“[T]he CIA had used up its imagination on trying to kill Castro. As we all know, none of their schemes were successful as Castro died of natural causes at age 90. One agency plot, however, was more ridiculous than any of the rest.

According to a CIA veteran’s testimony to the Senate’s Church Committee (which was set up to investigate intelligence abuses), the agency was involved in a particularly bizarre plot to fake the Second Coming of Christ in Cuba. The idea was that the Cubans were deeply religious people and would revolt if there was a divine sign against Castro’s rule.

The CIA even planned on shooting star shells from a submarine to “divinely” light up the sky because just telling people that Christ was back would be a bit silly. Although the guy responsible for it vehemently denied the existence of any such plan, documents from that time prove otherwise.”

JFK rejected the idea as ludicrous.

—TheAtlantic.com, via ListVerse