RADIO WAVES STUDIED FOR ARMS POTENTIAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100120054-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 10, 2012
• Sequence Number: 54
• Publication Date: July 31, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/10: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100120054-2
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE '
WASHINGTON POST
31 July 1985
JACK ANDERSON and DALE VAN ATTA
Radio Waves Studied for Arms Potential
Can the human mind be short-circuited or even
destroyed by extremely low-frequency radio
waves?
Preposterous as such an idea may seem,
scientists on both sides of the Iron Curtain have
been conducting secret studies on the subject. And
though it bears the acronym ELF, there's nothing
pixielike about the possible effects of extremely low
frequency transmissions. Reputable scientists say
they could be developed into another grisly weapon
of mass destruction.
The Navy is installing more than 50 miles of
underground antenna in Wisconsin and Michigan to
beam extremely low frequency messages to our
submarines deep under the oceans. Lacking such a
system, the subs now have to come near the
surface to receive long-distance communications
from the Defense Department, thereby exposing
themselves to enemy tracking devices.
The ELF transmissions, the Navy contends, are
not at a level harmful to humans and animals.
For years ELF research suffered under the cloud
of "parapsychology." Unfortunately for the human
race, there's nothing silly about the potential
effects of very low-level electromagnetic radiation
on the nervous system.
The Soviets conducted pioneer research in
electromagnetic radiation in the 1930s in hopes of
giving scientific respectability to mental telepathy.
But the lowest-frequency ranges were difficult to
detect with the primitive instruments of that era,
and Soviet scientists eventually abandoned the
electromagnetic mechanism as a means of
perfecting telepathy.
But brain researchers in this country and
elsewhere acknowledge that those early Soviet
scientists were the first to realize that very
low-level radiation could have profound effects on
the human organism-and frightening military
uses.
American researchers have told us that within 15
years scientists on both sides may learn how to
interfere with the electrical impulses of the human
brain by means of long-distance transmission of
electromagnetic radiation. This interference could
extend to "switching off' the brain's vital
functions-that is, killing the targeted victims.
In fact, the Navy once funded a project to
determine whether ELF signals could upset human
brain function to bring on hypertension or sudden
death. The project was killed by a high Navv official
when he found it in his budget-not because it wa;
too horrifying, but because it smacked of psychic
research, which he opposed.
The Soviets may already have tested some such
device against American personnel. From 1959
until 1978, mysterious microwave radiation was
beamed at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Official
reports concluded that the Soviets may have been
trying "mind control" or "electronic induction of
illness." As far as anyone can determine, the
attempt failed.
Meanwhile the Navy has contracted r-ir
yreliminary ELF studies with several hurmcdirai
research firms in the Los .Angeles area. Other
highly.classdied and well funcic c red sears i this
spolkv field continues in this country 3n no
doubt in the Soviet Union as well.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/10: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100120054-2