MEDELMA@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU (Michael Edelman) (01/23/91)
From: Michael Edelman <MEDELMA@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU>
I recall reading many years ago of a French or perhaps Belgian inventor
who developed a number of offensive and defensive devices for what might
be called "sound warfare". He was able to produce intense (>160dB) low
frequency sound fields through the use of air horns, and tested their
effects on human and animal targets. Lower levels produced discomfort and
disorientation as the middle ear organs were affected; higher levels actually
produced injury and death in animals. The inventor also patented a number
of designs for soundproofing.
In WWII, the Germans worked on an "acoustic cannon" design that was supposed
to focus the blast of a small explosion at a distance. This proposed AA
weapon never became operational. I came accross in in one of the Ballintine
Books WWII series- I think it was entitled "Secret Weapons" or similar.
--mike edelman medelma@cms.cc.wayne.edu medelma@waynest1stanley@phoenix.com (John Stanley) (01/25/91)
From: stanley@phoenix.com (John Stanley) MEDELMA@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU (Michael Edelman) writes: > I recall reading many years ago of a French or perhaps Belgian inventor > who developed a number of offensive and defensive devices for what might > be called "sound warfare". He was able to produce intense (>160dB) low > frequency sound fields through the use of air horns, and tested their > effects on human and animal targets. Lower levels produced discomfort and I believe the British experimented with lethal sound in WWII. As I remember it, it was a joke that was so funny it killed. The troops carried loudspeakers emitting the joke translated into German. Any Allied troop that knew German had to wear earplugs. This was reported by the highly respected news team of Monty Python, so I would tend to believe it.