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Artwork for Across Acoustics
Across Acoustics · Dec 8, 2025 · 15 min

Sonic Deception in World War II

You may have heard of the "ghost army" of World War II—a set of rubber tanks used by the US Army to mimic active battlefields in Europe. What you may not know was the tanks were accompanied by an equally fake soundtrack of battle noises. Even more surprising? This "sonic deception" was developed by a team of the ASA's founding members whose contributions were almost lost to history. In this episode, we talk with Walter Montano (ARQUICUST Argentina Peru) about the innovations that helped save thousands of lives during the war. Read the associated article: Walter A. Montano and Gary W. Elko. (2025) “Sonic Deception During the Second World War,” Acoustics Today 21(2). https://doi.org/10.1121/AT.2025.21.2.38 Learn more about the ASA Committee on Archives and History. Read more from Acoustics Today. Learn more about Acoustical Society of America Publications. Intro/Outro Music Credit: Min 2019 by minwbu from Pixabay.

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You may have heard of the "ghost army" of World War II—a set of rubber tanks used by the US Army to mimic active battlefields in Europe. What you may not know was the tanks were accompanied by an equally fake soundtrack of battle noises. Even more surprising? This "sonic deception" was developed by a team of the ASA's founding members whose contributions were almost lost to history. In this episode, we talk with Walter Montano (ARQUICUST Argentina Peru) about the innovations that helped save thousands of lives during the war.


Read the associated article: Walter A. Montano and Gary W. Elko. (2025) “Sonic Deception During the Second World War,” Acoustics Today 21(2). https://doi.org/10.1121/AT.2025.21.2.38

Learn more about the ASA Committee on Archives and History.

Read more from Acoustics Today.

Learn more about Acoustical Society of America Publications.

Intro/Outro Music Credit: Min 2019 by minwbu from Pixabay. 

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