CIA agents attacked by 'microwave weapon'

[UM-Bot]

The alleged attack took place in Australia last year and has been blamed on Russian security service agents.

https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/340381/cia-agents-attacked-by-microwave-weapon

[+Desertrat56]

I find this interesting the they have been able to identify 2 people who were in the same area for at least two attacks.  What doesn't make sense is the picture included above the story.  Obviously there is no huge equipment involved or everyone would know who did it immediately.  And if it were that large it would affect everyone in the area, not just certain diplomats and a few servants.

[simplybill]

And people laugh at me for wearing a tinfoil hat.

[Seti42]

Why does a 'microwave gun' look like it's built out of 3 off the shelf telescopes and a shopping cart full of Home Depot parts?

[gwa125]

2 hours ago, simplybill said:

And people laugh at me for wearing a tinfoil hat.

In all jokes aside, would that actually work?

[simplybill]

4 minutes ago, gwa125 said:

In all jokes aside, would that actually work?

No. I just sometimes respond to posts while in the throes of caffeine mania. My bad.

[Space Commander Travis]

Is there a particular setting recommended for CIA agents? Four minutes on full power, something like that? 

Actually what they probably meant by "attacked with a microwave", they probably dropped it out of a window on them, Wile E Coyote/Road Runner style. 

Still, nice to see the ubiquitous, if rarely very effective, Russian Secret Agents are still thinking up ever more ingenious ways to bump people off. Though their methods still seem, in good Bond villain style, to be so elaborate and clever that they hardly ever actually work. I wonder what they'll come up with next? 

[toast]

1 hour ago, Seti42 said:

Why does a 'microwave gun' look like it's built out of 3 off the shelf telescopes and a shopping cart full of Home Depot parts?

Form follows function.

[ChrLzs]

8 hours ago, Seti42 said:

Why does a 'microwave gun' look like it's built out of 3 off the shelf telescopes and a shopping cart full of Home Depot parts?

I believe that is in fact a picture of a very NON-microwave system, that has little to do with the story...  It's a laser for anti-ballistic missile use.

[+Desertrat56]

22 hours ago, simplybill said:

And people laugh at me for wearing a tinfoil hat.

You get better reception when you wear a tinfoil hat.  I knew a woman that swore the tinfoil she always wore underneath her beanie kept relieved her migraines.

[simplybill]

22 minutes ago, Desertrat56 said:

I knew a woman that swore the tinfoil she always wore underneath her beanie kept relieved her migraines.

Huh. I wonder if that works on toothaches? I’ll let you know.

[+Desertrat56]

1 minute ago, simplybill said:

Huh. I wonder if that works on toothaches? I’ll let you know.

I suspect her migraines were caused by something different than what causes a tooth ache.  She was a very erratic personality, sometimes quite, insane.  Go to the dentist.

Edited October 26, 2020 by Desertrat56

[simplybill]

10 minutes ago, Desertrat56 said:

I suspect her migraines were caused by something different than what causes a tooth ache.  She was a very erratic personality, sometimes quite, insane.  Go to the dentist.

Just kidding. I really shouldn’t post comments during my morning coffee marathon.

But that is interesting about the tinfoil hat lady and her migraines. I wonder how people draw conclusions like that. 
 

Edited October 26, 2020 by simplybill

[Robotic Jew]

CIA agents often get mistaken for frozen burritos. Nothing of note here. 

[+Desertrat56]

4 minutes ago, simplybill said:

Just kidding. I really shouldn’t post comments during my morning coffee marathon.

But that is interesting about the tinfoil hat lady and her migraines. I wonder how people draw conclusions like that. 
 

Well, she started wearing a beanie over the tinfoil because her teenagers were quite embarrassed by her, but she wore one for years.  I didn't know her very well, but I did find that her thinking was erratic, and she could have been diagnosed with a mental illness if she had ever gone to a doctor.  I think people just decide what works and sometimes they are right, but should not be "selling" their cures to anyone else.  I was acquainted with a person in Canada who used a anti-static velum "hat" to sleep.  She had wild, disturbing dreams and the vellum hat helped alleviate that.  That person could have been sensitive to electronic "noise" or someone was gaslighting her electronically.  She had sought help and gotten none from medical practitioners.  We do have an small energy field and maybe both of these people had some physical imbalance.  I can only guess since I did not know either of them very well.  

 

[simplybill]

1 hour ago, Desertrat56 said:

 I think people just decide what works and sometimes they are right, but should not be "selling" their cures to anyone else.

I agree. I have a few favorite ‘alternative’ treatments myself. Not in the tinfoil hat category, but more mainstream like substituting turmeric/curcumin for Ibuprofen. If I tell my friends about it, I always end with a warning to talk to their doctors before using it.

[RoofGardener]

"according to reports.."

Reports by whom, excacty ? 

This is utter rubbish. Such a weapon would hit other people. It could not be foccussed. 

Can anyone point me to one of the source "reports" behind this story ? 

[simplybill]

From the OP:

“At the time, it was thought that some sort of sonic or microwave-based weaponry had been used to make the diplomats ill and this latest incident in Australia could very well be the same thing.“

Symptoms caused by the alleged sonic weaponry match some of the symptoms noted in infrasound studies. This Wikipedia article on infrasound covers a lot of territory, but I can think of a few topics here on UM that might relate to infrasound (ghosts, shadow people, Dyatlov Pass, as well as the symptoms reported by the diplomats in Cuba and the CIA agents in Russia).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound

One example from the article:

“Psychologist Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire suggests that the odd sensations that people attribute to ghosts may be caused by infrasonic vibrations. Vic Tandy, experimental officer and part-time lecturer in the school of international studies and law at Coventry University, along with Dr. Tony Lawrence of the University's psychology department, wrote in 1998 a paper called "Ghosts in the Machine" for the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. Their research suggested that an infrasonic signal of 19 Hz might be responsible for some ghost sightings. Tandy was working late one night alone in a supposedly haunted laboratory at Warwick, when he felt very anxious and could detect a grey blob out of the corner of his eye. When Tandy turned to face the grey blob, there was nothing.

The following day, Tandy was working on his fencing foil, with the handle held in a vice. Although there was nothing touching it, the blade started to vibrate wildly. Further investigation led Tandy to discover that the extractor fan in the lab was emitting a frequency of 18.98 Hz, very close to the resonant frequency of the eye given as 18 Hz by NASA.[60] This, Tandy conjectured, was why he had seen a ghostly figure—it was, he believed, an optical illusion caused by his eyeballs resonating. The room was exactly half a wavelength in length, and the desk was in the centre, thus causing a standing wave which caused the vibration of the foil.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by simplybill

[RoofGardener]

32 minutes ago, simplybill said:

From the OP:

“At the time, it was thought that some sort of sonic or microwave-based weaponry had been used to make the diplomats ill and this latest incident in Australia could very well be the same thing.“

Symptoms caused by the alleged sonic weaponry match some of the symptoms noted in infrasound studies. This Wikipedia article on infrasound covers a lot of territory, but I can think of a few topics here on UM that might relate to infrasound (ghosts, shadow people, Dyatlov Pass, as well as the symptoms reported by the diplomats in Cuba and the CIA agents in Russia).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound

One example from the article:

“Psychologist Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire suggests that the odd sensations that people attribute to ghosts may be caused by infrasonic vibrations. Vic Tandy, experimental officer and part-time lecturer in the school of international studies and law at Coventry University, along with Dr. Tony Lawrence of the University's psychology department, wrote in 1998 a paper called "Ghosts in the Machine" for the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. Their research suggested that an infrasonic signal of 19 Hz might be responsible for some ghost sightings. Tandy was working late one night alone in a supposedly haunted laboratory at Warwick, when he felt very anxious and could detect a grey blob out of the corner of his eye. When Tandy turned to face the grey blob, there was nothing.

The following day, Tandy was working on his fencing foil, with the handle held in a vice. Although there was nothing touching it, the blade started to vibrate wildly. Further investigation led Tandy to discover that the extractor fan in the lab was emitting a frequency of 18.98 Hz, very close to the resonant frequency of the eye given as 18 Hz by NASA.[60] This, Tandy conjectured, was why he had seen a ghostly figure—it was, he believed, an optical illusion caused by his eyeballs resonating. The room was exactly half a wavelength in length, and the desk was in the centre, thus causing a standing wave which caused the vibration of the foil.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound

 

Thanks for that @simplybill. However, your quote from the OP highlights - for me - the weakness of this whole.. well.. I'm sorry.. but.. Conspiracy Theory. 

"At the time,  it was thought that some sort of sonic or microwave-based weaponry had been used.. "

Audio and Microwaves operate ENTIRELY differently. So that statement was incredibly vague. In essence, the person is saying that "some sort of weapon" was used, but clearly had NO idea what it was,  and is speculating wildly and inaccurately. 

The whole thing is a scientific nonsense. What - precisely - was the medical condition of these people, such that they thought they had been attacked ? 

I would suggest that they had NOT been attacked. 

Like I said, I would LOVE to see some of these "reports" that the OP article makes reference to but - rather tellingly in my opinion - fails to cite. 

[simplybill]

3 hours ago, RoofGardener said:

Thanks for that @simplybill. However, your quote from the OP highlights - for me - the weakness of this whole.. well.. I'm sorry.. but.. Conspiracy Theory. 

"At the time,  it was thought that some sort of sonic or microwave-based weaponry had been used.. "

Audio and Microwaves operate ENTIRELY differently. So that statement was incredibly vague. In essence, the person is saying that "some sort of weapon" was used, but clearly had NO idea what it was,  and is speculating wildly and inaccurately. 

The whole thing is a scientific nonsense. What - precisely - was the medical condition of these people, such that they thought they had been attacked ? 

I would suggest that they had NOT been attacked. 

Like I said, I would LOVE to see some of these "reports" that the OP article makes reference to but - rather tellingly in my opinion - fails to cite. 

Hi RoofGardener -

When the ‘Havana Syndrome’ incident occurred three years ago, I was leaning toward mass hysteria as an explanation, but then the GQ correspondent in the video named nine different countries where similar alleged incidents have occurred, and now I’m leaning in the other direction. I had no idea there were so many other countries involved.

It was a peculiar incident: Cuba had nothing to gain, and everything to lose by targeting American diplomats at the very moment that diplomatic relations between the two countries were rapidly improving. Travel restrictions were lifting, US airlines were scrambling for takeoff/departure slots at HAV airport, and tourism started growing by leaps and bounds. It made no sense to me that Cuba would choose that moment to begin Cold War-style tactics.

But, as always, Russia is the wild card: although Cuba carries no military advantage for Russia, it’s still a very active exporter of Communist ideology to North and South America. Russia may feel threatened by the sudden influx of Capitalism into Cuba, which could very easily turn the Cuban people away from Russia-promoted Communism. The alleged attack against American diplomats in Cuba certainly had a cooling effect on Cuba-USA relations.

Maybe Russia is involved, and maybe not, though it does seem as though the entire world is headed toward a big confrontation between Communist ideology and Western Capitalism. I still haven’t come up with a reason why Russia would want to attack American diplomats in places like Georgia, Poland and Australia, so maybe you’re right: maybe it’s just a conspiracy theory.
 

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by simplybill

[simplybill]

I just ran across this article posted 5 days ago. The statement from Mr. Pompeo contradicts a statement by Julia Ioffe, the GQ correspondent in the video:

“We've done a lot of work to try and identify how this all took place and we continue to try and determine precisely the causation of this, while doing our best to make sure we're taking care of the health and safety of these people," Pompeo said.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2020-10-21/pompeo-says-us-still-working-to-determine-what-caused-havana-syndrome

[RoofGardener]

Firstly, this is a diagnosis based on speculation, not medical fact. 

Secondly, the weapons proposed do not exist, or would effect large numbers of 'bystanders'. 

It's all nonsense. 

[simplybill]

Just published today on NPR.org (October 27):

“I was awoken in the middle of the night," recalled Polymeropoulos, 51. "I just had incredible vertigo, dizziness. I wanted to throw up. The room was spinning. I couldn't even stand up without falling down. I had tinnitus ringing in my ears."

https://www.npr.org/2020/10/27/927263593/a-cia-officer-visits-moscow-returns-with-mysterious-crippling-headaches

[Golden Duck]

On 10/27/2020 at 4:10 AM, RoofGardener said:

"according to reports.."

Reports by whom, excacty ? 

This is utter rubbish. Such a weapon would hit other people. It could not be foccussed. 

Can anyone point me to one of the source "reports" behind this story ? 

A directed energy weapon can't be focused, why?

[RoofGardener]

13 hours ago, Golden Duck said:

A directed energy weapon can't be focused, why?

a "directed energy weapon" could indeed be focussed. But the article talks about 'microwave or sonic'. Well, a sonic weapon certainly CAN'T be focussed. A microwave emmiter IS directional (or can be made to be), but in a crowded environment (such as a building) it (a) wouildn't have a range beyond a few dozen yards (unless it was LUDICROUSLY powerful), (b)couldn't penetrate walls, and (c) would impact on many people around the target. In addition, there is also no scientific or medical literature that matches microwave exposure with the reported symptoms. 

The fact that the journalist says "microwave or sonic" means that he or she obviously has NO idea what the 'weapon' is. The two methods are completely different. He or she is wildly guessing. They might as well say "microwave, sonic, or Giant Invisible Lobsters".