These Are The 8 Most Terrifying Weapons Used By Spies Throughout History
Spy movies are pretty cool and all that, but this is real life stuff, and that's terrifying.
1. Cane guns
Pretty much what it sounds like, a cane gun was a ballistics device concealed within a standard walking cane. These still exist as novelty gun products, but were originally invented as tools of assassination.
2. The Heart Attack Gun
The Heart Attack Gun was a dart gun, but it didn't shoot ordinary darts. The darts were tiny, disintegrated on impact, and left only tiny red dots on the bodies of their victims. The darts carried a poison that mimicked the symptoms of a heart attack in whomever they struck.This gun was actually invented by the CIA, who were forced to testify about it before congress in 1975.
3. The Bulgarian umbrella
Perhaps one of the more well-known spy weapons, the Bulgarian umbrella could pneumatically inject its victims with the poison ricin when pressed to the body. Supposedly, the Bulgarian umbrella was used in the assassination of writer Georgi Markov.
4. The Kiss of Death
The Kiss of Death was a single-shot 4.5 mm-round pistol concealed within a tube of lipstick. The weapon was used by KGB spies during the Cold War. One of these weapons was confiscated at an American checkpoint in West Berlin.
5. The Poison Pen
In 2011, a North Korean spy was apprehended on the streets of Seoul amidst an assassination attempt. He was found carrying a poison pen, which was capable of administering a very powerful poison that would cause muscle paralysis, and eventually suffocation and death.
6. The Welrod
Also called the "Bicycle Pump" because of how easy it was to conceal, the Welrod was a silenced, 8-shot pistol designed specifically for assassination.
7. The Glove Pistol
Formally called the Sedgley OSS .38, the Glove Pistol was a weapon invented during WWII and was meant to be used as an assassination tool in the Pacific. The gun was fired by essentially punching the victim; as the plunger was depressed, a shot was fired.
8. The Mole
This sinister device was a bomb that was attaching to train couplings. It was rigged to explode when exposed to enough darkness - usually, the darkness that occurred upon a train entering a tunnel. This would cause significant wreckage and a mess that was tough to clean up. The US Military experimented with this during the 1940s as a way to hold up enemy supply lines.