Microwave energy possibly made US envoys ill: Report

Washington, December 6

A new report by a National Academy of Sciences committee has found that “directed” microwave radiation is the likely cause of illnesses among American diplomats in Cuba and China.

The study commissioned by the State Department and released on Saturday is the latest attempt to find a cause for the mysterious illnesses that started to emerge in late 2016 among US personnel in Havana.

The study found that “directed, pulsed radio frequency energy appears to be the most plausible” explanation for symptoms that included intense head pressure, dizziness and cognitive difficulties.

Were posted in China

Between 2016 and 2018, several US and Canadian diplomats in Cuba and China complained of health problems from an unknown cause

The health effects were experienced by about two dozen Americans affiliated with the US embassy in Cuba as well as Canadian diplomats and personnel at the US consulate in Guangzhou, China, in early 2017.

The study did not name a source for the energy and did not say it came as the result of an attack, though it did note that previous research on this type of injury was done in the former Soviet Union.

In its report, the 19-member committee noted that it faced significant challenges in trying to get to the bottom of the medical mystery. Between late 2016 and May 2018, several US and Canadian diplomats in Havana complained of health problems from an unknown cause. — AP