Microwave auditory effect
First publication of the microwave auditory effect
The phenomenon of RADAR operators hearing electromagnetic radiation as clicks, buzz, hiss, or chirps was first discovered in 1947 and was reported in 1956 by the Airborne Instruments Laboratory (cf. division of Cutler-Hammer), in the periodical Proceedings of the IRE (renamed in 1962 to Proceedings of the IEEE). The publication reference is provided below:
Airborne Instruments Laboratory (1956), An observation on the detection by the ear of microwave signals. Proc. IRE 1956. V. 44, No 10 (Oct). P. 2A.
World authority in Microwave Hearing, Professor James Lin* presents the phenomenon experimentally
* UIC College of Engineering | University of Illinois at Chicago
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wpfOSGm0wc
Transcript follows.
Microwaves and other radio frequencies are known to affect the human body. But could they be responsible for voices in people's heads.
In Chicago Illinois, a world authority on microwave hearing shows how it could work.
Prof. Lin: “And sharing a micropulse… like a click… now it sounds like a chirp… with a tonal quality to it. Professor James Lin is hearing sounds that aren't there. But he's not crazy.
Pulses of microwave energy are being generated and fired at him from behind.
Prof. Lin: “Microwaves can be heard depending on the individual, depending on the hearing acuity of the individual. Individuals with fairly normal hearing can hear microwaves at quite a low-level.”
The energy of the absorbed microwaves causes brain tissue to very slightly heat up and expand causing a pressure wave to be picked up by the hearing mechanism in the inner ear. Professor Lynn is far from hearing voices but it could be possible to send coded signals to an agent this way.
Prof. Lin: “The brain is an electrical organ. It is susceptible to electrical signals since microwave is electrical. Therefore, in principle one could embed or encode information in the microwave signal (in a way that) it could be perceived by the brain.”
Professor James Lin: https://www.ece.uic.edu/bin/view/ECE/ProfileLin
Images: Professor receives microwaves from the back. Two microwave signals are shown on the screen of the oscilloscope.
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research discovers biocommunication of intelligible speech using the microwave auditory effect
When ARPA asked the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research to investigate the Moscow Embassy case.
Justesen, D. R. (1975). Microwaves and behavior. American Psychologist, 30(3), 391–401. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.30.3.391
Corresponding excerpt starts with "Soviets were directing beams of microwave energy (...)".
In the experimental demonstration of the microwave auditory effect further above, Professor Lin reports hearing "clicks" and "chirps". The WRAIR researchers discovered that it is possible to bio-communicate specific words using speech-modulated microwaves.
(Note that the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research is distinct from the Walter Reed Medical Center).
Relevant patent: "Apparatus for audibly communicating speech using the radio frequency hearing effect" (https://patents.google.com/patent/US6587729B2/en)