CROWD CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES - Omega Research Foundation

distance to create muscle paralysis or tetanization. 348 A fully working prototype is still some way off but
the principle has been successfully tested using a Lumonics Hyper-X 400 excimer laser at the
University of California at San Diego. 349
Other Directed Energy Weapons are being explored. For example in 1997, Edward Scannel of the
US Army Laboratory identified a Vortex Ring Gun which is a combustion Ring Gun creating vortices for
impulse or chemical delivery and a range of high powered acoustic technology. 350 The literature talks of
acoustic bullets, beams and blastwave projectors. Comments on acoustic weapons have suggested
they can be tunable radiating a directed energy beam of 90-120 decibels to provide anything from
extreme levels of annoyance and distraction through to 140-150 decibels for )strong physical bodily
trauma and damage to tissues( to shockwave levels of more than 170 decibels )producing
instantaneous blastwave like trauma which could be lethal. 351 The current leader in acoustic
technology in the US is a small company in Huntington Beach, California called Scientific Applications
and Research Associates which is reported to have made vortices which are capable of providing an
area denial function. 352
However, despite the claims of powerful infra-sound weapons capable of making people sick and
causing involuntary defecation, a presentation by Jurgen Altman of the University of Dortmund at the
1999 Janes conference, Fielding Weapons for the New Millennium said such claims were based on
Physics not as we know it. In a more detailed technical study Altman provides a tightly argued case for
doubting the technical workability of such weapons over longer distances. At shorter distances with
explosive driven strong sound blast waves there would be a case for including such weapons within the
SIrUS criteria of banning weapons which target a particular aspect of human anatomy. 353
The most controversial non-lethal crowd control and anti-materiel technology proposed by the US
are so called Radio Frequency or Directed Energy Weapons that can allegedly manipulate human
behaviour in a variety of unusual ways. Some microwave systems have been proposed which can raise
body temperature to between 105 to 107 degrees F, to provide a disabling effect in a manner based on
the microwave cooker principle. However, the greatest concern is with systems which can directly
interact with the human nervous system. There are many reports on so called psychotronic weapons
which are beyond the brief of this study but one comment can be made. 354 The research undertaken todate
both in the US and in Russia can be divided into two related areas: (i) individual mind control and
(ii) crowd control. That the US has undertaken a variety of mind control programmes in the past such
as MkULTRA and MkDELTA is a matter of public record and those using electromagnetic radiation
such as PANDORA have been the focus of researchers in para-politics for many years. 355 More
recently, authors such as Begich and Roderick have alleged significant breakthroughs in the ability of
military high frequency electromagnetic technologies to manipulate human behaviour. 356
What is admitted by the military authorities in the US is that research programmes using so called
directed energy weapons for anti-personnel and anti-material purposes are proceeding into prototype
stages 357 . The military utility of these weapons is that they provide a tunable or rheostat ability a )need(
that is emerging as part of the new US military intervention doctrine of so called layered defence. This
means in practice an )onion style( of risk where anyone coming into contact with the outer shell may be
sickened, paralysed. Entering subsequent levels may lead to being physically harmed, disabled or
permanently maimed whilst the core of the zone is protected by lethal technology, contact with which is
fatal.
6.3.5 Area Denial Munitions - are victim initiated technologies which have in the past been used at
borders and along the perimeters of control zones to prevent entry or exit. At the 1997 Janes NLW
conference, the systems manager for the US non-lethal material programe, Hilda Libby, advocated a
range of such technologies to insert into existing weapons platforms including many area denial
munitions. 358 The US has said that it will not sign the Landmines Treaty until 2006 when there are nonlethal
alternatives.
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