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Spooky Theory on Ills of U.S. Diplomats in Cuba (archive)
During the Cold War, Washington feared that Moscow was seeking to turn microwave radiation into covert weapons of mind control. More recently, the American military itself sought to develop microwave arms that could invisibly beam painfully loud booms and even spoken words into people's heads. The aims were to disable attackers and wage psychological warfare.
Now, doctors and scientists say such unconventional weapons may have caused the baffling symptoms and ailments that, starting in late 2016, hit more than three dozen American diplomats and family members in Cuba and China. The Cuban incidents resulted in a diplomatic rupture between Havana and Washington.
The medical team that examined 21 affected diplomats from Cuba made no mention of microwaves in its detailed report [open, DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.1742] [DX] published in JAMA in March. But Douglas H. Smith, the study's lead author and director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a recent interview that microwaves were now considered a main suspect and that the team was increasingly sure the diplomats had suffered brain injury. "Everybody was relatively skeptical at first," he said, "and everyone now agrees there's something there." Dr. Smith remarked that the diplomats and doctors jokingly refer to the trauma as the immaculate concussion.
Strikes with microwaves, some experts now argue, more plausibly explain reports of painful sounds, ills and traumas than do other possible culprits — sonic attacks, viral infections and contagious anxiety. In particular, a growing number of analysts cite an eerie phenomenon known as the Frey effect, named after Allan H. Frey, an American scientist. Long ago, he found that microwaves can trick the brain into perceiving what seem to be ordinary sounds.
Mentioned in the article: JASON, which is also investigating the attacks and considering the possibility of microwaves causing the symptoms.
Previously: US Embassy Employees in Cuba Possibly Subjected to 'Acoustic Attack'
U.S. State Department Pulls Employees From Cuba, Issues Travel Warning Due to "Sonic Attacks"
A 'Sonic Attack' on Diplomats in Cuba? These Scientists Doubt It
Cuban Embassy Victims Experiencing Neurological Symptoms
Computer Scientists May Have Solved the Mystery Behind the 'Sonic Attacks' in Cuban Embassy
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Sunday September 02 2018, @07:17PM (1 child)
Maybe Cuban microwave ovens are just badly made?
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Tuesday September 04 2018, @03:57PM
That's an interesting thought...Cuba does, though necessity, have a very large number of what we in the US would call "hackers" or "makers". A lot of these guys make MacGuyver look like an amateur. So if you're going to find a crappy hacked up microwave that's frying the whole block, Cuba would probably be the place to look. Although I suspect you'd need a series of very precise fuck-ups to get the power sufficiently concentrated to cause this kind of damage -- I've seen someone fry a computer from a meter or two away with one, but I'm not sure how much damage you could do from across the street and through a couple walls. It's probably not inside the embassy itself...I don't expect they're buying their electronics off the local street market. Although perhaps the janitorial staff snuck one in. But maybe it's a cafe across the street hitting people while they walk in or out of the building...although then you might expect more local victims to start showing up, but the local doctor isn't likely to be checking for that sort of thing so maybe not.
Certainly seems rather unlikely, but not *entirely* impossible from my limited knowledge. Should also be pretty easy to track down with the right mix of RF scanners though, even for an intermittent source...so the longer they go without detecting anything, the more likely it is to be either an actual attack (which would presumably stop for a while once it becomes obvious that they're looking for it) or purely psychological (meaning there's nothing to find in the first place.)