Trump Discusses CIA’s New Technology in Rescue Efforts
WASHINGTON — In a recent interview, President Trump mentioned that the CIA’s latest tool, Ghost Marmer, could be key in aiding a downed airman in Iran this weekend. Discussions among leading physicists and engineers have surfaced about this advanced technology, which is rumored to have the capability to detect heartbeats from considerable distances.
“This is very important. The CIA did an excellent job,” Trump commented during a phone call on Wednesday.
“Nobody even knows what this is. It’s all fairly new,” he added.
According to him, “Everyone is surprised. We have numerous capabilities that remain unknown to the public. Our facilities have, well, capabilities that no one has ever imagined.”
Within academic circles, there’s intrigue over the potential use of nitrogen-vacancy-centered (NV) diamonds for measuring magnetic fields — a breakthrough in scientific research, if indeed accurate.
Many experts suspect that the detection could have taken place at a close range, or through methods not entirely represented by sources that indicated Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works combined NV Diamond sensors with AI to isolate the signal necessary to identify heartbeats from a drone.
“If the technology description is correct, our best guess is that this involves an NV Center magnetometer deployed on a drone, possibly in conjunction with others,” said Thad Walker, a physics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Walker emphasized, “The magnetometer needs to be situated near the magnetic field source. It’s quite remarkable to think that one could detect heartbeats even from 100 meters away using a drone.” His point was that while it is feasible to identify an adult’s heartbeat from such heights under certain conditions, it requires advanced signal processing.
However, he cautioned that to achieve the detection at such a range, the top NV magnetometers would likely need extended periods to analyze signals and reach sensitivity levels that, as he noted, currently don’t seem to exist.
During a White House briefing Monday, Trump and CIA Director John Ratcliffe hinted at this tool, mentioning that the agency located the pilot approximately 40 miles away. It’s still unclear if they were specifically referring to the Ghost Marmer or subsequent observations.
Officials familiar with the rescue asserted that Iran’s environment was quite favorable, describing it as “as clean an environment as you could ask for” with minimal electromagnetic interference. This, combined with the thermal contrast between living organisms and the desert floor at night, provided an additional verification layer.
Despite the promising conditions, one official noted, “Usually, this signal is so faint that you can only detect it in a hospital with a sensor pressed against the chest.” The capability of this technology isn’t universal; it thrives in remote, clutter-free areas but demands considerable processing time.
Patrick Maletinski, from the University of Basel, stated that existing technology typically detects heartbeats over very short distances, usually a few centimeters.
“The main drawback is how quickly the magnetic field from the heart dissipates with distance,” he explained.
At distances covering several kilometers, the expected signal strength falls “about 10 to 20 orders of magnitude lower than the sensitivity of the best magnetometers, including quantum sensors,” he added.
He speculated that if such a detecting system were genuine, it would represent a significant advancement far beyond current scientific understanding.
A more realistic interpretation might be that quantum sensors could be useful at short ranges or as part of a larger suite of sensors.
SandboxAQ sells a multi-sensor system called AQNav, which claims to combine quantum sensors, AI, and the Earth’s magnetic field for precise navigation, especially when GPS signals are compromised.
The military’s DARPA has also been enhancing magnetometric sensing capabilities through their ambient program, aiming to develop sensors that can detect biological signals without needing specialized facilities.
Lockheed Martin last year revealed their engagement in DARPA’s Robust Quantum Sensor (RoQS) program focused on next-generation sensors for advanced defense applications.
Chris Duncan, who earned his doctorate in engineering focused on advanced magnetic measurements, suggested the effectiveness of ghost marmer could indeed be as claimed. He reflected, “The challenge is filtering out background noise.” Duncan noted his previous collaborations with intelligence agencies on secret projects.
“There’s a lot publicly known, but it doesn’t surprise me there’s much we still don’t understand,” remarked Duncan, who runs a steel manufacturing company. He believed the maximum effective range was likely no more than a few miles, and “that’s pushing it.”
However, Dmitry Budker, a professor at UC Berkeley, raised concerns and suggested alternative methods could be at play, such as detecting movements from electrical devices the airman might have been carrying.
Sources initially describing the tool indicated that it worked alongside a rescue beacon activated by the pilot. Supposedly, he was located by Ghost Marmer when he emerged from a rocky area to use his beacon, though it was only intermittently activated to avoid detection.
Budker noted, “Modern magnetometers can identify soldiers with weapons moving through shallow tunnels. Miners depend on magnetic communications where radio use is impractical.” Yet, in this rescue scenario, he suggested that the pilot likely needed some additional magnetic field sources besides just a heartbeat to enhance the likelihood of being detected.
Other technologies, he pointed out, such as infrared cameras for detecting breathing or satellites capable of high-resolution imagery, prove more effective.
“While I don’t know much about secrets, I’d genuinely be surprised,” Budker stated. “Such advancements would indeed be vital.”
