‘Havana Syndrome’ – could be the result of microwave weapon, new report says

Mysterious symptoms suffered by US spies and diplomats in Cuba and China could be due to directed microwave energy, new report from National Academies of Sciences says

The new report, which was obtained by NBC News, does not explicitly say that the microwaves were intentionally deployed as a weapon, but does not rule out the possibility.

Medical and scientific experts from science academies studied 40 State Department employees and noted that no similar symptoms had previously been recorded in the medical literature.

The employees suffered from loud noises and a feeling of pressure in the head, dizziness and visual distress.

For some, the symptoms persist.

“The committee found that many of the distinctive and acute signs, symptoms and observations reported by (government) employees are consistent with the effects of pulsed and directed radio frequency (RF) energy,” the report said.

“Studies published in the open literature more than half a century ago and over the following decades by Western and Soviet sources provide full support for this possible mechanism.

While experts warn that the evidence is still inconclusive, “ the mere consideration of such a scenario raises serious concerns about a world with uninhibited malicious actors and new tools to harm others, as if the U.S. government didn’t already have his hands full with natural threats. “

NBC News claims that US intelligence agencies used cell phone data to track Russian spies who allegedly worked on microwave weapons.

CIA officials told NBC News that the data indicates Russian agents were present in the same towns where U.S. diplomats reported the strange symptoms, although this does not constitute conclusive evidence.

The author of the report states that four possible causes were examined: infection, chemicals, psychological factors, and microwave energy.

“Overall, directed pulsed RF energy … appears to be the most plausible mechanism for these cases among those the committee examined,” the report said.

“The committee cannot rule out other possible mechanisms and considers it likely that a multiplicity of factors explains some cases and the differences between others.”

In October, a report claimed that US officials on US soil had been targeted by sound attacks on at least three different occasions.

An unnamed U.S. diplomat and his family reportedly heard the mysterious sounds and fell ill while stationed in Philadelphia in June 2018.

The diplomat and his wife have both reportedly reported pressure in their heads before finding their children moving oddly and ‘in unison’ in their sleep.

In November 2019, a White House staff member, who also has not been identified, was reportedly targeted by a man while walking his dog in Arlington, Virginia.

She told officials she also had a severe headache and tingling face after the incident and her dog started to seize up.

The third incident has not been reported in detail. The incidents follow dozens of other similar complaints in Cuba and China, where diplomats have reported headaches and memory loss.

A Russian-based CIA officer spoke to GQ about his debilitating migraines as suspicion grew that the country was behind the mysterious disease.

Marc Polymeropoulos fell ill with severe migraines after experiencing dizziness in his hotel room in Moscow in December 2017.

He told the magazine he was forced to retire due to the resulting pain, adding: ‘I had a lot more to offer. I was 50, but had to retire because those damn headaches don’t go away.

Polymeropoulos says one of his traveling colleagues fell so ill that he lost hearing in one of his ears.

He added: “ There is a gentlemen’s agreement not to do these things. There is never anything physical.

“ They (Russia) know our president is at war with our intelligence community, so kick them when they’re down, get them back for everything they’ve done before. ”

“If there was an al Qaeda threat against our officers, we would do everything we could to put it out, but also to catch those involved.

“I don’t see any of this happening here. What I expected would be this full-fledged press that, you know, if we have old people traveling and you think the Russians are going to hit it, have teams ready to try and capture.

The American diplomat and his family who were allegedly targeted in Philadelphia also fell ill in China, according to reports.

Scientists, as well as CIA and State Department experts, told the New York Times on Monday that the most likely culprit behind the unexplained symptoms is Russia.

The director of the CIA and the State Department say they have not established a case.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the suggestion was “absolutely absurd and bizarre”. A spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Washington said it was likely a case of “mass hysteria.”

But CIA and Capitol Hill officials said U.S. GQ agents were also targeted in Australia, Taiwan, Georgia and Poland. Cell phone data allegedly placed Russian agents near CIA agents at the time of the alleged attacks.

The CIA said: ‘If there was credible intelligence showing that an adversary deliberately injured a CIA officer, you can bet Director Haspel would act swiftly and decisively. ”

Diplomat Mark Lenzi, 45, was stationed in Guangzhou, China in 2017 when he developed unexplained symptoms, including headaches, memory loss and trouble sleeping.

Her neighbor Catherine Werner also fell ill and her official American colleague Robyn Garfield was evacuated from Shanghai with her family in June 2018.

Lenzi, who says the United States “knows exactly which country” was responsible, said: “This is a deliberate and high level cover-up. They made us dry.

Her symptoms were reported after the State Department began investigating similar health issues reported by diplomatic staff in Cuba in late 2016.

In March of this year, some scientists said they suspected pesticides as a possible culprit, although the results were inconclusive.

Last year, a US researcher said the mysterious sound heard by diplomats at the US Embassy in Cuba was caused by insects.

Dozens of illnesses have led the United States and Canada to drastically reduce staff at their embassies in Cuba.

The phenomenon also led to heightened tension between Cuba and the Trump administration, which accused Cuba of at least some responsibility for the diseases.

The State Department has not officially established any link between Chinese diplomats and 26 workers at the US Embassy in Cuba who were pulled in 2017 after reporting symptoms, including those consistent with minor head trauma. or a concussion.

They said in a statement, “The safety and security of US personnel, their families and US citizens is our top priority. The US government has yet to determine a cause or actor.

And Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “I will not try to confirm whether they are victims of ‘an acoustic attack’, paranoia or Russophobia. That’s a question for the doctors.

But a former national security official said of Russia: ‘These guys were told they could take off the gloves and do whatever they want to hurt Americans.

“They’re trying to weaken us in general, and they obviously took off the gloves a while ago.

And John Sipher, who was an underground CIA officer in Russia and was deputy director of Russia House during George W. Bush’s presidency, said: “Russians generally have no qualms about doing this sort of thing. . ”