Groom Lake sound weapon?

www.hirshhorn.si.edu...

Although Paglen is mindful of the law, he says that he sometimes faces harassment. Late one night last fall, he and a friend drove down an unmarked road that leads west from Route 375 toward Area 51. He got out just short of the restricted zone’s eastern boundary; suddenly, his eardrums began pulsating and a shrill tone filled his skull. “At first, I thought I was imagining it,” he said, but his friend felt it, too. When they returned to the car, the sound and the pulsing stopped. When Paglen stepped out again, they resumed. Security forces were
zapping him, he surmised, with a high-frequency weapon, like gardeners using sonic repellents to drive off a squirrel.
(The Pentagon says that Paglen’s account is “not plausible.”)

I know Trevor. He isn't the type to make this kind of story up. This event was at the front gate per my conversation with him.

Note that the camo dudes have a daytime and nighttime routine. In the day, they watch you. Period, end of story, well at least at the front gate and provided you don't do something stupid like cross the border. The camo dudes night routine is a bit different, at least based on the three times I paid them nocturnal visits. As you drive down Groom Lake road at night, you will eventually see a dim light on a hill just beyond the border. Usually this is the hill just north of the "tourist" campsite by the border, not Hawkeye Hill. What you see is the dude turning on a dome light to aid in logging your arrival. [You guys need a camo-pad.] Either this event is triggered by your vehicle setting off a ground sensor, or they just see your lights. [While you could drive Groom Lake Road blacked out, this increases your odds of an encounter of the bovine kind.] When you are very close to the border but before the dip that leads to the edge of the forbidden zone, the dude will turn on the red and blue flashers behind the grill of the dude-mobile. This is to send a signal, namely "law enforcement ahead, you silly asshat."

For more fun and games, park at the tourist camp and get out of the car. You are now a smaller target, i.e much harder to spot. I have had the dudes track me with a spotlight, much like an unsavory hunter performs deer jacking, except without the lead projectiles.

I believe the dudes are making their presence known a bit more conspicuously at night. Ultimately, they don't want to have to arrest you. It just makes work for them, and perhaps having to arrest a trespasser reflects badly on them since the whole point of their presence is to deter border crossings in the first place. Thus some annoying sound wouldn't be out of character.

I regret not making my first trek down Groom Lake Road at night. Your anxiety level is cranked up to 11 at night. It makes the trip far less ho hum than the daylight drive because you really really want to make sure you don't cross the border. There is no gate, so if you screw up, the dudes will pounce.

It was likely an L.R.A.D. Unit. They project sound and are highly directional. It can be directions or announcements. It can be very annoying repellant sound or it can literally be disabling in the short term. All audible to the target and someone 10 degrees off the cone would likely wonder what everyone's problem was.

LRAD Units at Chicago Summit

Occupy saw these..but never had them used ON them that I knew of for certain. Nasty things....but at least he didn't get a dazzler in his face. I'll bet those guys have the cutting edge on those, too.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I agree. They've been using them on the samali pirates for a while now. They are pretty intense from what I hear.

reply to post by boomer135

Oh that's right! I had totally forgotten the LRAD's do exist in a daily operational role somewhere. Now that you mention it, I recall seeing stories showing them being put onto ships following the cargo ship we got taken hostage.

Well.. I sure haven't heard much more about Pirates on American or close allied flagged vessels in awhile, I guess it must work? Now that you bring that up... Hey.. I wonder?? I've read in the material on them and anecdotal stuff that wearing headphones or plugs would block out the cutting edge from these.....

That really can't be though, can it?

Now that you remind us all of the fact these aren't just used on trespassers or annoying protesters...but in situations where death is likely the result of it not having 100% of the effect...These have to have a level or just naturally do convey right on past ear protection? Otherwise, the Somalis could have someone drop ship them a crate of shooting muffs to a neighbor country and defeat the whole effort with a few hundred bucks worth of sporting goods. Hmmmmmm

I have a degree in sound engineering, and am fascinated by these new weapons. It is much better to know that in the near future, guns might not be necessary for certain situations. Many cruise lines are experimenting with using them to repel pirates. It is feasible that Area 51 may have a more sophisticated system, and im interested to find out how much more sophisticated theirs might be

Phased arrays aren't all that sophisticated. Basically they are doing old fashioned "beam forming". It seems to me that it was a matter of one company finding a market for such a product. I have contacted the author to see if that is the sound he heard. No reply yet.

Funny thing about the front gate is during the winter, the dudes don't hang out there since few people visit the front gate in the winter. [I suggest having two vehicles just in the event one gets stuck.] On one winter visit they sent the chopper. Another time we got a low pass by a F-16. Eventually the dudes will show up in the winter, it is just that they aren't already on the hill when you arrive. Maybe the ground sensors aren't maintained during the winter. As I've stated a few times, the first layer of security isn't all that tough, probably on purpose. The base doesn't want to attract attention, though I suppose that ship has sailed.