A nice lady named Jill at the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board suggested I try the Teeming Millions for information on the “Brown Note”.
I was watching South Park last week and one of the gags on the show, was the idea that you could play a note at a sub sonic freequency and have everyone who hears it loose control of their bowels. I thought it was a “cute” idea and whooped it up with my boyfriend…until he mentioned that he read somewhere there was an experament conducted by the French, in which they labored to find the offensive note. Aparently, they were looking for a sonic weapon to use as “crowd control” in the event of riots or other such large gatherings. Originally they were looking for a note that would disturb the inner-ear to such unbearable extreems, people would just forget the riot/demonstration they were attending and go home.
During the testing process the French aparently found a note that not only made people loose control of their bowels, but “liquified” internal organs.
Can anyone tell me where I can find out more information on this “Brown Note”? And in the event that it’s a hoax, where can I find information on the origin of the hoax?
back when i was was going to raves, i remember one promoter saying that some people got sick because of his homemade bass-bins…these were huge speaker stacks…
IIRC, human hearing goes down to 20 Hz (and up to 20 kHz)…with some people (mostly the women) hearing things in the 15 Hz range…very low frequencies (around 5 Hz and below, i believe) will cause nausea in some people, an uneasy feeling, like being car sick, or so i’m told.
these frequencies are definately not audible to humans, so if there was a ‘brown note’ and someone played it (though certainly not through any speaker or headphone you could buy…wouldn’t have the frequency range to reproduce the sound), you wouldn’t hear it. you’d just feel sick, maybe throw up, and maybe crap your pants
I’m afraid this also falls into the category of “something I heard somewhere,” but I remember reading about how American spies, during the cold war, would install speakers in Russian political buildings. These speakers would play inaudible tones that induced nausea in anyone who was within their range. The idea being that the Russian politician people couldn’t get anything important done when they were all busy throwing up. Seems to me like it could backfire…wouldn’t you be MORE likely to nuke someone when you were feeling crappy with headaches and nausea?
“A more potent RF weapon currently under development is the high powered very low frequency (VLF) modulator. Working in the 20-35 KHz spectrum, the frequency emits from a 1-2 meter antenna dish to form into a type of acoustic bullet. The weapon is especially convenient because the power level is easily adjustable”…“Incrementally increasing the power nets an effect of nausea, vomiting and abdominal pains. The highest settings can cause a person’s bones to resonate, which is very painful, as it can ultimately cause the bones to literally explode internally”
Some gems from the link funneefarmer provided:
[ul][li]the blindingly bright xenon flashlight … this weapon could prove to be very effective. Unfortunately, along with stunning the threat, the flash may cause the eyeball to explode or permanently blind the individual.[/li][li]The final type of weapons that immobilize are radio frequency weapons … The simplest type of radio frequency weapon is commonly used by the PSYOPs community: loudspeakers …[/li][li]A more potent RF weapon currently under development is the high powered very low frequency (VLF) modulator. Working in the 20-35 KHz spectrum, the frequency emits from a 1-2 meter antenna dish to form into a type of acoustic bullet…"[/ul][/li]
The paper was written by a cadet at the Air Force Academy who was studying management. It is obvious that either he didn’t proof read his paper or the science education at the AFA is insufficient for non-science majors. Radio frequency refers to electro magnetic radiation, while acoustic or sonic refers to sound or pressure waves. When he mixes phrases like “Emit from an antenna to form an acoustic bullet” he demonstrates he is not aware of this difference.
As for eyeballs exploding from the effects of a super bright light, I’m not buying it. I can buy blindness or pain, but to make the eyeball explode would take some kind of focused energy other than visible light, or a visible light laser at REALLY high intensities might be able to cause some physical effect to the eyeball.
He does provide references you can follow - one of which is a URL with ‘ufospecific’ in the path if that gives you a hint.
I’m sure that acoustic weapons and RF weapons exist (example, loudspeakers at Waco), I just think there is a lot of rumor and bad science running around to confuse people.
I don’t think it’s a “hoax,” per se - it’s just people repeating things they’ve heard from a FOAF. Cecil says subsonic (or, more properly, infrasonic) sound does not even cause “acute anxiety” as is commonly believed.
Hey all -
Thanks for the great insight! I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but the TM has by far the most info on this subject - far more than some other lame sites!
Jaco Pastorius, late aclaimed electric bassist for the Jazz-Fusion group Weather Report was reportedly interested in finding a note/speaker combination that would cause one to soil himself. More in-depth biographies of him probably go into greater detail…
Sweet Basil
ps- Actually, now that I think of it, I’ve soiled myself after hearing John Tesh recordings. First I hear it, then I do it!
There are persistent stories among old-timer rocket scientists that one particular early launch caused a particular vibration that caused the observers to lose bladder control. I’ve never found confirmation of this, but I have spoken to two rocket guys who claimed it did happen.
I would guess that this is old “common knowledge,” which does not mean it is true!
I remember reading an old science fiction novel by James Blish called “Cities in Flight.” Basically every large city in the world built a dome around it and took off for space. The motor that enabled them to fly was called a spin-dizzy. It was mentioned several times that when they first started to spin (or stopped) they would go through a frequency that would loosen your bowels.
It was just passed off as an unimportant detail of the operation of the machinery.
