Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is a not-for-profit university-affiliated research center that serves as a technical resource for the Department of Defense, NASA, and other government agencies. In the context of the Cold War, APL scientists were assigned to oversee Project Pandora, a classified program initiated by DARPA to duplicate the effects of the Moscow Signal¹.

Under the direction of Richard S. Cesaro, APL scientists constructed an elaborate facility inside the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Here, primates were irradiated with microwave beams with a power density similar to that of the Moscow Signal. Cesaro became convinced of the harmful nature of these beams, concluding they adversely affected the internal organs, including the brain, of primates, and could lead to conditions like Alzheimer's Disease¹.

APL was also involved in a $1 million study funded by the State Department to investigate the health effects on U.S. Embassy in Moscow personnel exposed to the Moscow Signal. This study, released in November 1978, found "no convincing evidence" that employees suffered "adverse health effects as of the time of this analysis," a finding that was controversial given the concerns raised by scientists like Cesaro and Allan H. Frey¹.