Threat Of Infrasonic/Acoustic Weapons; Scientists Warn Of Deadly Phase Of Terrorism

September 12 is around the corner and multinationals and residents of Egbe-Ikotun area of Lagos Mainland will be reliving memories of the collapse of a six-storey building last year, the first of its kind in Lagos, that claimed a record 116 lives, mostly South Africans.

In New York City of America, it was called 9/11 (September 11). In the City of Lagos, Nigeria, it became known as 9/12 (September 12). Thirteen years stood between both tragedies with varying devastations that humbled the security, technology and national ego of both countries.

America held terrorists responsible and the al-Qaedaresponded,”Right ho!” In Nigeria, the suggestion of a possible terrorist attack sparked off a controversy that pitted the state government against science, construction engineers and the Church. Lagos State Government wrestled science and technocrats in the building industry up to the judiciary.

The state-organisedinquest indicted the engineers and their employers of ‘criminal negligence’. As you read this, all parties are warming up for the drama that will unfold in the courtrooms in the near future.

Now, buildings had been collapsing in Lagos and other parts of the country in a stereotype pattern that raised no dust, so why did commonsense/logic clash with science and technology in this particular collapse?

Daily Times took the question to military and security experts who expressed apprehension that infrasonic weaponry may have sneaked into the shores of South-Western Nigeria through insurgents that have terrorised the country for six years, claiming over 15,000 lives.

Now, buildings had been collapsing in Lagos and other parts of the country in a stereotype pattern that raised no dust, so why did commonsense/logic clash with science and technology in this particular collapse?

Daily Times features desk took the question to military and security experts who expressed apprehension that infrasonic weaponry may have sneaked into the shores of South-Western Nigeria through insurgents that have terrorised the country for six years, claiming over 15,000 lives to its notoriety.

Retired veteran soldier in the Nigerian army, septuagenarian Michael Oga Oyediran, discussing the reality of infrasound energy weaponry in this part of the world, said he was alarmed at the September 12 incident and how government inquest handled the matter. He spoke at his home at Felele, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

“Considering the evidence of those engineers and the scientist, I became very worried because infrasound implosion technology was used in my time during the Nigerian civil war.”

A combat captain and blasts specialist in the late General Adekunle-led 3rd Marine Commando during the Nigerian civil war, Oyediran was one of few Nigerian soldiers trained by the British in the blasts and explosives science and technology in 1966. He recalled his first assignment on the field at this exclusive interview.

“Our training in London was extended by three months because we needed time to specialise in some sensitive post-operation radiation control and in the handling of some related equipment.

“I was drafted to the 3MCO, the code name for 3rd Marine Commando, when Nigerian soldiers entered into the then Midwestern State, particularly the Ukwani-speaking town called Obiaruku in 1967.

“One of the most illustrious sons of the town, his name was Idise Dafe, I remember, had a castle by the river side away from the town. He had fled before we arrived, but his American wife and her dog were there, and we had orders to blow up the house.”

Oyediran, who personally conducted the assignment, said the preparation took about three hours but the main operation took only three minutes and it was over.

“The castle came down in a straight line about 8 o’clock in the night; it was so successful that by the time it was daybreak, it was hard to believe that a house once stood there, and there was no debris around it.

“We didn’t call it infrasound energy then, of course, but the process and methods are very similar.”

Also speaking on the September 12 tragedy, Rtd Capt. ‘Tele Olagundoye, also of the 3MCO said in retrospect:

“About ten years ago, bomb blasts and suicide bombings were ‘foreign news’ from places like Afghanistan, the Gaza strip and later in Iraq and so on. Even when insurgency started to build up in the North six years ago, bomb blasts and suicide bombings were still foreign news.”

“But you see, I watched the collapse of that building on YouTube. The way it collapsed brought back memories of some of our operations during the Nigerian civil war and made me fear that terrorism has gone deeply scientific.

“But you see, bloody news is just news insomuch as the tragedy happens far away from your terrain. Since these six years of insurgency, Lagos State and the rest of the South-Eastern and South-Western parts of the country have been spared the bloodbath.

“Now, seeing the way government is ignoring dangerous signals and chasing after shadows makes me worry that insurgents may have penetrated and tested the ground of Lagos successfully and authorities don’t even know it yet.

“If government agencies and the judiciary are ignorant of this, they can be excused; but the military and security agencies of today who must have read the history of the Nigerian civil war cannot be excused.”

Characteristics of infrasonic/related weapons

A material science and explosives specialist at the Nigerian Defence Academy Post Graduate School, Kaduna who spoke to our correspondent in confidence for official reasons threw some light on the characteristics of infrasonic and related weapons.

“When a building collapses, especially a high-rise one that holds a large amount of dead-weight besides the live-weights, and after its collapse the foundation columns remain intact, its steel and concrete pillars protruding from the ground are not stressed … that effect can only be the result of high energy infrasound absorbed over a programmed period of time,” he said.

“The way it works is, the strength and constituent atoms of the building will lose their strength (or grip) because a high degree of resonance radiation has penetrated its atoms. It is like when a living person grabs an object firmly; but when the person dies, the ability that made that grip possible will ease out and the grip disappears, then the object inside the grip will fall off, or in this case, disintegrate.

“Also, ultrasound is called the ‘unseen invader’ because it has the ability to cover long distances and dislodge or disintegrate obstacles or chosen targets with little or no loss of energy and intensity and, it achieves all these without being seen. The only evidence of ultrasound or radiation is the damage they have done: that is the wonder and our fear.”

Unraveling the reaction when a connection is made between an infrasonic source and a chosen target, Hassan employed a scientific word ‘Resonance’ which he says, occurs when a connection is made between a source and a target which are vibrating at the same frequency.

“When this happens, the materials become joined and are said to be resonating; and once resonance has been established, an energy exchange takes place on the surface of the membrane of each cell or atom. Therefore, if the source of energy is more powerful, it directly impacts the targeted material, resulting in a biological reaction or, in the case of the collapsed building, a physical reaction.

“Now, let me tell you the worrisome part of this science: Resonance can be induced by generating electromagnetic radiation with a unit called infrasonic pulse generator, which can establish a link with a selected target, for instance again, like that of SCOAN building that collapsed.

“Once this connection occurs, and the power level of the generator is increased (just like you would adjust the power output of your normal generating set while it is working), it will automatically transfer the energy to the building. If the intensity level is high enough, the building can suffer a crumbling collapse.

“When an aircraft was reported to have hovered over that environment a while before the building collapsed, scientists know what has taken place; it is not supposed to be knowledge for governors or judges; but if judges cannot accept analysis of professionals in that terrain, the consequence in the short or long run may turn out to be like holding a tiger by the tail.”

That appears pregnant sir; can you simplify what you mean by ‘consequence’ and ‘tiger-by-the-tail?’

“Okay; suppose for the purpose of this discussion, that the insurgents have knowledge of this area of infrasonic weapons and the government or security men don’t: it means they can choose selected targets and strike at will. And because people would be looking at structural or soil failures for the cause of the disaster that will follow, the terrorists are shielded and free to continue wreaking havoc unknown and unrecognized; that is my definition of holding the tiger by the tail.”

Vibration frequencies (VF)
Daily Times sought to know how sound could possibly become such deadly weapon of mass destruction. A military biochemist who served in the Armed Forces Medical Service (AFMS) during the war, Rtd Major Bob Osarieme revealed that acoustic weapons (another name for infrasonic weapons) are more deadly on living things than on non-living things like structures, buildings, stationary aircrafts, etc. He gave some details.

“All of the chemical reactions in the cells of living organisms or in non-living materials, at the atomic level, are caused by electromagnetic oscillation, pulsations, and vibrations which science classifies as vibrational frequencies (VF). All physical matters vibrate at their VF respectively.

“My worries in the scientific circle go beyond the collapse on September 12 because the scientific knowledge that played out in that collapsed building is not the worst of infrasonic weapons.

“It has been established in our field that increasing the power level of infra and ultrasonic vibrations can destroy internal organs and cause mass deaths of a large number of people caught in it.

“But most worrisome is that, numerous kinds of the generators that produce powerful sonic waves are modified and small enough to be hidden in furniture such as end tables or cabinets in a living house, offices, theatres, and stadiums, etc. Nothing can be deadlier than that.

“Now, this is our fear: if insurgents have advanced their weaponry to that level and our security agencies and army, who don’t even have physical weapons to match theirs, what is that telling you? The SCOAN building collapse will become like a child’s play.”

Could that explain why the September 12 tragedy did not follow the normal pattern of collapses caused by structural failure or failed soil?

“Indeed it does. The approach was so scientific and thorough that it left the government and its agencies with no clue outside the usual known causes of collapsed buildings — even when it did not follow the normal pattern of structural failure or failed soil known in construction engineering.”

In his conclusion, the biochemist referred to the smoothness and success of the operation in a crowded city like Lagos: “It is alarming, and the implication should not be ignored. Whoever would have targeted that building with such concentration must be versed in the science of infrasonic dynamics. It looked more like a tactical strike in the most unsuspected and strategic city in South-West Nigeria, the nation’s commercial hub and capital, and that is an unhealthy development.”

Nuggets to ponder:
*Report of Lagos State Material Testing Agency which claimed the guest house collapsed due to defects in its foundation.

*A geo-technical engineer in practice for over four decades, Mr. Folayan, told Magistrate Oyetade that the soil under the foundation of the collapsed building did not fail. He gave professional reasons for his conclusion:

“After the collapse, all foundation pads of the building were intact; the steel and concrete pillars protruding from the ground showed no trace of stress or cracks.

“Especially, the Coroner ignored the CCTV footage which showed the six-storey building falling down in less than four seconds – a manner consistent with controlled or externally induced demolition.

Even an unlearned person can deduce from the CCTV footage that the collapse was not consistent with other known buildings that have collapsed as a result of structural failure, so even a lay man cannot be talking of structural or soil failure here.”

*The interim report and investigation by the Nigerian police force pointed to sabotage by external forces.

An explosives expert and researcher, Mr. Biedomo Iguniwei, who testified before the Coroner had said that the collapse was caused by an infrasonic weapon fired at the Church by the aircraft that hovered over the building.

For the records
One of the early pioneers in infrasonic research was French scientist, Vladimir Gavreau. His interest in infrasonic waves first came about in his laboratory during the 1960s when he and his lab assistants experienced pain in the ear drums and shaking laboratory equipment, but no audible sound was picked up on his microphones. He concluded it was infrasound caused by a large fan and duct system and soon got to work preparing tests in the laboratories.

Also, the possibility of a device that produces frequency that causes vibration of the eyeballs – and therefore distortion of vision – was apparently confirmed by the work of engineer Vic Tandy while attempting to demystify a ‘haunting’ phenomenon in his laboratory in Coventry, England. It was characterised by a feeling of extreme discomfort and vague glimpses of a grey apparition.

It was found that a newly installed extractor fan that Tandy found, was generating infrasound of 18.9 Hz, 0.3 Hz and 9 Hz.

In military application, infrasound has been exploited for its offensive capabilities since the First World War. It was used by the allies of World War I to locate artillery. When sound of any characteristic is being explored or deployed as a weapon to incapacitate, injure, kill or destroy, such a weapon is called an ACCOUSTIC or SONIC weapon. In such cases, the infrasound properties are deployed as an infrasonic weapon.

Now, infrasonic weapons produce both psychological and physical effects. They include highly directional devices which can transmit painful audible sound into an individual’s ear at great distances and infrasonic generators which can shoot acoustic projectiles hundreds of meters causing a blunt impact upon a target.

The psychological impact is that infrasonic generators can cause negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, or depression as well as biological symptoms like nausea, vomiting organ damage, burns or death, depending on the degree of intensity. Also, infrasonic radiation on target may cause other organs to resonate, causing a number of physiological reactions and malfunctions.

Acoustic weapons pose the hazard of being indiscriminate weapons, potentially imposing the same damage on friendly forces and noncombatants as on enemy combatants or other targets.

What infrasound can do
Infrasound is a powerful ultralow frequency (ULF) weapon that could be directional and tunable, penetrating buildings and vehicles. More high intensity infrasound could induce disorientation and reduce sensory motor functions like brain-box, memory storage systems, etc.

A more potent weapon under development in Russia since the early 1990s is a high-powered very low frequency (VLF) modulator. Operating at frequencies below 20 KHz, the device requires only a 1-2 meter dish to project an ‘acoustic bullet’.

Also referred to as emitters, infrasonic and ultrasonic generators and VLF modulators are weapons consisting of a directional antenna dish or specially designed generators which can send acoustic pulse to a general or a specific area.

Military history
According to military records, France was using infrasonic generators which operated at 7 Hz on its civilian population back in 1972. And by 1973, the Squawk Box was used by the British Army in Northern Ireland. It was a directional weapon that could target specific individuals by producing audible sound at about 16 kHz, which turned into infrasound at 2 Hz when it coupled with human ears.

In the early 1990s, Russia had developed a 10 Hz VLF modulator capable of targeting individuals over hundreds of meters, causing pain, nausea and vomiting. It was adjustable up to lethal levels. Since as far back as 1997, the US DOD has had an interest in creating generators in the infrasonic and ultrasonic ranges of 7 Hz and 20-35 kHz respectively which can cause these effects and research has been ongoing to advance them.

CONCLUSION
It has been known that infrasonic and acoustic weapons exist long before now as shown from the above study.

It is also known in the weapons research community that certain nations have taken the research to the next level.

Infrasound weaponries with high enough intensity can cause vibrations to structures at the atomic level causing the kind of destruction of September 12.

As of today, infrasonic weapons research has gone deeper underground which is inversely proportional to the advances made in production and testing with the consequent destruction like the type seen at the September 12 collapse. If it happened to a building in Egbe, can it be prevented from happening anywhere else in the city or in the country as a whole?

Supposing for one frightening moment – even if for the purpose of this argument – that scientists are right and that insurgents have ventured into the realm of infrasonic/acoustic? The consequence would be a disaster unimaginable.

For some time now, security agencies have handled with caution rumours that Boko Haram may have penetrated Lagos city. Rumours also have it that the sect are threatening to blow up the 3rd Mainland Bridge and some sensitive places in the mega city. Recently word was noised around that some Boko Haram suspects have been arrested in Lagos.

In the light of all the hush hush information management, it is expedient that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari should fall back on his military pedigree and ensure that what experts fear most does not come to pass. With the alliance being formed by governments of the Chad Republic and the Cameroonian security forces, our own security forces should make haste and ensure the security of the electorate they have vowed to protect.

Intensive investigation and probing should be geared towards accessing the infrasonic and acoustic option so the insurgents don’t beat us to that as well. The Chibok girls nightmare is still starring the nation in the face.

A stitch in time, saves nine.
Source: http://dailytimes.com.ng/threat-infrasonicacoustic-weapons-scientists-warn-deadly-phase-terrorism/

Additional source: International Journal of Scientific Engineering & Research (IJSER, 2014 EDITION). IJSER is a one-stop open access source for a large number of high quality and peer reviewed journals in all fields of science, engineering and technology.