• YASID: Man From UNCLE Book with use of MASERs

    From danny burstein@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, March 08, 2026 23:55:18
    Close enough to SF that I hope you'll be gentle with me.

    The latest reports about the possiblity that "Havana Syndrome"
    is real and courtesy of a knapsack microwave reminded me of
    a scene in a Man From UNCLE book six decades (!!!) ago.

    Napolean is in a hotel room with the obligatory hot babe,
    and they both get locked inside.

    And then... the sounds start. And get louder and louder..
    With Napolean figuring out it's courtesy of a MASER (similar
    to the then fairly new but better known LASERs, but using
    microwave insstead of light).

    Anyone recall which book it was?

    Thanks.

    _____________________________________________________
    Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
    dannyb@panix.com
    [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From danny burstein@3:633/10 to All on Monday, March 09, 2026 05:57:00
    [answer appended at end]

    In <Pine.NEB.4.64.2603082339390.1498@panix1.panix.com> danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> writes:

    Close enough to SF that I hope you'll be gentle with me.

    The latest reports about the possiblity that "Havana Syndrome"
    is real and courtesy of a knapsack microwave reminded me of
    a scene in a Man From UNCLE book six decades (!!!) ago.

    Napolean is in a hotel room with the obligatory hot babe,
    and they both get locked inside.

    And then... the sounds start. And get louder and louder..
    With Napolean figuring out it's courtesy of a MASER (similar
    to the then fairly new but better known LASERs, but using
    microwave insstead of light).

    Anyone recall which book it was?
    Thanks.
    ==============
    a basic Duck and Google search dudn't work, and
    a Duck.AI gave me a well written answer that looked
    legit, but was WRONG.

    Google's AI found it:

    "In The Man from U.N.C.L.E. book series,
    Napoleon Solo is attacked by a MASER
    (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated
    Emission of Radiation) in his hotel
    room in the first novel,
    The Man from U.N.C.L.E. #1: The Thousand Coffins Affair
    (1965) by Michael Avallone.

    Scene Details Location: Solo is in a
    hotel suite in Paris with a woman named
    Denise Fairmount. The Weapon: The
    attack is described as an "eerie barrage of
    killing sound" or high-frequency
    vibration.

    Effect: The MASER (often referred to in
    the text as a "molecular
    sonic" or high-frequency beam) causes
    the objects in the room to vibrate
    violently and threatens to shatter the
    occupants' internal organs and bones.


    --
    _____________________________________________________
    Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
    dannyb@panix.com
    [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)