A U.S. government report says “directed, pulsed radio frequency energy” is the probable cause of a mystery illness that has afflicted U.S. diplomats and their families at U.S. embassies around the world.
A committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine that conducted the study said the pulsed radio frequency is “the most plausible mechanism” for the injuries. The report was released Saturday.
News of the strange illness first emerged in 2016 from the American embassy in Cuba. Dubbed the “Havana Syndrome,” the illness was reported later at the American embassy in China and other U.S. embassies around the world.
The illness presented a wide range of symptoms, the committee said, “such as a perceived loud noise, ear pain, intense head pressure or vibration, dizziness, visual problems, and cognitive difficulties, and many still continue to experience these or other health problems.”
The report said “the significant variability and clinical heterogeneity of the illnesses affecting [State Department] personnel leave open the possibility of multiple causal factors including psychological and social factors.”
The U.S. State Department said in a statement Saturday: “We are pleased this report is now out and can add to the data and analyses that may help us come to an eventual conclusion as to what transpired.”
The study does not address who is responsible for the attacks. That remains a mystery.
