Vietnam War

American Deception During the War

The Magic Eye was part of perhaps the strangest deception campaign during the Vietnam War. The Magic Eye was developed in 1967 and served as a device to help in detecting the presence of Viet Cong. Rudimentarily designed, it consisted of two boxes with an impressive number of lights, horns, antennae, dials, and gauges. Citizens were told that the device could tell who was a member of the Viet Cong and that anyone who confessed would be treated well. When someone who was known to be a member of the Viet Cong walked between the boxes, an American soldier would flip a switch and set off the horn and lights. While the Magic Eye did not work particularly well (or for very long), it did lead to some unknown Viet Cong members admitting to their allegiances when confronted with the box.

In a similar vein, American soldiers began utilizing people sniffers, which allowed machines to find organic smells (such as ammonia found in sweat and urine) to point out where the Viet Cong might be hiding. Helicopters were manufactured with two air scoops that would bring air into the machines and permit pilots to detect what smells were in the air. From a deception perspective, once enemies were allegedly located, the U.S. military would drop pamphlets that warned of an eminent artillery attack in the area. Loudspeakers would also be used to send the same message. Once an offensive action took place, more pamphlets were used to urge survivors to support the government of South Vietnam and leave the Viet Cong behind. In terms of success, the Viet Cong prevented people sniffers from having much impact. Once they realized that [Page 918]the sniffers sought ammonia, they began leaving buckets of urine and other waste products in one area before moving away to a safe spot.

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