The mysterious neurological symptoms experienced by American diplomats in China and Cuba are consistent with the effects of directed microwave energy, according to a long-awaited report by the National Academies of Sciences that cites medical evidence to support the long-held conviction of American intelligence officials.
The report, obtained Friday by NBC News, does not conclude that the directed energy was delivered intentionally, by a weapon, as some U.S. officials have long believed. But it raises that disturbing possibility.
The report was transferred to Congress after bipartisan calls led by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire who is a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees. She issued the following statement: “The health effects from these mysterious injuries have tormented those afflicted. Their illnesses and suffering are real and demand a response from Congress. American public servants and their families – who have been targeted – have requested that Congress receive and review this report, so I’m glad the State Department heeded our bipartisan call so we can get to work. “
NBC News reported in 2018 that U.S. intelligence officials considered Russia a leading suspect in what some of them assess to have been deliberate attacks on diplomats and CIA officers overseas. But there was not — and is not now — conclusive intelligence pointing in that direction, multiple officials who have been briefed on the matter said.
A team of medical and scientific experts who studied the symptoms of as many as 40 State Department and other government employees concluded that nothing like them had previously been documented in medical literature, according to the National Academies of Sciences report. Many reported hearing a loud sound and feeling pressure in their heads, and then experienced dizziness, unsteady gait and visual disturbances. Many suffered longstanding, debilitating effects.
Read the full story on NBCNews.com
