In World War II, Britains air ministry spread the word that a diet of carrots helped pilots see Nazi bombers attacking at night. That was a lie intended to cover the real matter of what was underpinning the Royal Air Forces successes: Airborne Interception Radar, also known as AI. The secret new system pinpointed some enemy bombers before they reached the English Channel. British Intelligence didnt want the Germans to find out about the superior new technology helping protect the nation, so they created a rumor to afford a somewhat plausible-sounding explanation for the sudden increase in bombers being shot down. News stories began appearing in the British press about extraordinary personnel manning the defenses, including Flight Lieutenant John Cunningham, an RAF pilot dubbed Cats Eyes on the basis of his exceptional night vision that allowed him to spot his prey in the dark. Cunninghams abilities were chalked up to his love of carrots. Further stories claimed RAF pilots were being fed goodly amounts of this root vegetable to foster similar abilities in them. The disinformation was so persuasive that the English public took to eating carrots to help them find their way during the blackouts. There is at least a bit of something to the carrots/vision presumption: Beta-carotene, which is found in the vegetable, may help reduce the risk of cataract and macular degeneration. However, it needs be pointed out that studies which have posited this link used doses of Vitamin A or beta-carotene that were higher than what is found in the standard diet. It would be quite difficult to eat the requisite number of carrots to match this level of intake.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 22:09:30 +0000
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