During the historic capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the US military used a secretive weapon capable of bringing soldiers to their knees with just sound waves.
Known as the Active Denial System, the use of sound beams can make people feel as though their head is exploding.
One guard who was working when US Forces moved in to take Maduro recalled soldiers launching something.
He said: ‘It was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly, I felt like my head was exploding from the inside.
‘We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move. We couldn’t even stand up after that sonic weapon — or whatever it was.’
Mark Cancian, a senior advisor for the international security program at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, told Popsci that ADS works by sending out shallow waves which produce pain.
He explained: ‘What you are feeling is not your skin cooking, but you’re feeling a sensation of pain.
‘If you get out of the line of fire, you don’t have a red spot.’
The US Military has used energy weapons like ADS multiple times before, but never in combat.
Other countries have used similar weapons – in 2020, Chinese soldiers repelled Indian troops in the Himalayas by essentially turning the hilltops into a ‘microwave oven’.
Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at the city’s Renmin University, said the Indian soldiers were forced to retreat without a single bullet being fired when the People’s Liberation Army forces deployed a secret electromagnetic weapon.
Speaking during a lecture, he said that they stuck to the no-live-shot rule by instead aiming pulses of radiation towards the hostile soldiers, triggering pain and irritation by heating up their skin.
There has also been speculation that energy weapons like ADS were behind the mysterious ‘Havana Syndrome’, which struck US personnel working abroad in 2016.
In the first instance, reports were of a sudden onset of a ‘buzzing’ or ‘piercing’ sound, or experiencing a feeling of intense pressure or even vibration in the head.
US officials estimate that there have been at least 1500 cases among US government personnel, with incidents reported in 96 countries.
Symptoms of Havana Syndrome
Symptoms are quite varied, but have been described as including:
- Visual problems
- Cognitive difficulties.
- Vertigo
- Loss of balance
- Ear pain
- Head pressure
- Hearing loud noises
- Nausea
- Headaches
- Fatigue
Pulsed electromagnetic energy was flagged as a ‘plausible’ cause, findings which align with a 2020 study on the topic completed by the National Academies of Science.
While US intelligence agencies deny foreign involvement, an investigation by The Insider suggested that Russia may be behind the syndrome.
A Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, denied Russia’s involvement. He called it a ‘baseless accusation.
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