70,000 ft

Transmission #001

Kamikaze Pigeons

During World War II, American psychologist B.F. Skinner trained pigeons to guide missiles. Skinner became inspired to devise an organically controlled weapons guiding system when he saw a flock of birds flying by—

“suddenly I saw [pigeons] as ‘devices’ with excellent vision and extraordinary maneuverability. Could they not guide a missile?”

Using pigeons’ excellent ability for image recognition, Skinner trained pigeons to recognize targets and peck at said targets. He placed pigeons in the nose cones of missiles, each cone fitted with three small screens and three pigeon cockpits. When all three pigeons pecked, the missile was mechanically steered until it reached its mark —and all would perish.

Transmission #002

Sharing
the Air

Israel has very little airspace but one of the world’s largest air forces. As a result, every year, the planes face their most formidable foes in the sky: large migrating birds, specifically raptors that travel by gliding across columns of hot air from the land. A New York Times article from 1985 states,

“migrating buzzards, storks, pelicans, and eagles have done more damage to Israeli fighter jets than all the Arab air forces combined. ”

A two-pound buzzard striking a jet fighter flying at 500 miles per hour can have an impact equal to 20 tons. Israeli ornithologist Yossi Leshem, aided by radar and aircraft observation, devised “bird protection zones.” Flight routes and altitudes were monitored and mapped out in order for the air force to avoid collisions.