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Severe pain in the ears The head began to vibrate. The vision failed. “Someone” may have used a secret weapon against US diplomats in Cuba, but a new report does not offer a clear answer.
Here at the embassy in Cuba, the mystery of the sick diplomats began in 2016. Photo: Alexandre Meneghini / Reuters / NTB
At first they heard a very loud vibrating sound, like it was a giant lobster.
Then, American diplomats in Havana, Cuba, became seriously ill.
Some partially lost their hearing. Others got dizzy and had trouble balancing. Severe pain in the ears Some had difficulty speaking.
“Like being in a cognitive fog”. This is how a diplomat in Cuba described what happened when he became seriously ill in 2016.
For several years, the “Havana syndrome” has been a great mystery. A new research report from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) now points to what may have happened. The findings could have major consequences for American diplomats around the world.
Researchers from Cuba and other countries during a meeting in March 2020, where they discussed “Havana Syndrome.” The big question is what happened when several American diplomats contracted an acute illness in 2016, both in Cuba and later in several other countries. Photo: Ismael Francisco / Ap / NTB
NAS: pulsating microwaves
“Direct pulsed radio frequency energy, especially for those who experienced clear early symptoms, appears to be the most likely explanation.”, the researchers conclude.
A total of 15 diplomats experienced nearly identical symptoms at the same time. Today, six of them still have head injuries. Four cannot work. Two need aids to function.
Another 31 diplomats had symptoms indicating that they were also possibly affected.
In the past, several other explanations and theories have been released:
Were the diplomats poisoned as a result of the extensive use of insecticides? Did they contract a tropical disease? Are there psychic explanations? It’s unlikely, the researchers summarize.
The symptoms and how they occurred point in only one direction, according to the report. In other words, the houses and hotel rooms in which the diplomats were found were exposed to very powerful direct microwaves.
Why, who or how the report says nothing about it. No suspects were identified. But at the same time, the report notes that this type of weapon has been under discussion since the 1970s.
Soldiers from the Soviet Union were exposed to these types of weapons in military research. They reported the same symptoms as the American diplomats.
Internationally, the report receives enormous attention. The big question is whether diplomats were exposed to a type of weapon that few have heard of.
It has many names. Some call it DEW – “direct energy weapon”.
This is how DEW weapons work
“Direct energy weapons” are weapons that use highly concentrated energy, such as microwaves, to destroy a target.
Weapons can range from simple portable systems to large and highly advanced weapon systems. And you can target very different types of targets.
For the most part, these weapons have been aimed at destroying technical equipment and infrastructure.
Several countries around the world will have variants of such weapons, including the United States, Russia, China, India, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Iran. Russia has even bragged about having such energy weapons in state media.
Various suspected cases
After the events in Havana in 2016, several similar reports of suspected disease attacks came in from other parts of the world. Fifteen diplomats from the US Consulate in Guangzhou experienced the same acute symptoms.
Diplomat Mark Lenzi, his wife and children have said they woke up to a loud noise. Both Lenzi and his wife got dizzy, had headaches and pain in their ears. The children woke up with nosebleeds, writes the New York Times.
An American CIA chief appointed in Moscow became seriously ill with similar symptoms in a Russian hotel room in December 2017.
“It was like vomiting and passing out at the same time,” he told the GQ newspaper.
Better protect diplomats
At the same time, the NAS report shows that the US authorities first did very little to get to the bottom of the matter.
In light of the experiences of Cuba and China, and in the face of future threats, diplomats must be better protected, the researchers believe.
- The researchers recommend that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs collect more health data on its employees before and after it is released.
- At the same time, they require routines and methods to better follow up these cases in the future.
- The next time this happens, an investigation should also be started immediately.
Many diplomats were not believed at first. They were also not examined thoroughly enough.
The report is made for the US State Department.The ministry says in a statement that the cases are still being investigated and that it is too early to speculate on the reasons.
