So throughout this semester’s Passion Blogs, I have brought up numerous conspiracies, many of which were drawn up by our own government. It may seem as though I’m skeptical of everything the government does, but I just find it interesting what measures they would go to in order to maintain what they call “order.” For my final conspiracy, I will talk about the Heart Attack Gun. That’s correct, a gun that almost instantly will cause a heart attack.
This weapon exists, and it was the CIA that actually invented it… with taxpayer’s money. It was not disclosed until 1975, when Senator Frank Church displayed it to a committee investigating the CIA’s illegal activities. They are specifically forbidden from directly killing anyone in the performance of espionage. It fires a bullet made of ice, about 0.11 inches wide, which has been laced with a tiny amount of shellfish toxin. The gun was designed to be untraceable, and this toxin induces a myocardial infarction in any human, regardless of their health. The bullet then melts leaving no trace, and leaves an entrance wound the size of a mosquito bite. Autopsies would discover the presence of shellfish toxin in the bloodstream, but if the victim has died of a legitimate heart attack, unnaturally induced or not, an autopsy is unlikely.
There is no consensus if the CIA has assassinated anyone with this gun, but they do everything in their power to hide things like these. A possible victim of this gun is Andrew Breitbart, a conservative media mogul who published less than flattering stories about President Barack Obama. He had promised in the months prior to his death that he would publish proof that Obama’s presidency was illegitimate. Breitbart collapsed on the sidewalk in a Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles on March 1st, 2012, and was taken to a hospital where he died of a heart attack at the age of 43, despite being relatively healthy his whole life. He was not obese, but coroner report states that cardiomegaly caused his heart to fail.
Another possible victim is Mark Pittman, the financial journalist who, in 2007, predicted the ongoing American economic recession, which was caused by subprime mortgaging. During the subsequent federal bailouts of major financial companies, Pittman sued the Federal Reserve for mishandling taxpayer money. The case is still on appeal. Pittman, however, died on November 25th, 2009, in Yonkers, New York, in the very same circumstances as Breitbart–he was walking down the sidewalk and collapsed from a heart attack.
Possible victims notwithstanding, the heart attack gun does exist, and the CIA invented it. They could have had only one purpose in store for it, silently assassinate whomever they pleased. Well I hope this had made you weary of our government, but remember, not every conspiracy theory is true.
I have started to find these conspiracy theories to be a great source of comedy over the past few weeks, and this one is right up there with the best. While I certainly believe that the CIA has developed and implemented some crazy schemes, this one seems sort of unlikely, although certainly more realistic than the mind control ray you discussed previously. Mr. Church could very well have been making up a story when he disclosed such a tale (keep in mind that this was during the heart of the Cold War and people would believe anything they heard) to try and incriminate the CIA for his own purposes. However, I do find this one to be at the very least plausible, as the technology at least seems to work out with reality. Thanks for the entertaining theories over the past few weeks.
I definitely believe in conspiracy theories. Although many of them are overthought and truths are a little bit stretched, I think the government will go at considerable lengths to conceal something from the public. I mean have you ever watched House of Cards? The government is bamboozling the public this way and that and hanging on the precipice of the public finding out. But I never heard of this specific conspiracy theory. I found it intriguing and, compared to many other theories, extremely believable and true.
I find conspiracy theories somewhat intriguing even though some of them are completely false. It’s interesting to see what kind of connections people like to make and wonder if something like that is actually true.
Nothing involving any government surprises me anymore. We read about events all over the world that expose governments and corruption. I think it would naive to believe our government is void of any of these problems. This heart attack gun is just a prime example of this. Who knows if they have used it, but the deaths of these two individuals definitely raises that very question. Their deaths seem rather suspicious, especially given their relatively healthy lifestyles and young age.
I think it is terrifying knowing that a heart attack inducing gun is out there. I know that many conspiracies are results of simple coincidences that people try to find order from, but the fact that it is known that this gun exists is a little bit scary. It is also weird knowing that these men, very prominent in society, both died in similar ways that could be a result of the gun. However, I also think that this is very immoral and would not be allowed by the CIA. I’ve loved reading about your conspiracies these past weeks though!