The
Smithsonian's
Strangest
Flying
Object
In
the
early
1980
,
curators
at
the
Smithsonian
Institution
realized
that
they
had
no
idea
how
many
objects
they
had
.
So
____________________
museum
curators
began
to
count
everything
they
had
in
all
of
their
museums
.
But
what
they
thought
to
be
around
____________________
____________________
objects
turned
to
be
over
____________________
____________________
when
the
"
Great
Count
"
was
finished
.
Today
,
the
Smithsonian
is
home
to
over
____________________
____________________
objects
.
Some
of
these
objects
are
impressive
and
some
of
them
are
a
little
strange
.
The
National
Air
and
Space
Museum
holds
a
collection
over
____________________
,
000
aviation
and
____________________
,
000
space
objects
.
The
highlights
of
the
collection
include
famous
objects
such
as
the
____________________
1903
Wright
Flyer
,
the
world's
____________________
airplane
,
and
aircraft
from
both
World
Wars
.
But
less
known
,
perhaps
,
is
the
Smithsonian
smaller
,
feathered
flying
aircraft
,
Cher
Ami
.
Cher
Ami
was
a
carrier
pigeon
who
flew
____________________
missions
during
the
First
World
War
.
Pigeons
played
an
important
role
in
the
war
,
carrying
messages
____________________
through
____________________
territory
.
On
his
last
flight
in
____________________
,
Cher
Ami
is
said
to
have
saved
____________________
lives
with
his
heroic
service
.
He
arrived
,
injured
,
with
just
one
____________________
,
but
he'd
managed
to
carry
a
very
important
message
____________________
miles
in
just
25
____________________
.
Today
his
stuffed
body
has
a
special
place
among
Smithsonian
treasures
.
