Wednesday July 4, 2001 Yahoo

Stench Warfare And Stink Bombs-U.S. Secret Weapon?

LONDON (Reuters) - The Pentagon (news - web sites) is developing a stink bomb to drive away enemy troops or hostile crowds, the magazine New Scientist said on Wednesday.

Stench warfare could form a key part of the U.S. non-lethal weapons program and provide police with an extra means of dealing with the kind of rioting that has disrupted recent summits of world leaders.

``It would give us an offensive capability against large and unruly groups of people, if they are unwilling to move or are openly hostile,'' New Scientist quoted a Pentagon spokesman as saying.

``And it would minimize the risk to our people and to the antagonists.''

Researchers said there was a close link between nasty smells and fear, as a bad smell can activate tissue deep within the brain.

The ``perfect'' stink for defense purposes would be one that triggered an emotional response in humans.

The problem is that odors can provoke varying reactions in different people because of social and cultural conditioning.

Pam Dalton, a cognitive psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia who is leading the search for a better stink bomb, has tested smells on volunteers of different ethnic origins to try to find a universal formula.

She has found two odors that appear to transcend culture, and a mixture of the two could form the basis of a weapon.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), July 05, 2001

Answers

Sources say the weapon is silent but deadly

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), July 05, 2001.

My family will vouch for the fact that I developed and patented this process many years ago.

-- Jack Booted Thug (governmentconspiracy@NWO.com), July 05, 2001.

Now that Dumbya has taken over, this type of military strategy somehow seems to be very appropriate.

-- (Commandeer in Chief Dumbya @ stinking up. the world), July 05, 2001.

A most appropriate quote (emphasis added): "It would give us an offensive capability against large and unruly groups of people."

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), July 05, 2001.

You've left me hanging, you lead Demon! What are the two odors?

-- flora (***@__._), July 05, 2001.

Lars, Your post triggered off a useless piece of knowledge.How do you find a dead (& therefore smelly) animal under the floorboards without ripping them all up ? Answer:Shut all the windows & let in some bluebottles.They will buzz around the spot where the smell is the worst so all you have to do is lift one floorboard to get at the body.

Amazing what we all learnt 18 months ago !

-- Chris (down@memorylane.com), July 05, 2001.

Maybe we could use this to get Bin Laden to come out? He can protect himself from bombs, but unless he is living in a hermetically sealed environment, he is going to have to breathe the air.

-- (let's try @ the. stink), October 21, 2001.