The USA has a reputation for coming up with some pretty wacky uses of nuclear weapons , from droppingnuclear bomb on the Moon , to dropping anuclear bomb calorimeter on Alaska . But they are not the only country to go wild with these weapons of aggregated destruction . In the 1950s , the UK worked on a plan that would take placing a lot of chickens within a nuclear turkey .

During the Cold War , Western Europe was distressed about the menace of a potential encroachment by Russian power , drive their way throughnorthern Germany . The British government , occupy by the opening , began count for way to slow down such an invasion .

The solution they came up with in the mid-1950s , codenamed Blue Peacock , was to swallow a10 - kilotonnuclear mine in northerly Germany , which could be touch off remotely or by a timekeeper on up to an 8 - day wait . The idea was , quite simply , that Russia would be put off by the result radioactive contamination .

“ A skilfully sited nuclear mine would not only destroy facilities and installations over a big domain , " a classified paper from 1955 explained , as reported byDiscovery , " but would refuse line of the area to an enemy for an appreciable fourth dimension due to taint . ”

There were a few challenges to creating such a working mine , but it turn out to be nothing that could n’t be solved by chickens .

One major job was that the onlynuclear bombavailable to the UK at the metre , the Blue Danube , require to be stored under climate - see conditions . mental testing conducted by the UK line up that the cold condition of Europe in winter could cool the weapon so much it would not work .

As well as sum up insulation , in 1957 those work on the project came up with the wimp solution . to keep the dud warm and operational , the musical theme was to take a group of unsuspecting volaille and seal them within the dud ’s case . Thechickenswould be provide with intellectual nourishment and water inside their new temporary household , with enough to keep them alert for around a week . The heat from the chickens ' bodies would keep the turkey warm and functional , before their soundbox were scattered over an incredibly enceinte area .

epitome of the nuclear mine were made , but the project , thankfully , did not come to realisation , and was scratch after a single test . When the programme were revealed by the UK National Archives in 2004 , it happen to be April 1 , meaning that the organization were forced to clear up to the media that it was not a hoax .

" It is not an April Fool . These documents come straight from the archives at Aldermaston . Why and how would we fake them ? " Professor Peter Hennessy , conservator of the Secret State exhibition which featured Blue Peacock , told The Times , per theBBC .

" It does seem like an April Fool but it most certainly is not , " Tom O’Leary , head of education and rendition at the National Archives , added . " The Civil Service does not do jokes . "