What did the declassified documents reveal?

COLD OPEN. This episode presents a declassified United States Army document describing germ‑warfare tests conducted at Washington’s National Airport in the mid‑1960s. The record is notable because it reveals that Army personnel sprayed a bacterial agent in public terminals as part of a biological‑warfare experiment, a program that had been classified for decades. The source is listed on the Black Vault archive. PROVENANCE. The material was released under the Freedom of Information Act by the United States Army Biological Laboratories. The documents were sanitized and approved for public release on June twenty‑third, twenty‑ten. The release was made available through the Black Vault’s online collection, accessible at the archive URL. THE DOCUMENT. “The United States Army secretly sprayed potentially harmful bacteria in more than five open‑air tests in Washington, D.C., in nineteen‑sixty‑four and nineteen‑sixty‑five as part of a biological‑warfare experiment, according to declassified Army documents obtained by Freedom‑of‑Information request.” The report continues: “Personnel from the Army’s Special Operations Division used specially designed suitcases to spray a strain of bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, on unsuspecting travelers in Washington’s crowded National Airport and bus terminal.” The suitcases contained battery‑powered pumps that released the bacteria into the air. In the main concourse, the north terminal, and the shuttle area, the bacteria was pumped continuously for up to thirty minutes at a time. “Passengers in the shuttle area moved too quickly for the Army,” the report noted, “very few of the shuttle passengers would have breathed that many organisms because they were not in the area long enough.” Tests in the main concourse and north terminal were judged more successful. The document estimates that, based on the number of one‑way and round‑trip tickets sold at the time, the passengers would carry the agent to other cities. “The Army team estimated that New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles would receive the highest incidence of infection from the departing passengers.” The report also mentions planned experiments in San Francisco and Chicago terminals, with a projected cost of twenty‑one thousand seven hundred thirty dollars for six operatives to launch covert attacks for seven days. Redacted sections appear throughout the file, marked as [redacted] under exemption B1. The purpose of the testing, as stated, was “to study the consequences of using small‑pox as a biological warfare agent.” No follow‑up study of infected passengers in destination cities could be determined because of extensive deletions in the declassified material. CONTEXT. The Black Vault’s editorial summary reads: “Continuing revelations about the Army’s use of a harmless agent, Bacillus subtilis, have been found to cause symptoms of respiratory infections, blood poisoning and food poisoning. The cost to pay for six operatives to launch covert…

Why was this case declassified?

This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked on this page so the citation chain is auditable.

Army Conducted Germ Warfare Tests. In Washington's National Airport | By Stacy Young And Andy Lenarcic (declassified)

◆ BLUF — The short version

COLD OPEN. This episode presents a declassified United States Army document describing germ‑warfare tests conducted at Washington’s National Airport in the mid‑1960s. The record is notable because it reveals that Army personnel sprayed a bacterial agent in public terminals as part of a biological‑warfare experiment, a program that had been classified for decades.

Date: JUL 31 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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What was Army Conducted Germ Warfare Tests. In Washington's National Airport | By Stacy Young And Andy Lenarcic (declassified) about?: COLD OPEN. This episode presents a declassified United States Army document describing germ‑warfare tests conducted at Washington’s National Airport in the mid‑1960s. The record is notable because it reveals that Army personnel sprayed a bacterial agent in public terminals as part of a biological‑warfare experiment, a program that had been classified for decades.
Why was this case declassified?: This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Storyflo narrates it directly from the public release.

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Army Conducted Germ Warfare Tests. In Washington's National Airport | By Stacy Young And Andy Lenarcic (declassified)

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