[Ads-l] LRAD; sound cannon

[Jonathan Lighter]

Gap-filler:

1974 Jack Anderson, in _Daily News_ (Jacksonville, N.C.) (Dec. 10) 2
[Newspapers.com]: "It would be almost impossible for a soldier to protect
himself against the effects of infrasound," says the report....The sound
cannons might be combined with "light flash" weapons.

Post-date:

2009 _N. Y. Times_ (Dec. 13) SM 62 [ProQuest]: The Long Range Acoustic
Device (LRAD) ...can emit a sirenlike [sic] noise at a volume of 152
decibels....The LRAD has been on the market since 2003.

JL

On Fri, Jan 23, 2026 at 2:12 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I
>
> Not in OED. 'A weapon or device that emits focused sound waves to kill,
> frighten,or debilitate. (Orig. in science fiction.)'
>
> 1938 Ed Earl Repp, "Song of Death," in _Amazing Stories_ (Nov.) 30:  One
> shot from the high-powered sound "cannon" and it writhed for a second and
> then died.
>
> 2003 William Yenne _Secret Weapons of World War II_ (N.Y.: Berkley) 142:
> Designed by Dr. Richard Wallauschek, the Stichhaltiger Cannon (Sound
> Cannon) consisted of large paraboloid reflectors connected to a chamber
> composed of several subunits firing tubes that fed a mixture of methane and
> oxygen into the combustion chamber. [Etc.]...Humans would be killed at a
> distance of 150 feet and  incapacitated at up to a quarter of a mile. [At
> least] one such weapon was built. It was captured by American forces. In
> 2001 this writer proposed that such a weapon might be useful in attacking
> and destroying al-Qaeda terrorists  hiding in caves in Afghanistan.
>
> 2006 _Baxter Bulletin_ (Mountain Home, Ark) (March 11) 3A
> [Newspapers.com]: The Arkansas Forestry Department gave Lakeview police
> officers a sound cannon whch was intended to scare the birds away.
>
> 2008 Peter David _The Incredible Hulk_ (N.Y.: Del Rey) 194: Blonsky
> snatched up an M-4 assault rifle from near the crushed sound cannon and
> raced at the monster.
>
> 2026 _N.Y. Post_  (Jan. 15)
> [https://nypost.com/2026/01/15/world-news/alongside-rumors-of-mystery-sonic-weapon-these-are-the-new-technologies-which-will-shape-us-warfare/]:
> Emitted from sound cannons for extended periods, the sonic boom blasts are
> out at more than 140 decibels, which is as loud as a gunshot or a jet
> taking off at very close range, volume categorized by American Academy of
> Audiology as “painful and dangerous.”  “They can do more than freak out an
> enemy. They can physically incapacitate him,” the source warned.
>
> II
>
> LRAD. Not in OED. 'A type of sound cannon.'
>
> 2005 _Bradford Non-Lethal Weapons Project Research Report No. 7_
> (Bradford, Eng.: U. of Bradford) 44:  We have described the Long Range
> Acoustic Device (LRAD) manufactured by American Technology Corporation in
> previous reports.
>
> JL
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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