Pretty scary stuff. Russia might be involved, or not. These people are all coming down with severe symptoms, and there’s no cure or treatment for it.
This is nothing new. In the 'Seventies, Russia was found to be beaming microwave energy between 2.4 GHz and 4 GHz at the American embassy, presumably to ‘illuminate’ (activate) passive surveillance devices, and a number of Embassy personnel reported various maladies and illnesses (including although unlikely, leukemia). Investigations found that while the signal was genuine, the reported symptoms were either unverifiable or attributed to other causes (gas leaks, normal respiratory illnesses), and that rates of cancer and other chronic health conditions were not out of family with the general population, and there is no known mechanism by which microwave radiation as those absorption profiles could result in the reported symptoms or illnesses. Whether those conclusions were justified or not is uncertain because elements of the investigation were not revealed to the public or press.
The larger question is what the Chinese or Russians would have to gain from doing such a thing. There is obvious blowback if they were found to actually using some kind of directed energy weapon to attack members of embassy staff, and while there are intelligence gathering activities that occur within embassies and consulates, most of the staff are civil servants who are not engaged in any kind of espionage or propaganda operations, nor would this seem to be an effective way of preventing spying and recruitment. So, even assuming the phenomena is real and deliberate, there is still the question of why they would be doing this other than harassment to no useful end.
Stranger
I didn’t see last night’s story yet but have wondered if there are any preventative measures to block the waves from giving people cerebral problems.
I watched it, it was an interesting episode. There was new info, as well. The specific Russian agency alleged to be responsible was ID’d.
IDD? I’ve heard of KGB. I’ve heard of NKVD. What’s IDD?
I don’t recall the name. It was a number, that much I recall. I wasn’t paying a terrible amount of attention, as usual.
Two studies just released showing a lack of evidence of neurologic damage in “Havana syndrome” patients, and U S. intelligence reporting no foreign power involvement make me think that 60 Minutes got off on the wrong track.
https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/new-study-finds-no-evidence-for-havana-syndrome/
There may be some deep, dark secretive reason for our spooks denying that such “attacks” occurred, but it’s hard to figure what it might be without descending into a rabbit hole of conspiracy conjecture.
Tinfoil hats…
Why, anything that could induce staff of foreign embassies to wear tinfoil hats could be useful, couldn’t it?
It’s the silliness, potentially weaponized silliness, that gets me.
I watched much of the episode, but I wasn’t paying close attention, and I missed the end. The sense I got was the 60 Minutes was reporting the story from the attitude that the US government is covering something up, and all of the reports from agencies not being able to find anything are because the US doesn’t want anything to be found or are incompetent. By doing this the US is causing further harm to the victims.
The new evidence they found was a guy arrested in the US who might (even probably) is a Russian spy. It wasn’t entirely clear to me that there was any evidence linking the spy to any of the harm (but that might have been due to me not paying too much attention).
Well, that guy had some equipment in his vehicle that erased all the info on his GPS and some other equipment that might have been part of what was being used to cause the harm that the victims are claiming they suffered.
But if he is a spy, he might have just been listening or something.
Exactly! They work like Faraday cages around the brain!
But to work effectively you need the chin strap. Also, always remember: shiny side out.
60 Minutes just broadcast another story about this with more victims. The interview subjects were very moving. Who can say if they were genuine or not?
It was a rerun of the episode that started this thread. I was not paying close enough attention to see if they added anything new beyond what was in the original broadcast.
What I said previously still applies, but having it on in the background while I played video games a second time, my impression of the reporting is: some people are sick, the Russians spy on us, some Russian spies have been caught, therefore the Russians are making people sick.
To answer your question: Scientists who have studied this case can say. And what they say is that no, it’s not genuine. The phenomenon can’t be studied, because it doesn’t exist.
Agree.
It might exist. But so far, there’s no evidence it exists.