It sounds like the headline from a McCarthy era nightmare, but Vladimir Putin’s defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov came forward in a meeting with the Russian president to announce the development of a futuristic weapon capable of controlling peoples’ minds – or as many media sources have put it – turn them into zombies. Is there more to this Russian mind control story? And just how devastating would such a weapon be? Putin himself described the technology as having as great an impact on the world as nuclear weapons while having far less volatile a political background to it.
The weapons are said to use microwaves, very similar to the same ones used in the US’ own active denial systems which cause extreme pain without actually killing combatants in a given area. And while the system appears new, it is a call-back to technologies explored by both the US and Russia for decades. In 1953 just as MK Ultra was being founded in the US, Russia was busy with its own exploration of psychotronic warfare. The Moscow Signal, which bombarded the US embassy in Moscow was credited with causing diseases throughout the complex and may have been even linked to a suicide within the building. Llewellyn E. Thompson was one of the casualties often cited as a victim of this early foray into Russian psychotronic weapons.
And now, decades later, Putin has confirmed that a system has been developed capable of spreading a beam throughout a large area. The super-weapons are being described by Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukev in chilling terms – very much like the weapons described by Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Only the words of Zhirinovsky were far more chilling as he predicted the destruction and deposing of all major world powers other than Russia. “…with them we will destroy any part of the planet within 15 minutes. Not an explosion, not a ray burst, not some kind of laser, not lightning, no, but a quiet and peaceful weapon. Whole continents will be put to sleep forever. And that’s all.”
And while the words were shrugged off by most as grandstanding by a politician known for grandstanding in light of the recent development, the words are far more chilling. In the same speech, which was made in 2011 discusses a wide array of secret weapons being developed by Russia. Does Russia possess a secret weapon capable of controlling minds, wiping out continents, and rendering whole populations incapable of responding to attack?
In the past, there have been several cases of claims by politicians revealing that they have weapons that would make their nation unstoppable. The number and scope of claims made over the past few decades is staggering, but it never stops sending a chill throughout the world whenever they are made. It may not be entirely unfair to say that most people fear the weapons of war technology could bring nearly as much as the thought of war itself, and those who would use them. As for Zhirinovsky, in February he predicted war would be upon the nation by the Summer of 2012 during a major political rally on “Defenders of the Motherland Day.”