Governments Deploy Sonic Weapons Against Their Own Citizens
Navy Officer operates a sonic weapon known as the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) or Sound Cannon (Public Domain).
What do diplomats in Havana, Cuba, anti-government protesters in Serbia, and former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro have in common? They may have all been targeted by sonic weapons – a dirty secret of many governments around the world.
For some time now, there have been conspiracy theories about governments around the world, including the United States, developing, testing, and ultimately deploying sonic aka acoustic, weapons.
For instance, these rumors began in 2016 following strange events that occurred in Havana, Cuba, and dozens of other locations across the world, including Lithuania, Austria, and China. Almost instantly, thousands of officials from the US and Canada, and members of their families, heard a strange noise followed by pressure in the head, nausea, and in many cases, cognitive issues that continue to this day.
Despite investigations by both the FBI and several Canadian agencies, Canadian diplomats who were affected even sued their government, and blamed former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for not doing enough.
Until recently, however, these theories remained just that, accusations and science fiction… Now we may have proof.
Sonic Weapons: are weapons that direct high-frequency sound waves at targets to disorient, clear, or injure them. They can reportedly cause dizziness, nausea, and potentially permanent hearing damage.
The most common types of these weapons are Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs), but other variations also include Acoustic Hailing Devices (AHDs) and Sonic Cannons. While some of these soundwaves are clearly audible, others are ultrasonic or infrasonic, making them impossible to hear unassisted, they remain deadly and are even harder to avoid.
These are reportedly authorized for use by Law Enforcement in 30 US states and exist across at least 100 different countries, but they often go underreported.
Some, like self-described Hacker and Forensic investigator OccupytheWeb, have seemingly even been creating their own DIY versions of the weapon.
Sonic Weapons Against Protestors
In 2025, the Serbian Government seemingly used a new type of sonic weapon to disperse anti-government protestors who were in the midst of a moment of silence for a railway station collapse. Suddenly, the silence was broken by what protestors called a “sound from hell” for a short burst of a couple of seconds.
The use of such a weapon against peaceful protesters would be illegal, and as such, the Serbian government denies its occurrence. Still, in the video below, we can see that the crowd is suddenly affected by something and frantically forced to retreat.
Video shows moment authorities allegedly used an acoustic crowd control weapon against protestors – YouTube
Sonic weapons, though admittedly smaller ones, have also been used for crowd control against protests in several countries, including the US. For instance, some reports suggest it was used in 2011 against the Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York, in 2014 in New York and Ferguson, Missouri, following protests that were sparked in Ferguson and soon reached across the nation, and most recently in 2026 against anti-ICE protestors. These weapons were also reportedly used in Australia in 2020 on crowds protesting the newly instated vaccine mandate.
Sonic Weapons in International Conflict
While these weapons have primarily been used against protests, rumors now suggest they are being deployed in combat and intelligence operations. Notably, recent claims suggest that these sonic weapons played a major role in the capture of Nicolas Maduro on January 6, 2026.
According to a witness account of the capture, shared by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, a sonic weapon was used (Fox News). One of the guards reportedly said:
“At one point, they launched something…It was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly, I felt like my head was exploding from the inside…We all started bleeding from the nose, some were vomiting blood… we couldn’t even stand up after that.”
Other Cuban nationals, who made up Maduro’s most elite guard since he trusted them more than his own people, also corroborated these stories.
The United States is also not the only country that has been accused of using these weapons in a military setting against another nation.
Israel has also been accused of regularly using LRADs against Palestinian protestors and pedestrians alike in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank. Of course, maybe this should come as no surprise because, according to The Jerusalem Post, physicians in the country had to write a letter to the police literally begging them not to use it on their own people. If they are considering using it on their own, it’s unthinkable what they might do to the Palestinians, whom they often don’t view as human.
Given the history of both the US and Israel using these weapons against foreign opponents and the involvement of both in the escalating war with Iran in 2026, many are wondering whether LRADs or other sonic weapons will make an appearance on the battlefield. In fact, they have already been deployed by Israel, but purely in a defensive capacity to destroy incoming projectiles.
What would it look like if the US and Israel began using them offensively?
A viral story from a man claiming to have witnessed the U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro states that the U.S. used sonic weapons during the mission to incapacitate opposing forces.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared the eyewitness interview on X, encouraging her followers to read the statement. The witness in the interview claims to be a guard who was serving at the Caracas military base where the U.S. captured Maduro.
“We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation,” the witness said. “The next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn’t know how to react.”
The witness then described watching roughly 20 U.S. soldiers deploy out of roughly eight helicopters over the base.
They were technologically very advanced,” the guard said. “They didn’t look like anything we’ve fought against before.”
“We were hundreds, but we had no chance,” he said. “They were shooting with such precision and speed; it felt like each soldier was firing 300 rounds per minute.”
The witness then describes the U.S. deploying some sort of sonic weapon against Venezuelan forces.
