Other experiments followed to test the birds' psychological fitness for battle. Target pistols were fired only a few inches from a bird's head. The pigeons didn't miss a peck, didn't even look up. Other extremely loud noises were introduced. Again, the pigeons stayed at their task. Skinner also put the pigeons in a pressure chamber, setting the altitude at 10,000 feet. They were also whirled around in a centrifuge, put on pure oxygen and exposed to bright flashes, simulating shell bursts. High vibrations were also introduced, and the birds were subjected to massive G forces without harmful effects.

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Following the success of those experiments, pigeons were placed in three, five and seven tandem positions in a missile to see whether, if one or more birds became obstinate or lazy, the majority could override any incorrect signals and keep the missile on course. The final test was to see whether a male pigeon placed alongside a female would abandon his task or vice versa. Once more, the birds' dedication to the mission was paramount. They pecked away at the target; hunger overcame any other desires. Skinner also learned that pigeons were seemingly fearless when feeding on hemp seed. They worked faster when it was used in place of the standard grain.

When sufficient data had been collected on the pigeons, it was sent to Washington for evaluation. Time passed, and Skinner was invited to OSRD to plead his case before a group of scientists. He brought a jacketed pigeon with him in a box, facing a translucent screen on which a target could be projected from across the room. He described what happened:

The pigeon had been in its jacket for 36 hours, and we had checked the box into and out of the baggage window at Chicago and had carried it with us on two long train rides. If the image on the screen was to be clear, the box would have to be closed, and I had installed a tube through which the pigeon could be watched without admitting too much light, but it would take too long to look down a tube, one person at a time, and I was asked to open the box. That meant that the pigeon saw a very faint image. Nevertheless, it performed beautifully, pecking steadily as we moved the target about. Someone put his hand in the beam from the projector and the pigeon stopped quickly. It started again just as quickly when the hand was withdrawn.

There could scarcely have been a better demonstration of the extraordinary predictability of behavior, the keenness of a pigeon's vision, the accuracy of its responses, and its freedom from distraction.

However, on October 8, 1944, Skinner and his associates were told that 'further prosecution of this project would seriously delay others which in the minds of the Division have more immediate promise of combat application.' Skinner, like Adams, was disappointed after so much effort had gone into his project. He commented in one of his books that if they meant other guided missile projects had more potential, 'the United States had not only no way of guiding a missile but no missile worth guiding. The Germans were far ahead. In September 1943, long before our final meeting in Washington, they had used missiles controlled by radio from mother planes to wreak havoc on the American fleet landing soldiers at Salerno.'

Skinner kept his pigeons at home and used the box he had taken to Washington to see if they would retain what they had learned. He tested them at six months, a year, two, four and six years later. All of them accurately struck the target, which enabled him to conclude his work had been worthwhile. While his pigeons were never tested in combat, he was confident they could have carried out their missions.

In the years following World War II, the U.S. Navy became more interested in missiles and their use against surface ships. The reports on Project Pigeon remained classified, but they were unearthed from the Navy files in 1948 and given new life under the designation Project Orcon (for organic control). The Naval Research Laboratory was tasked with 'conducting a program of research to determine the feasibility of using pigeons as the sensing element for controlling missiles.'

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