American Troops Weaponized Enemy Superstitions

The U.S. military has used superstition to scare enemies with ominous horoscopes, fake vampires, and recorded ghosts. During World War II, the Allies dropped frightening horoscopes over Germany; in the 1950s, U.S. Major General Edward G. Lansdale's team staged an aswang attack against Communist Huk rebels in the Philippines; and in Vietnam, troops blasted ghost tapes filled with eerie music and voices. Only the vampire ruse clearly worked, causing an entire Huk squadron to abandon its hill, while the ghost tapes sometimes drew heavier enemy fire.

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