Army Attempted Creation of Superhuman Soldiers

From the days of “What the heck were we thinking?”

By Sidney Speltzer

Inspired by both comic books and Hollywood, the U.S. Army once attempted to create a team of superheroes. It was hoped that superhuman powers would be induced by utilizing intense radiation to mutate a squad of soldiers.  It was 1957, and the Army Brass were all abuzz with investigating the possibilities for their new toy, the atomic bomb.  Hollywood movies “The Amazing Colossal Man” and “The Incredible Shrinking Man” were both released that year.   The influence of these movies was significant, as the “Brass” all came to the simultaneous conclusion “Why couldn’t we do that?”
 

Inspired by Comic Books and Hollywood

Knowing little of genetics, or the possible side effects of radiation, the Army quickly assembled a team of five volunteers (and a sixth non-volunteer cameraman) and placed them within a strategic location at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site.  They then launched a 2 Kiloton nuclear weapon to explode directly above them, with the hope that the team would mutate into a squad of superpowered soldiers. Project lead, General Armbuster postulated, “If we can get just one member of the team to mutate, then it will be worth the risk.”

The Fantastical Five

Amazingly, all members of the team survived the blast.  Unfortunately none of them become endowed with superpowers.  But the Army was successful in mutating them, as all six eventually developed cancer.