Operation Wandering Soul

Operation Wandering Soul was a propaganda campaign and psychological warfare effort exercised by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War.

[1] It is the Vietnamese belief that the dead must be buried in their homeland, or their soul will wander aimlessly in pain and suffering.

The U.S. used this to their advantage and tried to trick the Viet-Congs into leaving by playing the audio recording of their dead friends wandering around.

[1] U.S. engineers spent weeks recording eerie sounds and altered voices, which acted in roles of slain Việt Cộng soldiers.

[9]The overall success of these ghost tapes was mixed, because in the event that the Việt Cộng soldiers knew it was just a recording, their immediate response would be to fire upon where the sound was coming from, though this in turn revealed their hidden positions within the jungle.

The Army Concept Team which had been responsible for Wandering Soul admitted that the Viet Cong "realized what was going on" but still insisted that the operation had been a success, despite presenting no evidence for their claim.