No, not in some syrupy Joan Osborne sense. But really.
LRAD (Long Range Accoustic Device) is basically a focused beam of sound. Originally, it was designed to emit a very loud sound. Anyone whose head was touched by this beam, heard a painfully loud sound. Anyone standing next to them heard nothing…
The navy planned to use LRAD to warn ships to get out of the way. This was needed in places like the crowded coastal waters of the northern Persian Gulf, where the navy patrols. Many small fishing and cargo boats ply these waters, and it’s often hard to get the attention of the crews. With LRAD, you just aim it at a member of the crew, and have an interpreter “speak” to the sailor. It was noted that the guy on the receiving end was sometimes terrified, even after he realized it was that large American destroyer that was talking to him. This apparently gave the army guys some ideas, for there are now rumors in Iraq of a devilish American weapon that makes people believe they are hearing voices in their heads…
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?
(H/T to – and this is where it gets a little weird – FbL, blogging over at the Buckethead’s, citing Bruce. At The Flight Deck. Whew.)
Kinda gives new meaning to that line: “The voices in my head told me to do it”
Leave it to the Army to get some real use out of it!
Words like: “You’re gonna die @$$hole;” come to mind. Pardon the pun. Completely intentional though.
Just a slob like one of us…
Just a stranger on the bus…
That’s still not that far down the rabbit hole. I found it at Rand Simberg’s Transterrestrial Musings; he linked to one of his earlier posts in which similar technology (my assumption) is used for advertising purposes.
One of Rand’s commenters doubts the veracity of the Strategy Page, and the article referenced in the advert post requires registration to read, so I’m keeping this in the rumor category.
Unless it’s some viral leftover from Minority Report.
The same as you and me.
Can I have one driving to work?
“Hey! You in the sports car! Yeah, you. This is God, you’re having a heart attack, pull over.”
Trying to make his way home.
Any mention of the Filipino Monkey?
Who asled you to cut into the lyrics Michelle? AW1Tim and I had a spirtiitual thing going and you wrecked it…
God, I just hate it when other women cut into my action…
“asked”
Well, excuse me.
Who am lowly *I* to cut into some broad’s action?
Tsk, tsk…
K, yoou are instantly forgiven.
Wish I could type… “you”
Anyway, don’t you feel better being forgiven?
Just baiting you Michelle. Going to bed now so I won’t be doing it anymore (today).
Hey, Merry Christmas everyone! My husband and I are going off line for the next 10 days.
We wish all the Lex Babes and men the absolute best of the hloidays. It is a priveledge to post here and be accepted by the Lex crew.
God Bless all of you, especially you Max and your new baby. I will be thinking of all of you as I raise my glass on Christmas Day.
See you on the flip side!
Babs
Oh, Maggie!
What a flashback, with the “Filipino Monkey”. During nighttime bridge watches in the Gulf, the siren song of the monkey was a constant source of both irritation and eventually, entertainment.
I hadn’t heard it mentioned in some 15 years…
Broadcasting any Britney Spears CDs over a loudspeaker would make the enemy run. That wouldn’t be against the rules of war would it?
no one calling on his phone
except maybe the pope in rome…..
Then, of course, there are the howler monkeys in the jungles of Panama. They scared the bejeebus outta my crew and me the first night we were at Howard AFB… them, and the spiders as big as your hand. No wonder the locals drink so much…
LRAD’s also work well hooked up to an iPod that has been loaded with a list of appropriate phrases. Can mitigate the need for a translator on the bridge 24/7.
They work really well and aren’t very loud (don’t need earplugs) if you’re behind them.
We could recite the lyrics to, “Hokey Pokey” in Arabic, Farsi and Esperantu.
Fun for the whole family!
Garth Brooks………….the new WMD.
You know, make fun of the song, but it’s actually a very pithy encapsulation of the scandal of the incarnation.
Except for that stupid line about the Pope maybe in Rome.
Makes me remember that joke about the Pope convening the College of Cardinals. “Brothers,” he tells them, “I have good news, and bad news.
“The good news is, I just received a phone call from Jesus Christ, Who has returned.
“The bad news is, He was calling from Salt Lake City.”
Babs, thank you and the very best to you and yours from our newly-enhanced family.
I’m still a little fuzzy on the claims made about this device. Sound is mostly omnidirectional, pressure waves in the air. To have a pressure wave that can be heard by one individual and not another next to him requires the wave be very narrow. That’s not possible with sound in the 20hz-20Khz range, the normal range of human hearing. It’s possible with waves in the megahertz range, but then we can’t hear it.
Something doesn’t add up. Either the claims are a bit more than reality, or somehow they’re using frequencies that resonate with the skull or fillings or something and that’s producing the sound the recipient hears.
– Max