"Vreme" investigates: Dementors and stampede in Kralja Milan

If there weren't so many people, if there weren't recordings, nobody would probably ever have spoken about what happened on Saturday (March 15) at 19:11 in Ulica Kralja Milana. Because he would be afraid of being declared insane.

"Vreme" collected hundreds of testimonies of the still inexplicable event. Mystery weapon strike or mass panic? Or a bit of both?

It is the strangest event that he has marked the biggest protest in the history of Serbia. The meeting, which normally passed only with minor incidents. But the rebus from Ulica Kralja Milana will take care of extra time.

But let's go in order.

At 19:XNUMX p.m., fifteen minutes of silence began for the fifteen victims of the carport. Little was heard. The rustling of raincoats, a drone filming from the air, a few coughs.

In the distance, especially from Pioneer Park, gungula, cannon shots. A few vuvuzelas. But mostly quiet.

Some bikers were passing through Knez Miloš Street towards the Parliament (which perhaps explains part of the sounds that some later described). It probably has nothing to do with what comes next.

Throat, roar, shiver

At exactly 19:11, people felt something they described differently, even if they were standing next to each other. It's as if the plane flies two meters above the heads. Or that an invisible car or bus rushes down the street. Some heard a "whoosh" or a whoosh, a sound familiar from Formula 1 or that of an ominously approaching cruise missile.

Many report the stampede of thousands of horses - which is perhaps the easiest to explain, because people fled en masse from the very road of Ulica Kralja Milana to the sidewalks and curbs.

The videos show how the corridor from the direction of Terazija towards Slavija is opening at an incredible speed. In a few seconds, the road was almost empty.

Dozens of people describe the experience as best they can, aware that it sounds strange - an "evil air" wafted through, uncannily. One by one from above. According to others, at the height of the legs.

"Harry Potter" fans from the crowd described the matter as the arrival of dementors - evil creatures that do not walk but glide through the air. Their appearance brings a cold breath, sucks warmth and joy. People swear they "felt" they had to get off the street immediately.

"Time" was mapped by about a hundred people who submitted the exact location. There is a striking concentration between the intersection of Kralj Milan and Knez Miloš ("London") and Cvetni trg. It is the epicenter with a length of 450 meters.

The video taken from the building diagonally from London shows that the movement of the impact came from the direction of Terazi.

On our map, everyone who described the experience and gave the location is marked with red dots. There are certain pop-ups - some are reported from the vicinity of the Assembly and it is difficult to say whether it is related.

The blue dots mark those who did not hear or feel anything, but were surprised that the crowd was running towards them. They stood in the side streets in relation to the King of Milan.

This means that, whatever happened, it went down King Milan Street itself. No one saw anything, only heard or felt it. Admittedly, a couple of witnesses who in a slow moment were facing the opposite direction - that is, not towards Slavia but towards Terazije - claim that raised dust came into their faces.

Where is the source?

Where exactly did it come from? Those from Slavija say - from Cvetni trg. Those from Cvetni trg - from a Belgrade woman. Those near Beograđanka - from the direction of Andrić's crown. Those near Andrić's wreath - from Terazi. That's where the testimonies are thinned out.

A video taken by one of those gathered at the foot of Beogradanka shows that people who were facing Slavia, turn towards Terazije, and then fall to the side.

Gathered in Knez Milos, above the pharmacy "1. maj", which can be seen in one of the recordings, also started to move towards the upper side of the street, and the impact came from Kralja Milan.

But nobody testified about anything specific, so it is not possible to determine the exact place from where it started. No one saw a device that could be a sonic cannon or some other weapon. No one reported that, for example, a cannon shot fell at his feet, and that is why the panic started.

Consequences

Most of the people who contacted us say that they had no visible consequences, except for anxiety. Some chronically ill people were afraid for their health. There are reports of dizziness, disorientation, vomiting on the spot. It's impossible to tell if it's from "it" or panic. Probably a lot of bensedine was consumed during the night. Many are shaking even on Sunday.

There are unconfirmed reports that many people have had problems with pacemakers. We are still checking them. The University Clinical Center, on the other hand, denies that on March 15, dozens of citizens were cared for in that health facility with ailments that could be caused by "the use of some kind of sound cannon." But they also add that "all of them" have been diagnosed and that "none of them have had the kind of complaints that individuals irresponsibly state."

The testimony of Staša Vasiljević is dramatic. She was with her family at the corner of Resavska and Kralja Milan. Her younger sister walked from Loznica to the protest, was tired and sat down on the sidewalk. When the panic started, people trampled her.

"When everyone came to their senses and when we lifted her to her feet, she was weak and disoriented. She just cried quietly and begged us to take her home. Her body was flabby, and her eyes were in disbelief. We made our way through the crowd and she fainted three times," says Staša.

The nurse didn't hear until she calmed down, she didn't see for a while. She felt like throwing up, but she didn't have the strength to say it. Staša also has a headache and pain in her ears, so she will see a doctor.

"I spent the whole night in tears because I couldn't calm down because of the nightmares." I am afraid that we will deal with the physical consequences, and the psychological trauma will stay with us forever. "I get scared when I think that I have to go outside," she adds.

For others, the effects of the stampede are most visible at first. People fell over each other, some were pinned against the glass wall of the Yugoslav Drama Theater. One woman injured her leg and is going to the hospital. Others have lacerations. One broken finger was reported to us.

Fortunately, everything seemed to pass in a flash. Most of the people came to their senses and no one was killed in the stampede. They looked at each other and asked each other what this would be. In some places, within ten seconds, they returned to the road and joined the silence again. Some went home in fear.

But that's where the theories just begin.

Mass panic

That there was a mass panic followed by a stampede is not just a theory, but a fact. The only question that remains is whether the panic came from nowhere and spread with the butterfly effect.

Marko Veljković, a videographer and sound designer who happened to be near "London", has a theory that it was pure panic, but he also has no source from where it started.

"We witnessed a phenomenon that I can only call the 'Mexican wave' of fear and panic." We are in a closed pipe system - the street surrounded by buildings is a pipe - through which the impulse of panic and fear passed from the direction of some incident that we did not see, while the people themselves were the medium through which the impulse passed," he states.

"It was only possible because of the silence during the delivery of the mail because the people (particles in the system) were in a state of rest (standing in silence). Due to the large crowd, it is impossible to see what is happening and where, but all the information is transmitted directly down to the people as a chain reaction down the chain (pipe)," adds Veljković.

Psychologist Žarko Trebješanin explains what happened as "a sound like a projectile flying towards you, something hissing through the air and in such situations people react instinctively".

"People have only a few innate instinctive reactions, so, for example, when an object is approaching you at an extraordinary speed, you have the need to run away, to go backwards. When such a wave starts, you cannot help yourself, because such a reaction is built into you, the pattern of such behavior is programmed and it is life-saving in some situations," he says for "Vreme".

The panic effect was short-lived. That, says Trebješanin, is surprising because usually when the mass starts, it continues to move and move. That's how people get killed in a stampede because someone gets stuck in a sandwich, someone stumbles and gets run over. Here composure won.

"As soon as that sound disappeared, people stopped." To piercing sounds, you react with jerks, run away. You don't have time to experience what is happening, but you react as if a missile is approaching, it is not a clear awareness and you involuntarily start to run away."

Many eyewitnesses told us that in a moment of flight, they heard many people from the side - mostly those who were not on the roadway - shouting "calm" or "slow" and "don't panic".

The catch is that it doesn't have to be that everyone was running away from the mysterious sound or wave. The videos clearly show some people - maybe five or ten percent of them - who did not even run away from the street but calmly walked.

Trebješanin says that people also react to people. When you see someone running away, run away too.

There are TikTokers who make reality skits out of it. Only on the street they suddenly bend down and look up, as if something is falling, and the people around them immediately do the same even though there is no real danger.

"That behavior is known in social psychology. Of course, that doesn't always have to be good. But these are shortcuts, we don't have time to think and then we follow a short path, from the signal to the motor action, a little time passes. You can't sit down and put your finger to your forehead to think."

Sound cannon

Not long has passed since the release of the recordings, and the most talked about on social networks was the sound cannon. Soon, the military expert Aleksandar Radić dared to say about N1 that it was a sound cannon, further assessing that it was a "brutal display of force" out of "hatred for one's own people".

As he explains to "Vreme", he substantiated such claims based on conversations with friends from abroad who used the sound cannon.

He adds that it is also possible to tell based on the effects that people have experienced - from discomfort to anxiety.

"It depends on the state of the body, what will happen to him and how he will feel. It is a feeling that cannot be controlled, it is experienced individually and depends on the strength and duration of the signal," says Radić.

He adds that people on the streets of Belgrade experienced the classic effect of infrasound.

Lawyer Božo Prelevic claimed on television that "the sound cannon of the Genesis brand, imported by Jugoimport in 2022, was used." As he said, the cannon was "imported via Israel."

Such allegations are impossible to verify.

Several criminal charges against unknown persons have already been announced. Several opposition parties also adhere to the sound cannon theory, accusing the government.

This one denied everything multiple times. The Ministry of Interior states that it does not use illegal means, and President Aleksandar Vučić said at a press conference before midnight that what happened did not resemble a sound cannon.

On the Internet, you can find a lot of recordings of earlier uses of the sound cannon, or LRAD (Long-Range Acoustic Device). They are significantly different from what was seen in Ulica kralja Milana. This is the usage in Pittsburgh:

A sound cannon is used to break up demonstrations, and there are publicly available videos of its use in other countries - primarily the US, but we were able to find one from Israel. What they all have in common is that the sound cannon produces a very loud and shrill sound, similar to an alarm.

This weapon appears as a large, flat plate or disc mounted on a pedestal or vehicle. It is most often black or dark gray in color and has a grid or mesh front through which the sound comes out. The plate or disc can be of different dimensions, depending on the model and purpose, and is most often mounted on a tripod or vehicle. Some smaller models can be carried by hand.

On the back side of the cannon, there is usually a control panel with controls for adjusting the volume, frequency and direction. The sound is emitted through the front of the device in the form of a narrow and focused beam, which can reach up to several kilometers.

Photo: Printscreen YouTube/glassbeadian

At demonstrations or other gatherings where it has been used so far, people are seen covering their ears and running away because of the loud sound. The picture from Belgrade was different - the footage does not show people grabbing each other's ears, and the crowd separated at great speed. Also, on the recordings from Knez Miloša Street, you can barely hear any roar, and nothing like the shrill tone of a sound cannon.

No footage of its use that we have been able to find shows the effectiveness seen in Ulica Kralja Milana, where people scattered in seconds.

There are also reports of sound cannons emitting low-frequency sounds that the human ear cannot register. They are felt by the body, like when you are approaching a concert and you are first shaken by the bass. But we have not been able to find evidence of their use in demonstrations.

By the way, in 2022, the Serbian authorities wanted to introduce the use of the sound cannon - and other things - into the Law on Internal Affairs, but that draft law was withdrawn amid numerous protests.

Some media stated at the time that Serbia had already acquired at least one LRAD, and officials never denied this.

The problem with this theory is that no one has seen or recorded a similar device and that no such effect has been recorded anywhere in the world.

Some filmed a group of police officers on the terrace of the Presidency. But Vučić's explanation that one of them is holding an anti-drone gun, and not some kind of sound cannon, seems logical.

After all, if such a small sonic cannon could do this, it would be a technical miracle hitherto unknown in the world.

Some other similar weapons

There is also mention of the use of some kind of air cannon or vortex cannon, which could indeed cause the impression of "force" witnessed by many citizens.

There is no publicly available evidence that they have ever been used to break up demonstrations anywhere in the world.

When the vortex of air from the "vortex" cannon hits the target, a strong rush of air or "push" is felt, similar to what the participants of the protest in Belgrade witnessed. It is not piercing like a sonic cannon, but produces a deep and short sound when the ring of air is formed and ejected. The sound is not particularly loud, but it can cause surprise due to the rapid burst of air.

This device, however, is not ideal for dispersing demonstrators because the power and speed of the air decreases with distance.

Photo: Printscreen YouTube/TheBackyardScientist

The most similar effect to what can be seen on the videos from the protests in Belgrade is produced by an American weapon called ADS (Active Denial System). And ADS, like LRAD, is a non-lethal weapon that is also used to break up demonstrations.

According to the publicly available footage, it has a much faster effect than a sonic cannon, as people retreat as soon as they feel the effect of this weapon.

However, this theory also has a flaw. ADS works on the principle of super-high frequency microwaves of 95 gigahertz - a principle similar to that used by a microwave oven - which cause a sensation of heat on the skin of the person on whom the technology is directed and a slight superficial burn.

No one testified about the feeling of heat and burns.

Photo: Printscreen YouTube/USFORCESTV

Mysterious syndrome

By the way, symptoms similar to those caused by a sound cannon are part of the mysterious "Havana syndrome", which first appeared in 2016.

Then American and Canadian officials staying in Havana, the capital of Cuba, began to complain of earaches, headaches, dizziness, hearing loss, problems with vision and cognitive functions.

Many of them claimed to have heard unusual noises or felt some kind of pressure before they started having symptoms. The United States then accused Cuba of carrying out "sonic attacks", which Havana denied, and the incident led to heightened tensions between the two nations.

The cause of this syndrome is not fully understood, but various theories have suggested that it could be the result of a targeted attack using microwaves, ultrasound waves, or even psychological stress. Although the syndrome was first associated with Cuba, reports have come in over the years from other countries, including the US, Russia and China.

The American newspaper "Wall Street Journal" stated in a text published on September 28, 2021, citing unnamed American officials, that the CIA evacuated an intelligence officer from Serbia who suffered serious injuries identical to a neurological attack, better known as "Havana syndrome".

On the other hand, the medical community still does not recognize this syndrome as an official disease.

Conclusion

This journalistic investigation is unfinished - in fact, it has only just begun. It was published due to the urgency of the matter and public interest.

We unequivocally established where the epicenter of the effect that people felt was and from which direction it came.

The similarity of the testimony of a mysterious sound or wave pushing people over suggests that some kind of weapon was used. But it has not been seen and is unlike anything that has been used in the world before.

If it is a weapon, then it is unclear who used it. And what is worse - is it the state, that is, the regime, or that even the state has no idea what it is about.

With the terrible hint that the protesters were used as guinea pigs for who knows what method, the matter must be investigated further.