Did a mysterious ‘sonic weapon’ help US forces overpower Maduro’s guards?

Following the U.S. operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, social media has been flooded with claims that American special forces used a mysterious “sonic weapon” to incapacitate defending security forces. The allegation centers on a video interview, circulated widely online, in which an unidentified Venezuelan guard describes an overwhelming force that left him and others bleeding, disoriented, and unable to move. 

The rumour gained significant traction after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reshared it, urging followers to read it. The interviewee claims that an intense sound-like effect caused severe physical distress, including nosebleeds and vomiting, and rendered defenders incapable of resisting a much smaller U.S. assault force. 

While dramatic, the account remains unverified, and no independent confirmation has emerged to substantiate the claims. Both the Pentagon and U.S. Southern Command declined to comment beyond previously issued statements, citing operational security.

Despite the lack of confirmation, the allegations have revived longstanding debates around so-called “sonic” or directed-energy weapons, particularly those intended to incapacitate rather than kill.

What the U.S. is known to have researched

The United States has spent decades researching non-lethal and less-than-lethal technologies designed to disable adversaries without resorting to conventional gunfire. Among the most well-known examples is the Active Denial System (ADS), a millimeter-wave device often described as a “pain ray.” 

ADS works by rapidly heating the skin’s surface, causing intense discomfort that forces individuals to retreat. While controversial, ADS has been publicly demonstrated and briefly deployed for evaluation, though it has never been confirmed as having been used operationally in combat.

Another category of systems often mentioned in this context is Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs), which can emit extremely loud, focused sound. LRADs are primarily marketed as communication and warning tools, but they can produce painful, disorienting noise. Their use has drawn criticism due to the potential for lasting hearing damage, though they are not known to cause the kind of physical symptoms described in the Venezuelan video.

Both The War Zone and Forbes note that the injuries described, bleeding, loss of balance, and incapacitation, do not neatly align with the known effects of ADS or LRAD systems. This has led to speculation that the guards may have misinterpreted what they experienced, or that multiple effects, including explosions or stun devices, were involved simultaneously.

Forbes revisits another lesser-known research effort from the late 2000s called Electromagnetic Personnel Interdiction Control (EPIC). According to a patent and early developmental descriptions, EPIC was designed to use radio-frequency energy to disrupt the vestibular system, which governs balance and spatial orientation. 

Theoretically, such a system could cause affected individuals to fall, lose coordination, and experience extreme nausea. However, there is no public evidence that EPIC ever progressed beyond laboratory testing, nor that it was fielded or operationally deployed.

Plausible explanations and the role of misinformation

The detailed report by TWZ deputy editor Joseph Trevithick emphasizes that there is currently no evidence confirming the use of any exotic directed-energy or “sonic” weapon during the operation. The symptoms described by the guard could also be consistent with exposure to blast overpressure from explosions, flashbang grenades, or a combination of shock, stress, and injury during a chaotic firefight. Memory distortion following concussive events is also well documented, particularly in high-stress combat scenarios.

Another possibility raised is deliberate exaggeration or fabrication. Claiming that an unstoppable “super weapon” was used can serve several purposes. Protecting morale among defeated forces, shifting blame away from tactical failures, or amplifying the perceived technological superiority of the United States. 

The public resharing of the account by a senior White House official has also raised questions about whether highlighting such narratives may carry a deterrent or psychological warfare value, regardless of their factual basis.

Historically, similar stories have followed asymmetric conflicts, where technologically inferior forces attribute defeat to mysterious or near-mythical weapons. The War Zone draws parallels to past claims involving “electricity bombs,” microwave weapons, and other poorly understood technologies that later proved to be misinterpretations or misinformation.

An unresolved question

For now, the alleged use of a “sonic weapon” in Venezuela remains unproven. There is no solid evidence that such a system exists in operational U.S. service, let alone that it was deployed during this mission. 

What the episode does demonstrate, however, is that real research, though largely opaque, into non-lethal and directed-energy technologies does exist. Whether further information emerges to clarify what Venezuelan forces actually encountered, or whether the story fades into the long history of battlefield mythmaking, remains to be seen.