Microwave auditory effect

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The microwave auditory effect, also known as the microwave hearing effect or the Frey effect, consists of
audible clicks induced by pulsed/modulated microwave frequencies. The clicks are generated directly inside the
human head without the need of any receiving electronic device. The effect was first reported by persons
working in the vicinity of radar transponders during World War II. These induced sounds are not audible to other
people nearby. The microwave auditory effect was later discovered to be inducible with shorter-wavelength
portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. During the Cold War era, the Americanneuroscientist Allan H.
Frey studied this phenomenon and was the first to publish (Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol. 17, pages 689-
692, 1962) information on the nature of the microwave auditory effect; this effect is therefore also known as the
Frey effect.
Dr. Don R. Justesen published "Microwaves and Behavior" in The American Psychologist (Volume 30, March
1975, Number 3).
Research by NASA in the 1970s[citation needed] showed that this effect occurs as a result of thermal expansion
of parts of the human ear around the cochlea, even at low power density. Later, signal modulation was found to
produce sounds or words that appeared to originate intracranially. It was studied for its possible use in
communications. Similar research conducted in the USSR studied its use in non-lethal weaponry.[citation
needed]
Pulsed microwave radiation can be heard by some workers; the irradiated personnel perceive auditory
sensations of clicking or buzzing. The cause is thought to be thermoelastic expansion of portions of auditory
apparatus.[1] The auditory system response occurs at least from 200 MHz to at least 3 GHz. In the tests,
repetition rate of 50 Hz was used, with pulse width between 10-70 microseconds. The perceived loudness was
found to be linked to the peak power density instead of average power density. At 1.245 GHz, the peak power
density for perception was below 80 mW/cm2. The generally accepted mechanism is rapid (but minuscule, in the
range of 10-5 °C) heating of brain by each pulse, and the resulting pressure wave traveling through skull
to cochlea.[2]
The existence of non-lethal weaponry that exploits the microwave auditory effect appears to have been classified
"Secret NOFORN" in the USA from (at the latest) 1998, until the declassification on 6 December 2006
of "Bioeffects of Selected Non-Lethal Weaponry" in response to a FOIA request. Application of the microwave
hearing technology could facilitate a private message transmission. Quoting from the above source, "Microwave
hearing may be useful to provide a disruptive condition to a person not aware of the technology. Not only might it
be disruptive to the sense of hearing, it could be psychologically devastating if one suddenly heard "voices within
one's head".
The technology gained further public attention when a company announced in early 2008 that they were close to
fielding a device called MEDUSA (Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio) based on the principle.[3]
[edit]Natural sources of electromagnetic perception
For centuries, humans have reported hearing unexplained noises in conjunction with meteors including "thunder-
like sounds" at the scene of the Tunguska event on June 30, 1908. Astronomer Edmund Halleycollected several
such accounts after a widely-observed meteor burned up in the sky over England[4]. The Leonids meteor
shower in November 2001 also led to many reports of observers hearing crackling or fizzing noises.[5] Similar
observations have been reported by soldiers near the site of nuclear explosions.
Colin Keay, a physicist at the University of Newcastle in Australia, has advanced a hypothesis that purports to
explain these phenomena. According to Keay's theory, meteor trails give off very low frequency (VLF) radio
signals that the human ear cannot sense directly but are heard because a transducer on the ground must be
converting the radio waves into sound waves. He has produced experiments that demonstrate that materials as
commonplace as aluminum foil, thin wires, pine needles, and wire-framed glasses can act as suitable
transducers.
Powerful VLF waves can induce physical vibrations in these objects, which are transmitted to the air as sound
waves. Keay defines the field of geophysical electrophonics as "the production of audible noises of various kinds
through direct conversion by transduction of very low frequency electromagnetic energy generated by a number
of geophysical phenomena."[6] Some scientists state that electrophonic effects may also be caused by lightning
strikes, very bright auroras[1], and earthquakes.[citation needed]
Electroreception has also been studied in the animal world. Ritz et al., in Biophysical Journal,[7] hypothesize that
transduction of the Earth's geomagnetic field is responsible for the magnetoreception systems of birds.
Specifically, they propose that this transduction may take place in a class of photoreceptors known
as cryptochromes.
[edit]Primary Cold War-era research in the US
The first American to publish on the microwave hearing effect was Allan H. Frey, in 1961. In his experiments, the
subjects were discovered to be able to hear appropriately pulsed microwave radiation, from a distance of 100
meters from the transmitter. This was accompanied by side effects such as dizziness, headaches, and a pins
and needles sensation.
Sharp and Grove developed receiverless wireless voice transmission technologies for the Advanced Research
Projects Agency at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, in 1973. In the above mentioned journal entry to The
American Psychologist, Dr. Don Justesen reports that Sharp and Grove were readily able to hear, identify, and
distinguish among the single-syllable words for digits between 1 and 10 . Justesen writes, "The sounds heard
were not unlike those emitted by persons with artificial larynxes. Communication of more complex words and of
sentences was not attempted because the averaged densities of energy required to transmit longer messages
would approach the [still] current 10mW/cm² limit of safe exposure." (D.R. Justesen. "Microwaves and Behavior",
Am Psychologist, 392(Mar): 391-401, 1975.)
[edit]Peaceful applications
A 1998 patent describes a device that can scare off birds from wind turbines, aircraft, and other sensitive
installations by way of microwave energy pulses. Using frequencies from 1 GHz to about 40 GHz, the warning
system generates pulses of milliseconds duration, which are claimed to be sensed by the birds' auditory
systems. It is believed this may cause them to veer away from the protected object.[8]
[edit]Patented applications

• Flanagan GP. Patent #3393279 “Nervous System Excitation Device” USPTO granted 7/16/68.
• Puharich HK and Lawrence JL. Patent #3629521 “Hearing systems” USPTO granted 12/21/71.
• Malech RG. Patent #3951134 “Apparatus and method for remotely monitoring and altering brain waves”
USPTO granted 4/20/76.
• Stocklin PL. Patent #4858612 “Hearing device” USPTO granted 8/22/89.
• Brunkan WB. Patent #4877027 “Hearing system” USPTO granted 10/31/89.
• Thijs VMJ. Application #WO1992NL0000216 “Hearing Aid Based on Microwaves” World Intellectual
Property Organization Filed 1992-11-26, Published 1993-06-10.
• Mardirossian A. Patent #6011991 “Communication system and method including brain wave analysis
and/or use of brain activity” USPTO granted 1/4/00.
• O'Loughlin, James P. and Loree, Diana L. Patent #6470214 "Method and device for implementing the
radio frequency hearing effect" USPTO granted 22-OCT-2002.