Effects of infrasound on people 
[very important... please read] 
MICHAEL SPITZER 
Sat, 17 Mar 2001 03:14:09 -0800

Dear Editor,

Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at 
Brown University, Arnold L. Weinstein comments in his taped 
course The Soul and the City: Art, Literature, and Urban Life, 
"City dwellers are connected by waves of sound." In the l990's, 
excluding the most obvious airplane and highway noise, an 
inaudible antagonist has proliferated.

In the early l990's both GE and EMD (Electro Motive 
Division of General Motors) began experimenting with and 
manufacturing locomotives with AC powered traction motors. From 
an economic viewpoint it made sense. There are no brushes or 
commutators to wear out in AC motors, and a computer controlled 
thrysistor maintains tractive effort to reduce wheel slip and 
motor burn out. Locomotive efficiency is increased and 
maintenance reduced propelling the rail industry back into the 
Fortune 500 from near bankruptcy in the l980's.

In l982 there must have been a reason why politicians 
lobbied to dismantle and stop funding the federal Office of Noise 
Abatement under Ronald Reagan. Trains are noisy, but at least 
you know what it is when you hear it...or do you?

The thrysistor is a software controlled electronic device 
that varies the frequency and voltage of AC. On diesel/electric 
trains, a turbo-charged diesel engine drives an alternator that 
produces alternating current. A rectifier converts it to DC 
where it is controlled by a computer, whence an inverter changes 
it back to AC to power the traction motors. When the traction 
motors are producing electricity by the inertia of the moving 
train, the electricity is fed back to a grid to dissipate the 
energy. This is called dynamic braking. All in all controlling 
electricity, not diesel power, moves the train.

A few years ago the Evening News did a story on the 
elusive Taos Hum. [The sound of an ongoing hum in Taos, New Mexico] 
Residents were hearing an annoying hum 
twenty-four hours a day. No one seemed to know the source. In 
Fayetteville and Columbus I was hearing a hum that fit the 
description of the Taos Hum.

The hum is produced by low voltage AC drives controlled 
by the thrysistor. Near Taos, there is a Molybdenum mine in 
Questo a few miles away. There is a long conveyor belt that 
moves the metal from the mine to the refinery. There are also 
two mines near Littleton, Colorado.

The Union Pacific railroad was the first to experiment 
with AC powered locos, mostly for logging work. There is also a 
thrysistor in the Bonneville Power Administrations power grid in 
the Pacific Northwest.

What does this have to do with a standing wave? Seattle 
and Portland, the birthplace of Grunge is in the Pacific 
Northwest. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Attention Deficit 
Disorder, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Panic Disorder, and Sleep 
Paralysis have all escalated in the last decade. Rockers got 
dark, rappers got violent, and teenagers began shooting at their 
classmates. The medical establishment has no physiological cause 
for any of these. What could be causing this downward trend in 
mental health in the last decade? The answer is infrasound.

Vladimir Gavreau, a French Scientist, experimented with 
the effects of very low frequency sound, inaudible sound waves 
below 20 Hertz. Many speculated he was working on a non-lethal 
weapon for the military. Officials soon realized it was difficult 
to control the dispersion of omni-directional infrasound and 
abandoned it. It killed the operator as well as the enemy. 
Infrasound travels faster through water and solids and does not 
dissipate. Its physical and psychological effects are varied but 
the overt characteristic is an intense feeling of oppression. 
Fatigue, blurred vision, irritability, headache, nausea, 
difficulty concentrating, tingling skin, and aching limbs are all 
effects of infrasound.

Low frequency electro-magnetic waves have similar 
effects. David S. Walonick did a study of the effects of 6-10 Hz 
ELF on brain waves. Brain electrical activity in the theta and 
alpha (the creative, insightful and meditative states) centers 
around 6-8 Hz. Most of our awake thinking is in the Beta range, 
above 12 Hz. Brain wave frequency ranges can be associated with 
mood or thought patterns. He determined the brain "locks onto" 
artificial electro-magnetic energy. It attempts to fight the 
invasion, then locks onto the electric energy. Likewise it can 
work at the cellular level causing disease.

AC drives produce both. As a composer, the AC traction 
motor locomotive has invaded nearly every aspect of my life. 
NASA has documented 17 Hz infrasound produces extreme blurring of 
vision. After two cornea transplants, even with 20/20 vision 
with glasses my eyes produce vision akin to the Comedy Channel's 
Dr. Katz show. Images pulsate almost 24 hours a day. With 48 
inch cooling fans for the power inverters, I either have high 
volume white noise, infrasound, or audible hum in my home most of 
the day. Tinnitus accompanies all of this. Likewise I experience 
all the physical and psychological symptoms associated with EMF 
radiation and infrasound. I don't think my brain has operated in 
the theta stage since I moved to Columbus. I wake up with a 
backache from my mattress resonating. I am irritable, nervous, 
and can't concentrate. I have no privacy because my home is 
connected to all the other city dwellers by a huge tsunami-like 
standing wave.

When I recorded recently in Nashville in a professional 
studio, the electro-magnetic waves in the air produced by AC 
powered locomotives destroyed five ADAT digital recorders. They 
disturb television reception and produce an audible buzz in my 
stereo system. On the phone voices have a ghostly echo. 
Electro-magnetic waves manifest themselves on preexisting wires 
carrying current.

The engineers in Nashville didn't know what was causing 
it. They grounded equipment and put down insulating material but 
to no avail. What can you do when it is in the air? All you 
have to do is listen for the rushing white noise outside.

For GE and GM, there is one issue that is substantial. 
If my right to privacy is being revoked by two corporations, that 
makes their practices unconstitutional. If they knowingly 
designed and manufactured a device that produces infrasound and 
the effects are documented, then they are negligent.

Because infrasound is invisible and inaudible, it seems 
apparent they were irresponsible and abandoned sound thinking and 
a sense of well being for humanity in exchange for the dollar. 
Everyone has suffered and will continue suffering until something 
is done.

It is no coincidence people are depressed, sick, and 
violent. With a country that now hums 24 hours a day with 
dangerous infrasound both through the ground and through the air, 
where are we to go. I guess NASA has the answer, although it 
seems noise is a big problem in space too.

Sincerely, 
Paul A. Reichle III

Effects of infrasound on people : The Sonic Weapon of Vladimir Gavreau