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Havana Syndrome


Dahobbs

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I know this was discussed when it originally occurred, but I don't think there is any post on recent developments. It looks like it was caused by directed pulsed radiofrequency energy - i.e., a microwave burst weapon. 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/12/covert-microwave-weapon-most-plausible-cause-of-cuba-health-attacks/

The article goes into depth about the new findings and potential device. It seems likely that this was a Russian developed weapon. Whether it is still in Russian hands is a different question, but I'm a bit shocked that this hasn't made bigger headlines. Under any other administration we would be seeing serious action by the government against whoever (Russia) is responsible for these attacks. 

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Almost from the start, the US State Department considered the episodes targeted "health attacks," sparking wild speculation of cloak-and-dagger operations with high-tech clandestine weaponry. Cuba and China quickly and adamantly denied any knowledge of or involvement with the episodes. Officials in the US eyed Russia—which remains a prime suspect.

Scientists and journalists quickly began batting around possibilities of a sonic weapon, malfunctioning surveillance equipment, or a dastardly device that beamed microwave radiation at people.

Others were skeptical that any attack took place—or that people were even injured. Two neurologists—who did not have access to the diplomats or all their medical data—raised doubts about some of the clinical methods used to conclude they suffered brain injuries. The neurologists suggested evaluating doctors merely documented cognitive deviations in the normal range, which the evaluating doctors disputed by citing data withheld due to privacy and security concerns.

Cuban scientists—who also did not evaluate the diplomats—suggested the episodes were due to stress and a mass psychogenic illness (MPI), essentially a collective delusion, which the evaluating doctors also disputed. Biologists in the US and UK, meanwhile, suggested the noisy disturbances the diplomats reported were simply the clamor of crickets in search of mates.

While each possibility may seem as farfetched as the last, the most disquieting one may actually be the closest to the truth.

According to a new report by a committee of scientific experts assembled by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the “most plausible mechanism” that explains the diplomats’ experiences and symptoms is directed pulsed radiofrequency energy. In other words, a dastardly device that beams bursts of microwave radiation at people’s heads.

 

 

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15 minutes ago, Degenerate Gardner said:

Is that what Trump wanted to use on DC protestors?

 

dotard wanted to use this on US citizens who legally protesting in a location that has historically been a location for protests to take place:

https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Active_Denial_System

causes a feeling of unbearable heat in the skin...

the feeling of a heat of 55 °C, which gives the impression that the clothes are about to ignite.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Denial_System?scrlybrkr=23c4b306

In September 2020 it was revealed that federal officials had explored the use of the device and the Long Range Acoustic Device to disperse civilians protesting outside the White House in June of that year, but had been advised that the National Guard was not currently in possession of either device

 

 

 

The weapon in the OP is probably something like this:

https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_weapon

Some common bio-effects of electromagnetic or other non-lethal weapons include effects to the human central nervous system resulting in physical pain, difficulty breathing, heart arryhthmia, vertigo, nausea, disorientation, insomnia, or other systemic discomfort, as weapons not directly considered lethal can indeed cause cumulative damage to the human body.

Project Pandora, conducted by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, WRAIR, included externally induced auditory input from pulsed microwave audiograms of words or oral sounds which create the effect of hearing voices that are not a part of the recipients own thought processes.

From OP's link:

They spoke of irritating or piercing noises—buzzes, squeals, or clicks—that seemed to come from a particular direction but weren’t always dampened when they clasped their hands to their ears.

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3 minutes ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

We already have. We probably developed it first.

 

Ours is a bit difference. Take a look at the discussion on pulsing in the article and its part in causing damage. Ours is intended to cause discomfort, not the type of brain injuries that have been associated with these attacks. 

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  • 8 months later...

Israeli researchers in 2019 believed the syndrome was possibly related to pesticides. (that may be in your link). Here is an article referencing it - but again, that was 2019 (there may be fresher research).

Spoiler

Between 2016 and 2018, about 40 Canadian and US diplomats and their families stationed in the Cuban capital mysteriously became sick. The so-called “Havana Syndrome” caused headaches, dizziness, loss of balance, nausea and difficulty concentrating and falling asleep.

The initial fear was that the Cubans were triggering the symptoms with some kind of sonic weapon.
Between 2016 and 2018, about 40 Canadian and US diplomats and their families stationed in the Cuban capital mysteriously became sick. The so-called “Havana Syndrome” caused headaches, dizziness, loss of balance, nausea and difficulty concentrating and falling asleep.

Research conducted by Dr. Alon Friedman of Ben-Gurion University and colleagues at the Dalhousie University Brain Repair Center in Nova Scotia, Canada, points to a different culprit: overexposure to pesticides — in particular, fumigation to stop the spread of the Zika virus prominent around that time.

They found a correlation between the individuals most affected and the number of fumigations that were performed at their residences. Both the Cuban and Canadian authorities were fumigating more frequently than usual, according to records from the Canadian embassy.

By conducting brain scans on the affected individuals using MRI and magnetoencephalography (a functional neuroimaging technique for mapping brain activity), the multidisciplinary research team of 15, led by Friedman in Israel, concluded that exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors in organophosphorus insecticides was the probable cause. Cholinesterase is an enzyme required for proper nervous-system functioning.

The researchers detected different levels of damage in an area of the brain that is susceptible to neurotoxins and that can cause the kind of symptoms reported by the diplomats and their families.

https://www.israel21c.org/israeli-researchers-crack-mystery-of-havana-syndrome/

The Preprint of the study: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/19007096v1

 

Edited by washparkhorn
citation for study added
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28 minutes ago, freyguy said:

If it's focused microwave lasers, I'm baffled why we haven't been able to pinpoint the source yet.

I read it was microwave pulses meant to steal data and infiltrate systems; the biological effect and hazards on people are the secondary benefit, but not the main purpose and direct initiative. 🤷‍♂️ 

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2 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

I read it was microwave pulses meant to steal data and infiltrate systems; the biological effect and hazards on people are the secondary benefit, but not the main purpose and direct initiative. 🤷‍♂️ 

Havana syndrome first showed up in—no surprise here—Havana, Cuba, in 2016, when CIA officers and State Department employees first reported distress. In the years since, reported Havana syndrome cases among US foreign officers have popped up in Moscow, China, London, Virginia, and, most recently, Vienna and Germany.

In July, the New Yorker declared Vienna, which has a long history as a playground for spies, the new “Havana syndrome hotspot.” About 24 US spies and diplomats have reported symptoms since Biden took office. 

What’s causing it? Health officials aren’t sure, but they’ve suggested what’s happening to these victims is not unlike what happens to a Hot Pocket when you heat it up. Last year, a committee of 19 experts said their best guesswas that victims were hit with “directed, pulsed radiofrequency energy” that includes microwaves.

Who’s behind it? Let’s see...mysterious microwaves directed at American officers in cities all over the world...sounds like something straight out of the Cold War playbook. Bingo. Officials working for both the Biden and Trump administrations have privately blamed Russia’s military intelligence unit, the GRU, whom they suspect may be using the pulsed energy attacks to steal data from computers or smartphones. 

 

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10 hours ago, washparkhorn said:

Israeli researchers in 2019 believed the syndrome was possibly related to pesticides. (that may be in your link). Here is an article referencing it - but again, that was 2019 (there may be fresher research).

  Reveal hidden contents

Between 2016 and 2018, about 40 Canadian and US diplomats and their families stationed in the Cuban capital mysteriously became sick. The so-called “Havana Syndrome” caused headaches, dizziness, loss of balance, nausea and difficulty concentrating and falling asleep.

The initial fear was that the Cubans were triggering the symptoms with some kind of sonic weapon.
Between 2016 and 2018, about 40 Canadian and US diplomats and their families stationed in the Cuban capital mysteriously became sick. The so-called “Havana Syndrome” caused headaches, dizziness, loss of balance, nausea and difficulty concentrating and falling asleep.

Research conducted by Dr. Alon Friedman of Ben-Gurion University and colleagues at the Dalhousie University Brain Repair Center in Nova Scotia, Canada, points to a different culprit: overexposure to pesticides — in particular, fumigation to stop the spread of the Zika virus prominent around that time.

They found a correlation between the individuals most affected and the number of fumigations that were performed at their residences. Both the Cuban and Canadian authorities were fumigating more frequently than usual, according to records from the Canadian embassy.

By conducting brain scans on the affected individuals using MRI and magnetoencephalography (a functional neuroimaging technique for mapping brain activity), the multidisciplinary research team of 15, led by Friedman in Israel, concluded that exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors in organophosphorus insecticides was the probable cause. Cholinesterase is an enzyme required for proper nervous-system functioning.

The researchers detected different levels of damage in an area of the brain that is susceptible to neurotoxins and that can cause the kind of symptoms reported by the diplomats and their families.

https://www.israel21c.org/israeli-researchers-crack-mystery-of-havana-syndrome/

The Preprint of the study: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/19007096v1

 

Ah yes, let's just believe the Israelis when they tell us it's just pesticides.  Lulz

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3 hours ago, bolverk said:

Audio and transcript of an interview I heard a while back with a retired CIA guy who was one of the first to report it outside of Havana.

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/16/1007047490/retired-cia-officer-finally-gets-treatment-for-symptoms-of-havana-syndrome

That guy says "you know" a whole fucking lot.  This is horrible, and I'm guessing we know more about it than is being told the victims.... you know ?

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On a serious note. It first started in 2017. It's been 4 years and we still can't figure it out? How the fuck can the Russians invent a data stealing system which also scrambles people's brains and we still don't know how the fuck it's happening. What the fuck are we spending billions on?

Which leads to another question. When will we see Russia using this in battle fields?

It'd be cool if this signal originated from a satellite. 

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1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

... When will we see ... this in battle fields? ...

 

1 hour ago, Yuk said:

Put me down in the “I don’t think it exists” column.

 

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The Active Denial System (ADS), is a non-lethal, directed-energy weapon developed by the U.S. military,[2] designed for area denial, perimeter security and crowd control.[3] Informally, the weapon is also called the heat ray[4] since it works by heating the surface of targets, such as the skin of targeted human beings. Raytheon had marketed a reduced-range version of this technology.[5] The ADS was deployed in 2010 with the United States military in the Afghanistan War, but was withdrawn without seeing combat.[6] On August 20, 2010, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department announced its intent to use this technology to control incarcerated people in the Pitchess Detention Center in Los Angeles, stating its intent to use it in "operational evaluation" in situations such as breaking up prisoner fights.[7] As of 2014, the ADS was only a vehicle-mounted weapon, though U.S. Marines and police were both working on portable versions.[8] ADS was developed under the sponsorship of the Department of Defense Non-Lethal Weapons Program with the Air Force Research Laboratory as the lead agency.[9][10] There are reports that Russia[11] and China are developing their own versions of the Active Denial System.[12]

Mechanism and effects

The ADS works by firing a high-powered (100 kW output power)[13] beam of 95 GHz waves at a target, which corresponds to a wavelength of 3.2 mm.[14] The ADS millimeter wave energy works on a principle similar to a microwave oven, exciting the water and fat molecules in the skin, and instantly heating them via dielectric heating. One significant difference is that a microwave oven uses the much lower frequency (and longer wavelength) of 2.45 GHz. The short millimeter waves used in ADS only penetrate the top layers of skin, with most of the energy being absorbed within 0.4 mm (1⁄64 inch),[15] whereas microwaves will penetrate into human tissue about 17 mm (0.67 inch).[16]

The ADS's effect of repelling humans occurs at slightly higher than 44 °C (111 °F), though first-degree burns occur at about 51 °C (124 °F), and second-degree burns occur at about 58 °C (136 °F).[17] In testing, pea-sized blisters have been observed in less than 0.1% of ADS exposures, indicating that second degree surface burns have been caused by the device.[17] The radiation burns caused are similar to microwave burns, but only on the skin surface due to the decreased penetration of shorter millimeter waves. The surface temperature of a target will continue to rise so long as the beam is applied, at a rate dictated by the target's material and distance from the transmitter, along with the beam's frequency and power level set by the operator. Most human test subjects reached their pain threshold within 3 seconds, and none could endure more than 5 seconds.[18]
...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Denial_System

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The Thing, also known as the Great Seal bug, was one of the first covert listening devices (or "bugs") to use passive techniques to transmit an audio signal. It was concealed inside a gift given by the Soviet Union to W. Averell Harriman, the United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union, on August 4, 1945. Because it was passive, needing electromagnetic energy from an outside source to become energized and active, it is considered a predecessor of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology.

Linky

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  • 1 year later...

Government says most likely nothing and further blaming pre-existing conditions. It just so happens that this condition affects our intelligence officers overseas. I call bullshit on the findings.

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/havana-syndrome-caused-foreign-adversary-us-intel/story?id=97549657

A review of 'Havana syndrome" by the U.S. intelligence community finds it "very unlikely" that a foreign adversary or energy weapon is the cause, officials said Wednesday.

That's according to a new assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released on Wednesday.

Instead, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in a statement that the events, which are referred to officially as Anomalous Health Incidents, were probably the result of other factors such as "preexisting conditions, conventional illnesses, and environmental factors."

Haines added that the evidence also did not indicate that a "causal mechanism," such as a weapon, or a "unique syndrome" brought on the reported symptoms.

The report from ODNI added that confidence in the explanation was "bolstered by fact we identified medical, environmental and social factors that plausibly can explain many AHIs reported by U.S. officials," but that the level of confidence varied across agencies.

The ODNI also released a heavily redacted memo detailing the scope of the wide-ranging probe, revealing that investigators "developed and deployed multiple sensors and detection devices" in order to "analyze potential signals of interest," reviewed content on the Dark Web for leads, conducted hundreds of interviews with U.S. government officers, and even launched a "full investigation into a third-country" to "determine validity of potential reported knowledge of Russian involvement in AHI."

An intelligence official familiar with the assessment said no stone was left unturned, and that even Unidentified Aerial Phenomena were examined as possible causes.

They also said the inquiry found no singular explanation for the reported symptoms, but added that while no evidence was found to support a foreign adversary being behind any single case, acknowledged it's conceivable that a handful of instances could be the cause of a bad actor trying to inflict harm on American personnel and more research would be needed to rule out the possibility.

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  • 1 year later...

Bump

60 Minutes has a 26:50-minute-long report revisiting this. While the feds still deny it, all signs point to Russia.

@immamac Can you merge this thread with this other one on the same topic? Please, and thank you.

 

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Watched the 60 Minutes piece on Sunday. Pretty interesting. Not too much new information other than some (mostly) public confirmation that it's the Russians doing this.

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So the Russians are willing to engage in mass slaughter of women and children in Ukraine?  Wage an electronic-biologic attack on U.S. Armed Forces and government personnel?  And stage another fake election to prop up a fascist dictator?  

But they wouldn't ever stoop so low as to pay a dozen guys in Belarus to send out false digital information in one of our Presidential elections?  That's just beyond their boundaries, I have that right?  Fucking dipshits 

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