CIA used 'Ghost Murmur' heartbeat detection system to locate downed pilot in Iran
The CIA deployed a long-range heartbeat detection system called "Ghost Murmur" to locate and rescue a downed US airman in southern Iran, marking the technology's first operational use in the field, the New York Post reported. The system uses quantum magnetometry to detect human heartbeats from vast distances.
The CIA deployed a long-range heartbeat detection system called "Ghost Murmur" to locate and rescue a downed US airman in southern Iran, marking the technology's first operational use in the field, the New York Post reported Tuesday, citing two sources briefed on the program. The system uses quantum magnetometry to detect the electromagnetic signature of a human heartbeat and pairs it with artificial intelligence to filter out background noise.
Game-changing capability
The capability is "like hearing a voice in a stadium, except the stadium is a thousand square miles of desert," according to one source, adding that in the right conditions, "if your heart is beating, we will find you." The technology relies on microscopic defects in synthetic diamonds to detect heartbeat signals at distances far beyond what conventional sensors allow, though sources said it works best in remote environments and requires significant processing time.
Rescue operation
The wounded weapons systems officer had been hiding in a mountain crevice after his F-15 was shot down April 2. The remote landscape proved near-ideal for the technology's debut: low electromagnetic interference, almost no competing human signatures, and strong thermal contrast between a living body and the desert floor at night provided what one source called "a secondary confirmation layer."
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US confirmation
US Central Command confirmed that two service members were recovered after their F-15E was downed by a shoulder-fired missile. The rescue capped a tense 36-hour operation in southwest Iran, where US forces and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were reportedly trying to reach the missing American officer.
Conflict context
The US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,400 people according to Iranian authorities. The downed F-15E was part of ongoing strike operations. The US has acknowledged losing two MC-130J aircraft, each costing over $100 million, during the rescue mission.
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