MICROWAVE ATTACK LIKELY BEHIND MYSTERY ILLNESS

Experts say diplomats, others were sickened in targeted efforts

The most probable cause of a series of mysterious aff lictions that have sickened American spies and diplomats abroad in the past several years was radio-frequency energy, a type of radiation that includes microwaves, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has concluded in a report.

The conclusion by a committee of 19 experts in medicine and other fields cited “directed, pulsed radiofrequency energy” as “the most plausible mechanism” to explain the illness, which came to be known as Havana syndrome, although they said that they could not rule out other possible causes and that secondary factors may have contributed to symptoms, according to a copy of the report obtained by The New York Times.

The report, which was commissioned by the State Department, provides the most definitive explanation yet of the strange illness that struck scores of government employees, first at the U.S. Embassy in Havana in 2016 and subsequently in China and other countries. Many of the officers suffered from dizziness, fatigue, headaches and loss of hearing, memory and balance, and some were forced into permanent retirement.

CIA officers visiting overseas stations experienced similar symptoms, the Times and GQ magazine reported in October. The officers were traveling to discuss countering Russian covert operations with foreign intelligence agencies, a fact that adds to suspicions that Moscow is behind the episodes.

Although couched in careful, scientific language, the new report reveals strong evidence that the incidents were the result of a malicious attack. It attributes the illnesses to “directed” and “pulsed” — rather than “continuous” — energy, implying that the victims’ exposure was targeted, not the result of more common sources of microwave energy such as, for example, a cellphone.

It also said the committee found the immediate symptoms that patients reported — including strange sensations of pain, pressure and sound that often appeared to emanate from a particular direction or occur in a specific spot in a room — were more consistent with a directed “attack” of radio-frequency energy.

The committee considered other causes, like chemical exposures and infectious diseases, but said they appeared unlikely.

The report does not point to a perpetrator, although it mentions “significant research in Russia/ussr” on pulsed radiofrequency technology as well as the exposure of military personnel in Eurasian communist countries to microwave radiation.

The report by the National Academies also contains a stark warning about the possibility of future incidents and the U.S. government’s ability to detect them or to mount a response. The fact that American government employees reported afflictions not only in Cuba and China but also in Russia and other countries raises questions about how widespread the incidents may be.

The report recommends that the State Department act now to establish plans and protocols so it can immediately begin an investigation if similar incidents occur in the future.