What the alleged ‘sonic weapon’ used in Venezuela may actually have been
Eyewitness account describes security forces vomiting blood and falling to ground during Trump operation in Caracas
By Morgan Phillips Fox News
Published January 14, 2026 8:00am EST
Claims that a mysterious "sonic weapon" was used in Venezuela have fueled speculation about exotic U.S. military technology and its potential effects on the human body.
One eyewitness account from a Venezuelan guard, shared on social media by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, claimed the weapon brought Venezuelan and Cuban security forces to their knees, "bleeding through their nose" and vomiting blood.
While the Trump administration has not confirmed what weapon, if any, may have been used, defense experts point to a well-known acoustic device that has been in use for years.
Known as a long-range acoustic device (LRAD), it’s been described as the "voice of God," according to Mark Cancian, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The device deploys a directed, short-range "cone of sound."
"It's not like a microphone, you know, where everybody's neighborhood, it's only within this cone," said Cancian.
U.S. operators may have deployed it as they were landing on the ground in Caracas, Venezuela, as a way to disorient security forces and warn them to drop their weapons.
LRADs can project spoken commands at intense volumes or emit a loud, piercing tone designed to get attention and deter movement. At close range, the sound can be painful and disorienting, and in extreme cases can damage hearing or rupture eardrums, but the devices are not designed to cause lasting physical harm.
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