The “Voice of Allah” Weapon
As I read this article from Wired, I kept expecting to see the obvious, but the author never brought it up. I remember the terrorist Abu Zubaydah said that after he was waterboarded, he said he heard the “Voice of Allah” in his head telling him to co-operate.
heh heh…
Sharon Weinberger in Wired:
The Voice of God weapon — a device that projects voices into your head to make you think God is speaking to you — is the military’s equivalent of an urban myth. Meaning, it’s mentioned periodically at defense workshops (ironically, I first heard about it at the same defense conference where I first met Noah), and typically someone whispers about it actually being used. Now Steven Corman, writing at the COMOPS journal, describes his own encounter with this urban myth:
At a government workshop some time ago I head someone describe a new tool that was described as the “voice of Allah.” This was said to be a device that would operate at a distance and would deliver a message that only a single person could hear. The story was that it was tested in a conflict situation in Iraq and pointed at one insurgent in a group, who whipped around looking in all directions, and began a heated conversation with his compatriots, who did not hear the message. At the time I greeted this story with some skepticism.
Is there any basis to this technology? Well, Holosonic Research Labs and American Technology Corporation both have versions of directed sound, which can allow a single person to hear a message that others around don’t hear. DARPA appears to be working on its own sonic projector. Intriguingly, Strategy Page reports that troops are using the Long Range Acoustic Device as a modified Voice of God weapon:
It appears that some of the troops in Iraq are using “spoken” (as opposed to “screeching”) LRAD to mess with enemy fighters. Islamic terrorists tend to be superstitious and, of course, very religious. LRAD can put the “word of God” into their heads. If God, in the form of a voice that only you can hear, tells you to surrender, or run away, what are you gonna do?
And as Corman also notes, CNET recently wrote about an advertisement in New York for A&E’s TV show Paranormal State, which uses some of this technology. Beyond directed sound, it’s long been known that microwaves at certain frequencies can produce an auditory effect that sounds like it’s coming from within someone’s head (and there’s the nagging question of classified microwave work at Brooks Air Force Base, that the Air Force stubbornly refuses to talk about).
That brings us back to the Voice of God/Allah Weapon. Is it real or bogus? In one version — related to me by another defense reporter — it’s not just Allah’s voice — but an entire holographic image projected above (um, who decides what Allah looks like?).
Does it exist? I’m not sure, but it’s funny that when you hear it brought up at defense conferences, no one ever asks the obvious question: does anybody think this thing will actually convince people God is speaking to them? I’m thinking, not.
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I bet some uneducated camel jockey would believe this and ake it hook line and sinker. they just need to put in “kill all your muslim brothers” instead of “surrender”
December 21st, 2007 at 3:29 pmewww, Bash! Not the subterranean A-Bomb Worshipers from (Return To) The Planet Of The Apes! They gave me nightmares as a kid.
Re: LRAD …
This remind anyone else of the device in the “Dune” book(s), the Weirding Module? It was a small hand-held device that when certain words were said into it a killing beam shot forth and struck down the enemy?
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Well, I am wondering when the jihadi members of this planet will jump on this news and spin it to their advantage/cause/recruitment:
“Asteroid may hit Mars in next month”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071221/ap_on_sc/mars_asteroid
December 21st, 2007 at 3:32 pmWhat is possible?
I remember the first time I saw the SR-71 Blackbird. I thought, “This is fucking STAR TREK!” Then, years later after the “sled” as it is known was decommissioned, it was reported that its prototype was flying operatins during…drumroll please…the KOREAN WAR! Not Vietnam, Korea!
Kind of makes your ass pucker up when you think what kind of nanotechnology shit our gov’t has at its disposal today.
So, yes, this Voice of Allah stuff sounds bizarre. Still, we’re already using micro-sensor-processors the size of grains of rice that can detect tank and troop movements and radiocommunicate via satellite. So in light of that, this Voice of Allah gizmo hardly seems farfetched.
And your basic camel jockey is absolutely superstitious enough to flip out when a voice, in perfect Classical Arabic, says: “Abdullah. I want you to put down your AK-47 and jump off the roof of the building. Don’t be afraid. Naked angels will catch you and carry you off to Paradise.”
Now there’s a YouTube moment I heartily await!
December 21st, 2007 at 5:37 pm@drillanwr
Re Dune, Have you noticed how elements of the story of Dune has some similarities to the GWOT?
December 22nd, 2007 at 7:15 amIs it just me, or do half the high tech stories lately remind you of Real Genius? First, the airborne laser, now the Voice of God/Allah. Think I’ll go make some popcorn…
December 22nd, 2007 at 7:50 amAt shorter to moderate distances, overlapping ultrasonic beams, which are quite tight, can be used to whisper or scream in one person’s ear; it’s standard “beat” sound generation (the difference between two interfering waves; so 50,300 - 50,000 = 300 cps audible. E.g.)
December 22nd, 2007 at 12:58 pmhttp://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4202152.html
About the asteroid hit — what then are the chances pieces of Mars will be tossed far enough out to later impact Earth? Is God giving a helping hand in the Mars material return program?
December 22nd, 2007 at 1:02 pm