Serbia May Have Used a Sound Weapon Against Protesters. Here’s What It Looked Like

If true, it would be one of the most dramatic examples we have of an LRAD being used in public.

Police employ a lot of different methods to control crowds, none of them particularly pleasant. If the boys in blue want your crowd to disperse, they might hit you with water cannons, tear gas or rubber bullets — and every single one of those options can cause physical harm.

That’s why some places employ what’s called a Long-Range Acoustic Device, which can send a targeted soundwave to send a group of people running. Sure, it might cause hearing loss, but how else are we gonna clear this road so I can drive my F-150 through it?

During a recent protest in Serbia, protesters allege that the government used an LRAD to disperse a crowd. While the government denies it, some people who were there reported that it suddenly sounded as though a “plane was landing,” and the video of the crowd suddenly dispersing in response is pretty surreal.