Strange findings in the mystery surrounding the “unknown weapon”

The mysterious ailments have plagued American diplomats for nearly ten years.

Now researchers have conducted two studies in search of an answer.

What was discovered has only made the mystery grow.

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The hope was that the studies would provide pieces of the puzzle that could lead to a solution to the mystery.

But after surveying about 80 current and former US diplomats, an unexpected conclusion has been reached.

Started in Havana

The continued outbreaks of the strange symptoms are “serious” – but no evidence is found that the diplomats really encountered anything insidious, writes The Guardian.

The phenomenon has been named “Havana Syndrome” after the city where the mysterious cluster of symptoms was first discovered in 2015.

It started when staff at the US Embassy in the Cuban capital reported suffering from unexplained pain.

Among the symptoms suffered by the victims are severe persistent headaches, dizziness and hearing problems. Some have experienced nosebleeds, balance difficulties and numbing fatigue.

Some affected by the suspected attacks have become so ill that they suffer from chronic migraines and have been forced to stop working.

Cases all over the world

The incidents quickly began to spread among American diplomatic personnel around the world. Cases have been reported from China, Russia and also in Europe.

Two employees linked to the White House have also suffered from symptoms that link the tangle to Washington as well.

A senior national security adviser suddenly fell inexplicably ill in the park area of ​​The Ellipse as he was entering through a gate to the White House. That incident occurred the day after the November 2020 presidential election.

The second case involved a female White House employee who in the fall of 2019 was out walking her dog in Arlington, Virginia near Washington DC. She allegedly observed a van parked along the street. A man got out of the car and passed her on the street.

Ringing in the ears

The dog marked that something was wrong. Then the symptoms hit. Her ears began to ring. She suffered severe migraines and it started to sting on one side of her face.

Many experts have suspected that the people were attacked by a foreign power that struck with “a previously unknown weapon”.

But according to a preliminary report from the intelligence service CIA from 2022, it was “probably” not another country that was behind the events.

The enigma described as “sonic attacks”, due to the loud noises that several of the sufferers described in connection with the onset of symptoms, is assumed to be some form of electromagnetic radiation.

One of the studies now published has studied the brains of the victims with magnetic X-rays. The results were compared with people from a control group.

Studies have been done in which the brains of victims were examined with MRI. Photo: Jama/American Medical Association 80 sufferers participated

The second study looked at markers in the blood and made clinical assessments of hearing, vision, coordination, cognitive ability and balance.

Sufferers and a control group also participated there. A total of 80 people who showed symptoms have participated in the studies.

But no decisive findings were found.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is behind the studies, writes about the first that “no significant differences between the different groups in the study were found”.

“However, the fact that this study could not identify neurological signatures that show brain damage in the group does not reduce the degree of seriousness,” they point out.

One of the research leaders believes that the people suffer from “real symptoms”.

– They have a very tough time,” says Leighton Chan, lead author of one study.

Regarding the second study, the NIH writes that the only noticeable difference between the affected participants and the control group was the self-reported problems with balance and symptoms of fatigue, post-traumatic stress and depression.

“Microwave Weapon”

As early as 2012, intelligence sources in the United States wrote a report that a “microwave weapon” in which directed microwaves could be used against a designated victim to cause physical damage, including a destroyed nervous system, possibly existed.

But the report never determined that the weapon existed or, if so, which country developed it.

The politicians in the US Congress have, together with the CIA, said they are determined to find the answer to the riddle. So the announcement from the researchers is a setback.

Lawyer Mark Zaid, who represents many of those who have fallen victim to the Havana syndrome, is critical of the studies.

– Several of my clients were told that they had to participate in the study if they wanted to receive medical treatment for their injuries, an overstep in medicine where you stand behind a consent to participate, he says according to The Guardian.