington Post website.
But not everyone is amused.
"My sense is that the story speaks to the Pentagon's outdated ideas about sexuality, and about the relationship between sexuality and being a good soldier," said Aaron Belkin, a political analyst at the University of California in Santa Barbara.
"To suppose that spraying someone with a chemical can make them gay is ludicrous, and to suppose that making someone gay will turn them into a bad soldier is ludicrous as well," Mr Belkin said.
In March, General Peter Pace, the chairman of the armed forces' joint chiefs of staff called homosexuality "immoral" in an interview with the Chicago Tribune that stirred renewed controversy and rekindled debate over legislation allowing homosexuals in the military as long as they don't discuss their sexual orientation.
A Democratic motion
calls for a reform of the, so called, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
legislation adopted in 1993 under then-president Bill Clinton (News.Com.AU, 2007).