US President Donald Trump says the United States used a secret "discombobulator" weapon to capture former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro earlier this month.
In an interview with the New York Post published Saturday, January 24, Trump says he is "not allowed to talk about it" but added the device "made equipment not work" during the operation.
However, a senior US official says the president is likely conflating several military capabilities. US forces used cyber tools to disable early warning systems and utilized acoustic systems to disorient personnel on the ground during the January 3 mission.
The US military has for years possessed a non-lethal heat ray called the Active Denial System (ADS), which shoots an invisible beam of electromagnetic waves to create a intense heating sensation on human skin. It remains unclear if the ADS was deployed during the raid.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared an account from a Venezuelan security guard who claimed the US launched an "intense sound wave" that felt like his "head was exploding from the inside."
Air Force general Dan Caine chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff says more than 150 aircraft, including bombers and fighters, were launched from 20 bases to knock out Venezuelan radar and air defense infrastructure.
The exact details of what occurred when US forces landed inside the Fort Tiuna military complex to capture Maduro have not been fully revealed.
