The plan was to turn a cat into a mobile surveillance device that could wander near conversations without attracting attention.

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Because nobody suspects the cat.

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According to declassified CIA documents, equipment was implanted inside the animal.

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A microphone was placed in its ear canal.

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A transmitter was installed near the base of its skull.

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And an antenna was woven through its fur.

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Now they had a cat capable of transmitting sound.

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There was just one problem.

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They still had a cat.

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Cats aren't particularly interested in national security.

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They wander.

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They get distracted.

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They get hungry.

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So researchers also worked on controlling the cat's movements and reducing its tendency to wander off looking for food.

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After years of work, the CIA eventually concluded that using cats for covert surveillance simply wasn't practical.

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The project was abandoned in the 1960s.

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For years, a much more dramatic version of the story circulated claiming the CIA's first spy cat was released for a field test and immediately run over by a taxi.

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But later accounts from people involved with the project disputed that story, and the declassified documents don't establish it as fact.

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What they do establish is strange enough.

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The CIA spent years trying to turn a cat into a listening device.

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And eventually discovered something cat owners could have told them for free.

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The cat had its own plans.