Are Americans being attacked with “sonic weapons”? This may sound like a plotline of a spy film or superhero comic but diplomats have been sent home form the consulate in Guangzhou, China after mystery attacks. This would be bad enough but this is coming after similar incidences in Havana, Cuba in 2016 and 2017. During this time, 24 American diplomats reported hearing strange sounds and later exhibited symptoms of neurological damage comparable to the effects of a concussion. This included cognitive, dizziness, auditory symptoms, sleep problems and headache after exposure. Ten Canadian diplomats were also evacuated complaining of identical issues.
Fast forward to June 6th and around the world to China and the same thing seems to be happening. A US consulate employee and his family were evacuated in order to receive medical testing after experiencing mysterious symptoms and was later diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury Several more people were diagnosed later in that week The US State Department issued a health alert to American citizens living in and traveling to China, advising them seek medical attention as soon as possible if they begin to have any neurological symptoms.
There are investigators from a wide range of governmental agencies and top epidemiologists that have looked into these cases and set up protocols to identify future attacks and protecting staff. The fact that these incidences have happened in 2 different countries has sparked speculation on who could be responsible. The Chinese government has said that they are willing to help the US discover the reasons for the causes of the mystery illness and that they take the protection of their foreign diplomats very seriously. They have also suggested that the Americans look for an internal reason for this and to not immediately jump to the conclusion of an attack.
Three computer scientists at the University of Michigan think that they had discovered the reason for the Cuban “attacks”. They believe that a pair of eavesdropping devices were placed too closely to one another and tripped the ultrasound that they were supposed to damper. (See paper)
Is there such a thing as a sonic weapon? Is it even a possibility? Sonic weapons fall into different categories; audible, infrasonic, and ultrasonic which is inaudible.
The audible weapons would be just that, noise that is played loud and directed at a “victim” such as playing Barney the Dinosaur at enemy troops or during interrogation. This type of sonic weapon has been used for centuries, not the Barney part but noise for the sake of causing instability and irritability in the enemy. Noise has always been a part of warfare. This type of deterrent has even been employed in Ottawa in an area of tourism frequented by the homeless to curb them from sleeping there. I have walked through that area and yes, it is annoying and prevents me from loitering too long.
Infrasonic weapon such as LRAD (long range acoustic device) rely on loud, low frequency sounds and have been used to disperse crowds such as the demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri and to repel pirates. (I know, that sounds a little bizarre but it is true. Remember to pack one the next time there is a threat of being boarded.) When this device is used at its highest power, it can feel like a punch to the gut. It can cause nausea and bowel evacuation. There is no research done on the low-term effects of being exposed to this device but the possibility of hearing loss is great. “Victims” could potentially lose their balance and become unable to move out of the path of the audio.
Ultrasonic weapons would employ an inaudible high frequency pulse. This could be weaponized and would result in the symptoms shown by the American diplomats. Teenagers and children have the ability to hear some of these higher frequencies but most adults will not hear them. These frequencies can cause the cells in the body to heat up and cause damage, as well as, cavitation (the development of bubbles within the body). This can happen within the fluid of the inner ear, in body tissue, or cells and this is never a good thing…similar to the bends in scuba divers. Now, the effects of ultrasound increases with amplitude (loudness) and your relative closeness to the source. The heating issue is usually only a problem with direct contact to the emitter. Ultrasound is also highly directional and precise alignment of the “beam” would be required to work efficiently.
As weapons go, sonic examples are probably not the most efficient but ultrasonic weapons could certainly be clandestine and useful if they were installed inside, say a computer in front of which many spend hours a day. Is this what has happened in Cuba and China? Only time and investigation will tell.
–Janice Willson
References:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a21201860/sonic-attack-cuba-china-guangzhou/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/world/asia/sonic-attack-china-guangzhou-consulate.html
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qkve7q/the-new-sound-of-crowd-control
https://theconversation.com/sonic-attacks-in-china-and-cuba-how-sound-can-be-a-weapon-97380
