OPERATION WANDERING SOUL: THE GHOSTLY PSY-OP THAT HAUNTED VIETNAM
Imagine walking alone through a dark jungle at night, and you hear whispers calling your name, crying, and the soft sound of funeral music floating through the trees. You turn, and no one is there.
Sounds like one of those ghost stories, right?
But it isn’t just a story. During the Vietnam War, this experience was a reality. The U.S. military created Ghost Tape No. 10, which was a part of Operation Wandering Soul. It was a psychological trick that scared enemy soldiers.
It’s one of the strangest and most creative examples of psychological warfare, and it will make you say, “awoOooOh.”
Why Did the U.S. Military Use Ghosts?
The plan behind Ghost Tape No. 10 came from a Vietnamese belief that if someone dies far from home without a proper funeral, then their soul cannot rest.
Soldiers believed that the spirits could bring bad luck, illness, or worse, death. But just to remind you, this tactic didn’t actually include an actual ghost, if you’re wondering if they are real.
With this belief, the U.S. military then had a thought that if they fear ghosts that much, then they can turn this fear into a weapon. So they decided to hire South Vietnamese individuals to record ghostly voices that can, alone, creep you out.
The Psychological Operations Battalion (6th PSYOP) of the U.S. Army, with assistance from the U.S. Navy, had this broadcast during the night, where it’s scarier when you hear it. The voices would call out to enemy soldiers, urging them to leave the battlefield and just go home. And if you listen to the actual recording, you can hear that they are made carefully to sound like real spirits, not actors.
It was one of those tactics that made the enemy soldiers ask, “Is this real, or just a trick?” which made the soldiers too afraid to move or fight.
How the Haunted Tape Was Specifically Made
The South Vietnamese individuals who recorded the tapes didn’t record just one, as it was a mix of sounds that was created to make it more terrifying. It included voices of dead soldiers, someone calling their friends’ names, women crying who are mourning the fallen, Buddhist funeral music and chanting, and even jungle sounds like rustling leaves.
Some even included shrieks, screams, and moans. With Viet Cong soldiers pleading with his comrades, shouting "My friends, I have come back to let you know that I am dead… I am dead!" and "Don't end up like me. Go home, friends, before it's too late!"
And that would actually make you go home, especially if you hear it in the night, with no one around you. It would feel as though the forest itself were alive.
The Vietnam War Ghost Tape was played at night using loudspeakers on helicopters or hidden near enemy camps to make it sound like they were coming from all over the jungle.
How Did the Soldiers Feel When They Heard the Voices?
The soldiers described the feeling of hearing the recorded ghostly voices as a cold, creeping fear. Some hesitated to move. Some left their posts. And even those who realized it was just a trick almost felt shaken, because it played with their minds.
The reactions varied from person to person, yet one thing guaranteed is that Operation Wandering Soul caused sleepless nights and made soldiers very anxious.
It was clear that a psychological impact definitely mattered as much as the physical impact during a war. The fear slowed down the decision-making of soldiers, leaving them confused, and sometimes caused soldiers to retreat without firing a shot.
The Lasting Whispers of Operation Wandering Soul
The operation can be remembered as one of the most unusual military strategies in history, as it is truly unique. Who would think of getting ghosts to make enemy soldiers leave? Only those who get that psychological impact matter.
The tapes created fear and hesitation, which gave the U.S. military an advantage. It continues to fascinate people because it serves as a reminder that war isn’t only fought with weapons, but also with beliefs, imagination, and fear itself.
And decades later, the war is over, the jungle has grown quiet, and the tape has turned into little more than a reminder. It still makes people wonder how a few spooky sounds can convey such power. It was a shadow across the mind, and a fear that clung long after the guns went silent.
Was it just a clever trick, or did something else also whisper when those recordings played through the trees? Maybe the ghosts were never really there… or maybe they’re still wandering, waiting for the night when someone presses ‘play’ again.
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BY ALLISON KIRSCHBAUM
Allison is a B2B and B2C SEO content writer and copywriter with seven years of experience in multiple types of web and digital copy. She specializes in driving rankings and leads through content in verticals such as SaaS, B2B2C, MarTech, FinTech, financial services, insurance, and manufacturing.
