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Havana Syndrome

Posted on August 27, 2021 by admin1  158

In News

  • Recently, the US Vice-President’s trip to Hanoi (Vietnam) was delayed due to a possible case of the “Havana Syndrome”.

About Havana Syndrome

  • 2016: Reports first emerged of US diplomats and other employees of the government falling ill in Havana, the capital of Cuba. 
  • They heard strange sounds and experienced odd physical sensations in their hotel rooms or homes. 
  • This mysterious illness came to be called the “Havana Syndrome”.
  • Symptoms included:  nausea, severe headaches, fatigue, dizziness, sleep problems and hearing loss. 

 

Image Courtesy: IE

Close to Concluding Theory: Directed Energy Beams

  • In December 2020, a report by the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) found “directed energy beams” as a “plausible” cause of the Havana Syndrome.
  • The NAS report, titled ‘An assessment of illness in US government employees and their families at overseas embassies’, by a committee of 19 experts in medicine and other fields examined four possibilities to explain the symptoms — infection, chemicals, psychological factors and microwave energy. 
  • The experts examined the symptoms of about 40 government employees.
  • Concluding Points:
    • The report concluded that directed pulsed radiofrequency (RF) energy appears to be the most plausible mechanism in explaining these cases among those that the committee considered.
    • By calling it “directed” and “pulsed” energy, the report left no room for confusion that the victims’ exposure was targeted and not due to common sources of microwave energy, such as a mobile phone. 
    • The report also mentioned that the immediate symptoms patients reported — including sensations of pain and buzzing sound — apparently emanated from a particular direction, or occurred in a specific spot in a room.
    • The more chronic problems suffered by Havana personnel included mainly 
      • vestibular processing and 
      • cognitive problems 
      • insomnia 
      • headache. 
    • However, it also said “the committee cannot rule out other possible mechanisms and considers it likely that a multiplicity of factors explains some cases and the differences between others”.
  • Future episodes could be there: 
    • The report warned about the possibility of future episodes and recommended that the State Department establish a response mechanism for similar incidents. 
    • The larger issue is preparedness for new and unknown threats that might compromise the health and safety of US diplomats serving abroad.

Microwave Weapons

  • These weapons are supposed to be a type of direct energy weapons, which aim highly focused energy in the form of sonic, laser, or microwaves, at a target.
  • These weapons use beams of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation to heat the water in a human target’s skin, causing pain and discomfort.
  • Countries Having Microwave Weapons
    • A number of countries are thought to have developed these weapons to target both humans and electronic systems. 
    • China had first put on display its “microwave weapon”, called Poly WB-1, at an air show in 2014.
    • The United States has also developed a prototype microwave-style weapon, which it calls the “Active Denial System”. 
  • Past Use
    • The US apparently deployed such a weapon in Afghanistan, but withdrew it without ever using it against human targets.
    • 2017: Reports surfaced saying employees at the US embassy in Havana, Cuba, may have been targeted with a covert sonic weapon the previous year. 
    • 2018: Staff at the US consulate in Guangzhou, China complained of a possible similar attack in 2017.
  • Threats:
    • Concerns have been raised on whether they can damage the eyes, or have a carcinogenic impact in the long term.
    • The US Department of Defence FAQ specifically says its Active Denial System does not cause cancer or infertility. 
    • It also says that studies have shown that “natural blink reflex, aversion response and head turn all protect the eyes” from the weapon.
    • It is not clear yet how China intends to use such a weapon, and whether it can kill or cause lasting damage to human targets.
  • Denial: However, a medical team that examined 21 of those affected in Cuba did not mention “microwave weapons” in a study. Neither the State Department nor the FBI have publicly pointed to “microwave weapons” as being the cause of the “syndrome”.

 

Source: IE

 
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