47 Inventions That Sounded Bonkers at First But Turned Out to Be a Huge Success

In 1960, “Operation Cat Drop” saw the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force parachuting felines into Borneo from Singapore. This unconventional airlift was part of a larger effort to tackle a rat plague in the then-British Sarawak. Initially, reports cited just 23 cats deployed, yet later tales inflated the number to a staggering 14,000.

Right before the drop, a modest call for 30 cats suggests the truth might lean towards the smaller figure. Either way, the operation was hailed a success, a quirky yet effective solution to an ecological menace. Where there are rats, release the cats.