OPERATION WANDERING SOUL
US blared haunting sounds into jungle and used ‘ghosts’ to spook enemy in Vietnam war
THE US military reportedly blared haunting sounds into the jungle and used "ghosts" to spook the enemy during the Vietnam War.
A tactic called Operation Wandering Soul apparently involved broadcasting a soundtrack of eerie voices, moans, and screams to intimidate enemy forces.
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A soundtrack called "Ghost Tape Number 10" is available online and contains an unsettling mixture of Buddhist funeral music and disembodied murmurs.
According to The Drive, the US military invested new efforts into defeating enemy morale during the Vietnam-era and decided to use the traditional Vietnamese understanding of death to do so.
The belief system involves "good deaths" and "bad deaths," according to the outlet, and the hundreds of thousands who died violent deaths away from home during the war were thought to fit into the bad death category.
Tradition holds that this means their souls were not able to transition properly into the spirit world and were left to wander the battlefields.
The ghosts are known as "linh hon" or "wandering souls."
The US military identified ghosts and traditional beliefs about them as a possible form of psychological warfare to use in Vietnam, according to the outlet.
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A 1969 fact sheet published by the US Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) even outlined different types of ghosts the US may be able to make use of.
There were reportedly different types of animal ghosts that the military considered using as well as a "tightening-knot ghost," which encourages suicide by muttering "co, co" (neck, neck) into a living person's ears.
Another more sinister type of ghost is Ma A Phien, or the opium ghost, which is related to addiction and eventual "death in the pleasures."
The eerie soundtracks were prepared to bring about a particular reaction in soldiers who would be very familiar with the "wandering soul" battlefield ghost ideas.
The Drive reported that the US military even enlisted the help of South Vietnamese participants to record audio tracks that sounded authentic.
Ghost Tape Number 10 was used by both the US Army and Navy and broadcast from strategically placed speakers on helicopters, typically at night.
It's unclear exactly how successful the ghost tapes were, as there were some reports of enemy soldiers immediately firing in the direction of the speakers when the soundtracks began playing.
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