I’d heard that there were still modern-day pirates operating in the Indian Ocean and near the coasts of certain, shall we say, restless nations, but this weekend’s report of a cruise ship falling under attack seems more like something out of a movie than anything that could really happen. Did you hear about this? Briefly, the luxury passenger ship Seabourn Spirit was off the coast of Somalia bound for Mombasa, Kenya, when it was beset by pirates in a pair of 25-foot inflatables. The pirates fired on the cruise ship with machine guns and an RPG, but the Spirit managed to outrun the shorter-range inflatables. How wild is that?
Even more wild is the science-fictiony claim made in one article I ran across this morning:
The liner used a sonic blaster to foil the pirates. Developed by American forces to deter small boats from attacking warships, the non-lethal weapon sends out high-powered air vibrations that blow assailants off their feet. The equipment, about the size of a satellite dish, is rigged to the side of the ship.
So far, the article I linked to above is the only mention I’ve found of this sonic weapon, so I’m inclined to think it’s nonsense, one of those paranoid fantasies that occasionally slips into the public consciousness, like black helicopters and “chem-trails.” That’s not to say sonic blasters are out of the realm of possibility — I have seen plausible-sounding stories about the development of such weapons. But you’d think that it would be bigger news if a radically new type of weapon actually had been deployed somewhere, and was used during such a spectacular incident. Unless of course you’re one of these Muldery types who is inclined to note that the mainstream US media has completely ignored the development of sonic blaster technology while the one article that mentions its use in the Seabourn Spirit case is from a British source. Hmmm… suddenly I feel the need to find my tinfoil hat…
In any event, I’m sure this incident was a pretty harrowing experience for the Spirit‘s passengers and crew, but, on the positive side, if you successfully survived a pirate attack, you’d have a helluva traveler’s tale to relate during your post-vacation slideshow…
I did hear a local news report that mentioned the sonic blast. I don’t remember which channel it was, may have been fox, and we know how accurate they tend to be. 😉
I also just came across mention of it on CNN. Maybe there is something to the story…
There could be — I know DARPA and the military have been experimenting with a lot of different non-lethal weapons, including sonic devices, but you’d think there’d be more fanfare about one being successfully used in real-world conditions.