(CNN) — The mysterious head injuries suffered by US diplomatic personnel in China and Cuba that had been described as “acoustic attacks” are consistent with the use of directed microwave energy, according to a report released Saturday by the National Academy of Sciences.
“In general, directed pulsed RF (radio frequency) energy, especially in those with distinct early manifestations, appears to be the most plausible mechanism for explaining these cases among those that the committee considered,” the report says.
The report adds that it considered possible incidents of persistent postural-perceptual dizziness as a possible secondary problem in some of those affected as a contributing factor.
While the report does not conclude that the use of directed microwave energy in these cases was done deliberately, it said such action could be used for nefarious purposes.
“Serious concerns”
“The mere consideration of such a scenario raises serious concerns about a world with uninhibited malevolent actors and new tools to cause harm to others, as if the US government is not already busy with naturally occurring threats,” the report said.
The report said that it considered chemical exposures, infectious diseases and psychological problems as possible causes or aggravating factors of the injuries, but the overall analysis seemed to show that they were not the probable cause.
A 19-person committee of medical and scientific experts produced the report at the request of the State Department.
CNN reported last year that doctors shared what happened to the brain of a diplomat who may have been the victim of one of the attacks.
Acoustic attacks
Researchers revealed the results of an independent brain analysis of Mark Lenzi, an American diplomat stationed in Guangzhou, China, in 2017 when he began experiencing unexplained symptoms, such as headache, difficulty reading, irritability, as well as memory problems. and I dream.
Among the MRI findings: 20 brain regions with “abnormally low” volumes, including regions involved in memory, emotional regulation and motor skills that may be correlated with Lenzi’s symptoms, the doctors said. Of the 107 regions they analyzed, they also found three that had higher volumes.
The researchers said that low-volume parts of the brain may reflect a brain injury and those with high volumes could be evidence that other parts of your brain have compensated.
Most of the documented attacks occurred in 2016 and 2017, although there were also a few reported incidents after that.
CNN reported in 2018 that a senior administration official said investigators vandalized buildings where diplomatic employees identified the sounds but found no acoustic devices. This led the police to believe that the injuries were the result of microwaves emitted from a nearby location and that the “sounds” were simply a means of masking the microwave attacks.
Brain damage
That was just a theory, the official said, and there was no concrete evidence to back it up. However, brain scans of the injured personnel showed changes that indicate damage, the official said.
Cuban officials have consistently denied that their government had any involvement in the diplomats’ health problems and have said that mass hysteria is the most likely cause.
The sophistication of the attacks led US officials to suspect that a third country may have been involved in the incidents, but they have not been able to reach that conclusion.
In August 2017, officials included Russia among a list of countries that have a confrontational relationship with the United States and that American investigators suspected might be involved.
Russia is one of the few countries that has used microwave technology before and one theory among investigators was that some rogue Cuban intelligence officials worked with Russia because they were unhappy with detente between the United States and Cuba, said a senior official from the administration at the time.
CNN’s Patrick Oppman contributed to this report.
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