'Havana syndrome'-like mystery illness affects Vienna US diplomats

[Mr. Sparkle]

Source: BBC



The US government is investigating a series of health incidents in the Austrian capital Vienna involving its diplomats and other administration staff. More than 20 officials have reported symptoms similar to Havana Syndrome - a mystery brain illness - since President Joe Biden took office in January. The syndrome is unexplained, but US scientists say it is most probably caused by directed microwave radiation. It was first found in Cuba in 2016-17. US and Canadian diplomats in Havana complained of symptoms ranging from dizziness, loss of balance, hearing loss and anxiety to something they described as "cognitive fog".

The US accused Cuba of carrying out "sonic attacks", which it strongly denied, and the incident led to increased tension between the two nations. A 2019 US academic study found "brain abnormalities" in the diplomats who had fallen ill, but Cuba dismissed the report. The Vienna cases first came to light in the New Yorker magazine on Friday and were later confirmed by the US State Department, which said it was "vigorously investigating". Reuters quoted an Austrian foreign ministry statement saying it was "working with the US authorities on jointly getting to the bottom of this".

Vienna has long been a centre for diplomatic activity and has had a reputation as a hotspot for espionage, particularly during the Cold War. Countries like the US have a large diplomatic presence there. The city is currently hosting indirect talks between Iran and the US over attempts to resurrect the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Cases of the condition have been reported elsewhere in the world, but US officials say the numbers in Vienna are greater than in any other city apart from Havana. In June, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a wide-ranging review into the causes of the illness.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57875322

[yaesu]

1. Vienna was a cold war hotspot as Austria was Neutral in all aspects of the cold war

so spies of both sides flourished in spytrade there. It seems that even after the fall of the Soviet union Russia still has an intelligence gathering presence there.

[intheflow]

2. This sounds like a spy movie I'd never watch because it was so implausible.

But the BBC's reporting it and the State Dept. has confirmed it, so

[Marrah_Goodman]

3. I would bet on Putin.

[druidity33]

4. Yup. Who else, really? nt.

[onetexan]

12. Yup 1st thingthat came to mind. He's off his meds & meddling again

[mpcamb]

10. Hmm... Cold War, Havana, Vienna, dirty dealing- yep, Putin.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Ah, so list the common groups/embassies/other such foreign compounds between Havana and

Vienna. Should be able to somewhat narrow the list of suspects down. To emit such microwaves, and very specific ones at that, probably takes some degree of expertise in having a specifically tuned microwave dish/emitter, etc. Obviously the emitter is hidden or otherwise would have been detected already, and/or the signal can transverse walls, etc. without negatively impacting the signal.

[TomWilm]

7. My bet is still their own antennas ...

... some new untested stuff right on top of the US embassies. It anybody had attack systems of this kind why only use the embassies as targets?

[womanofthehills]

6. Some think some of the cases in Cuba were exposure to toxic pesticides

My neighbors and I were pesticide poisoned in the mid 90’s when a uneducated city worker sprayed the wrong pesticide for mosquitoes in our neighborhood. Symptoms- big loss of balance, brain fog (it would take me an hr to write a sentence), breathing difficulties and excessive salivating. Many hotels spray for bugs -Texas hotels are the worse & California hotels the best. I think Texas has a law they have to spray every month.

[harumph]

8. There is no doubt the building itself is shielded.

This at least suggests the diplomats may be tracked and subjected to mw exposure when they leave for the day or
for other business. Not all embassies have live-in staff. The employees themselves need to be surveilled, the
source of the exposure identified. The employees can be fitted with discreet devices that detect directed mw and log the direction and
strength.

To determine if it's coming from inside the embassy, then interview any contractor who has worked at the facility in the last year. Rule out native sources of rf (obviously). In addition, small electronic devices can emit infrasonic or ultrasonic waves.

You're thinking the above is a no-brainer and they're probably doing all of this already. I would have thought so too a year ago - but
am now disabused of that confidence in competence.

[Historic NY]

9. In the city the 2 Us & Russia embassy's are 5 km apart

I'm wondering if they are using a van driving around with the gear. I don't understand with all the monitoring equipment how they can't detect very high frequency.

[Blues Heron]

11. Its gotta be a van of some kind

My money is on one of those pop top ones the deadheads used to ride around in. You could fit a nice sized ray gun in one of those easy.

[ck4829]

13. K&R