Microwave weapon caused syndrome in diplomats in Cuba, US medical team believes

A directional microwave weapon was the most likely cause of debilitating neurological symptoms reported by US diplomats in Cuba who heard strange, unexplained sounds at the onset of their symptoms, says the lead author of a medical team that examined the diplomats and reported preliminary findings in JAMA in March.1 That article noted evidence of brain injury but did not offer an explanation of the cause.

Microwave weapons were a recurring theme at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Cuba policy on 6 September, although State Department officials, while still characterising the events of November 2016 as an “attack,” were unwilling to support any particular theory of how it was carried …