Envoys’ illness may have been due to microwaves

MORE than 30 diplomats and family members who fell ill in Cuba and China believing they were victims of a sonic weapon may instead have been affected by microwaves, researchers have claimed.

Doctors are investigating whether their mysterious ailments may be a result of the Cold War technology of microwave weapons.

The devices use the Frey effect – named after Allan Frey, an American scientist who found that the brain can be tricked by microwaves into perceiving phantom sounds. But such false sensations tally with the accounts of diplomats who reported hearing loud buzzing and grinding sounds with no apparent external cause.

Douglas Smith, of the Centre for Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania, told The New York Times that microwaves were now the main suspect, and his team was increasingly certain the diplomats suffered brain injury.